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Christian Children’s Fund
CCF Program

Project goal:

Chetna Vikas partners with CCF in order to improve the well-being of children and vulnerable families in rural communities. With holistic focus, the CCF program aims at improving overall health, sanitation, nutrition, education and livelihood conditions and opportunities for village children and their families. In particular, the program prioritizes the following:

  • Establishment of Early Childhood Centers (“Balwadis”) to provide health and nutrition services to all children under the age of 6 years.
  • Improvement of all educational facilities available.
  • Provision of health and nutrition education to all mothers, primary caregivers of children under 5, and expectant / nursing mothers.
  • Promotion of livelihoods and agriculture.
  • Facilitation of community organization, people’s participation and local self-governance.
  • Facilitation of the relationship between international child sponsors and eligible village children.

Operational area:

Chetna Vikas’ CCF project is operational in 27 villages of Sarayaihat Block, Dumka District, Jharkhand. In villages within the operational area, families largely dwell in single-room mud huts with thatched or tiled roofs. The living standard is poor due to economic deprivation and there is an urgent need for village access to safe drinking water. Moreover, village living conditions are unhygienic due to the absence of sanitation facilities at the village level. As a result, child health is generally poor, and rates of malnutrition and mortality are alarmingly high.  Children lack access and opportunities for immunizations and quality education.

Notably, villagers depend almost completely on rainwater agriculture and daily labour for their livelihood. Due to low rates of rainfall in recent years, villagers have begun migrating in large numbers, in search of employment. Given the lack of irrigation facilities, in combination with low and undulating landscape, agriculture production in most rural communities is insufficient to meet family food needs.

Project activities:

The CCF project is holistic and multifaceted, as described below. In addition to operational support in each of the project areas, Chetna Vikas plays a key role in establishing and maintaining the relationship and correspondence between children in the target communities and their international child sponsors.

Health

  • Notably, the project area has been declared by the state as a “high risk zone” for malaria, and is also heavily affected by TB. Thus, the project works closely with the Government Health Department to raise awareness among villagers.
  • Villages are equipped with facilities for instant blood testing and diagnosis of malaria.
  • Drug distribution centers in each village are strengthened to ensure prompt malaria treatment.
  • Regular counsel is provided to villagers and in schools regarding sanitary practices to avoid waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and jaundice.
  • Emergency care services (i.e. primarily transport) are provided to critical patients and to children suffering from chronic / fatal diseases, and to women suffering high-risk pregnancies.
  • Infant and maternal mortality rates are decreased through several methods: pregnant mothers and children under the age of 5 are immunized; pregnant mothers are supplied with Iron and Folic Acid supplements, and they are provided with regular, antenatal check-ups; institutional child deliveries / deliveries by trained (traditional) birth attendants are promoted.
  • Young couples are provided with regular counseling and they are provided with contraceptives on a regular basis to promote birth spacing and family planning, and to safeguard against reproductive tract infections / sexually transmitted diseases.

Nutrition

  • Communities are supported to develop “kitchen gardens” to ensure availability of green vegetables and nutritious fruits.
  • Regular growth monitoring of children aged 0 to 5 years is performed at Early Childhood Care Centers in the villages.
  • Positive Development Health sessions are delivered by trained CV Health Workers to help villagers understand how to prevent child malnutrition.
  • Children are dewormed on a regular basis and acute cases of malnourishment are referred to District hospitals for treatment.

Education

  • Government Primary Schools are provided with functional support.
  • Village Education Committees are strengthened. 
  • Children aged 5 to 15 are encouraged and motivated to join formal education.
  • Parents are encouraged to play an active, supportive role in their child’s education, thereby reducing the gap between school and community.
  • Teachers are trained in learning methodology according to learner interest and pace.
  • Children’s Clubs are established in schools to encourage children – especially girls --  to participate and enjoy football, cricket, volleyball and other sports.
  • Children’s Parliaments are established in schools to help children learn the democratic systems of the country, and to understand the legal right to equality.
  • Learning space is established for child drop-outs and for adolescent girls who are not part of the formal education system.
  • Children are supported to participate in Global Action Week (GAW), a campaign to enable children themselves to demand teachers and other facilities for quality education.

Livelihood   

  • Communities are encouraged to form Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to ensure that they participate in their own developmental efforts and learn how to mobilize and organize effectively. SHGs primarily engage in savings and income generation activities for their livelihood.
  • Farmers are supported to fence their land, so that large-scale planting of nutritious fruits and vegetables can be undertaken. These farmers are also supported to produce “vermi-composts” (organic fertilizer) since special programmatic focus is placed on improving agricultural production through sustainable agricultural practices.

Community-based rehabilitation

  • Physically and mentally disabled persons are supported and mainstreamed into the community. In particular, disabled children of school-going age are admitted to formal education.
  • The government is lobbied to provide wheelchairs, artificial limbs and other support materials for the disabled.