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Our Chimbel project is located at Indranagar which is
around 6kms from the Capital city of Panjim. Despite its
closeness to the capital even frequent visitors to Goa
would be unaware of the area since its well off the
tourist track. One of the most deprived areas of Goa, Indranagar is a huge slum which around 10,000 people
call home. Rooms are tightly packed along narrow lanes
with open sewers running along the front. No-one knows
how many children live in the area. The area is
inhabited by families who have migrated to Goa mainly
from neighbouring states but some have travelled from
much further afield. Despite the terrible deprivation
in the area, there is a great demand for pre-primary
schooling to help prepare children to access school. The
school room is located within the slum which makes it
easy for families to drop and pick up their children and
to be confident that their children are safe. The
children learn many things. Aside from academic learning
e.g the English and Marathi alphabets, counting etc.
they learn many skills which will help them to make the
transition from slum to school. Simple things such as
sitting still, listening to teacher, following
instructions, sharing are all important lessons as are
finding out more about the world about them and how to
play and have fun with friends.
After spending three years at pre-primary school
children are ready to join mainstream schools. Once
school is over at lunch time the children will go home,
have a short break and change before heading to the
centre for afternoon tuition classes. By providing for
after school tuition classes Monday to Saturday each
week we support children with their studies which in
turn helps them succeed at school. Ultimately, we hope
to keep them away from child labour and help give them
the opportunity for a better life.
You can see general photos of the Chimbel project
opposite together with last year’s end of year photos.
If you would like to see more photos see our gallery
page here. |
