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Padho Likho Maza Karo
Keeping all this in mind, Eklavya Foundation began the work of building an atmosphere conducive to reading in communities in villages in and around Bhopal. As a part of this programme reading rooms have been established for primary and middle school children. Here, reading activities for children between the ages of 6 and 12 years are conducted. Some of these children are first generation learners in their families.
So that books reach the families as well, books are issued from the reading room. Young mothers are encouraged to read with their children. Where young mothers have not received school education, we help them participate in the education of their children via stories. In addition, we have made attempts to bring community knowledge to the reading rooms in its diverse forms - stories, poems, information on sports, crops, health or the weather. Children also share their knowledge of the community in these reading rooms as do young mothers with the children. In this atmosphere for reading, we are also trying to bridge the gap between the school and the community.
Over a period of two years, we have built a constructive environment for more than 400 children and over a 100 mothers in 12 villages. The children who used to hesitate to go to school are now taking steps towards their schools. And those children who were scared to read now read their school textbook with great assurance.
Along with encouraging reading we are also working towards empowering the youth, specifically the girls in the villages - the reading rooms are run by young women. Because of this, the attitude of young women in these villages towards studying and their own employment has changed. Training sessions for these young women are regularly held so that not only are they able to do their job better but also so that their views about education broaden.
Currently, we have been able to cover 12 villages in this project of ours but we want to expand our reach and increase our efforts to give a meaningful education to deprived communities. For this we would like your support and financial assistance. We appeal to you to help us in our efforts to improve the education of children in these communities.