Building Children’s Libraries
Furthering Education through Community Libraries
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world
Nelson Mandela
Depending on nature, the Eastern Indian tribal communities still lead a minimalistic lifestyle often intercepted by traces of modern and more materialistic Western cultures.
The challenges of tribal education & healthcare are daunting. There are 418 different tribes in India, with even more languages and dialects. Each group is also associated with a specific region through language, food habits, occupational characteristics and geography.
Our free community libraries are designed to encourage reading, play learning & awareness of Indian heritages amongst the ethnic communities, especially encouraging children & women to read & learn.
Some of our children’s libraries are also annexed with play schools to accommodate & teach pre-kindergarten & up children basic language, mathematics, science and arts. The facilities are determined based on the needs of the local communities.
Our Vision, Our Mission
It is not more bigness that should be our goal. We must attempt, rather, to bring people back to the warmth of community, to the worth of individual effort and responsibility, and of individuals working together as a community, to better their lives and their children’s future.
Robert F. Kennedy
Build community libraries to provide children with access to school books, periodicals & learning tools for furthering education
Build play school for children to build cognitive & kindergarten skills with dedicated & experienced teachers
Provide nutrition & financial assistance for early education, adult education, supplementary education & vocational training to tribal children, girls & women
Co-ownership Model for Community Libraries
Our children’s community libraries are designed with the sole purpose of providing access to books, learning toys & gadgets & academic utilities to rural & ethnic children to either supplement their mainstream curriculum or provide them with teaching assistance through qualified teachers, in areas that do not have schools.
We work with community leaders to build & sustain our libraries in a co-ownership co-operative model. While we build the libraries, stock up with books & provide the community with all the necessary facilities, tools & trainings necessary, we depend on the communities to maintain a healthy & spirited atmosphere of learning & encourage members of the community to make the best use of books, periodicals & other assets.
We work with the Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation, India in building a strong educational & health foundation in children, young adults & kids with special needs in the tribal communities of the region.
If you are planning for a year, sow rice; for a decade, plant trees; but for a lifetime, educate people
Eastern Proverb
Dr. Astha, Director JSWF
We are a young & enthusiastic team of change agents working directly with the tribal communities.
We are focused on Education & Learning for children, young adults, women & people with special needs.
We work at the grass roots with the tribal communities bringing supplementary education one child at a time.
Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation is a non-profit non-governmental institution dedicated to facilitating education & learning within the ethnic communities & tribal people of Eastern India.
Our effort at the grass roots of the tribal communities are helping the hard working indigenous people grow their richness in art, culture & simplistic lifestyles & make slow strides towards improving their living conditions.
Our Inspiration
View more inspirations on our YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/exploreindiatv)
Tribal children & youth face a severe dilemma when they are forced to reject their own culture in favor of the mainstream. This conflict results in high dropout rates, low educational aspirations and degraded self-esteem.
One of the main problems in Santal education is the conflict between the state’s policy of assimilating minorities into the mainstream culture and the tribal people’s reluctance to abandon their identity.
Dr. Boro Baski, Department of Social Work of Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal
Coupled with the dilemma is the fact that children & youth are often forced to drop out of school to earn livelihood for the families. The female students are the worst victims, while many bright young students find themselves dropping off school to work as cheap labor in construction sites for very negligible wages.
Working hand-in-hand, building trust & respect, we lock step with families, getting education & learning directly to the young adults.
Coupled with the problems of inadequate medical facilities, the communities’ belief systems and exploitation by the encroaching materialist cultures, the tribal people are prone to low mortality rates & severe malnutrition.
Plagued by inadequate modern resources & healthcare facilities, the tribal communities depend on natural treatments that hardly works!
Established by young adult women, this team provides primary healthcare services directly to the tribal women & families in need.
Read more about our grass roots basic healthcare programs in partnership with Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation.