The Avani School

Mission andCommunity Involvement

Bridge ProgramONGOING SERVICE

Following the admission of a child, a major function of Avani is the bridgework that is an orientation to a new future of growth and development. This involves an appraisal of the well being of a child emotionally, nutritionally, behaviorally, socially, and academically. Based upon the general assesment of the child’s needs, the bridge may take up to six months. Admission is continuous and all staff members may be involved with the process.

Brickyard ServicesSEASONAL

After discontinuing child labor practices at all 18-brickyard sites, Avani has established teaching locations for the children at seven worksites with 68 children in attendance. The government pays the teachers 9,000 rupees ($200) each for the six months that classes are in session. The students convene in primitive settings, such as under a shade tree from 9 AM to 1 PM. These brickyard children will have priority for enrollment in the new school facility.

Government SchoolSCHOOL CALENDAR YEAR

For the first eight standards of school, the Avani children attend a government-sponsored school from 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM. For the ninth and tenth standards, the children transfer to a privately run organiza-tion. Avani provides additional English classes and individual tutoring each evening following day classes.

Child Labor RescueBI-MONTHLY

Anuradha Bhosale and her staff coordinate the rescue efforts of children from Kolhapur’s worksites. Before the rescue operation takes place, paperwork must be filed, coordination of the involved departments must be approved, and reports and court hearings must be accurately accomplished following a rescue operation. The rescued children are cared for by government run child services.

Donor/Supporter RelationsONGOING SERVICE

Representatives from the media, and civic organizations are in constant communication concerning the needs of and the interest in Avani’s functions. Operational supplies such as food and office items are donated regularly.

Woman’s AdvocacyAS NEEDED

Anuradha empowers the women’s rights efforts by providing information and other support to the women leaders who assist vulnerable women in the area. Divorced mothers often lack any family support which results in such economic needs that she enlists her children into child labor to meet survival needs.The two-acre land land rights for scheduled, nomadic families as well as the minimum wage act will assist with economic conditions for these homeless individuals.

BridgeProgram

Donor/SupporterRelations

BrickyardServices

GovernmentSchool

Woman’sAdvocacy

Child LaborRescueAvaniSchool

Copyright © 2010 Avani and GWEI. All rights reserved worldwide.Compiled by Jean Williams. Illustrated by Scott Kafora.

ABOUT AVANI

When Avani School opened in 2005, the facility did not have water or electricity but there were concerned people who carried forth a mission of safety and comfort that continues to build a promising future for God’s children today. The purpose of Avani is to provide the exploited, abandoned, or the poorest children with safe housing while they receive an education to prepare them for a life outside the prison of poverty.

Providesboarding for 32 children

Rev. 061810

The Avani School

Avani Brickyard School Locations

Copyright © 2010 Avani and GWEI. All rights reserved worldwide.Compiled by Jean Williams. Illustrated by Scott Kafora.

Rev. 061810

BShiroliToll Plaza

AmshiSangrul

Donwade

Khuprre

Balinga

B B

B

B

B

B

B

B

TawadeHotel

BManadeMal

B

BhogawatiRiver

10 SeperateBrick Sites

A

Avani

G

GandhiEducational

CenterKolhapur, India

1 mi2 km N

B

Kerli15 km NW of

Kolhapur

B

Kagal19 km SE of

Kolhapur

Udgoan35 km E ofKolhapur

Copyright © 2010 Avani and GWEI.All rights reserved worldwide. Illustration by Scott Kafora.

B

B

B

B

B B

B

B

Tarped school at Tawade Hotel

Tarped school at Tawade Hotel

Classroom under a tree at Manade MallClassroom under a tree at Manade Mall

One room school at Shiroli Toll PlazaOne room school at Shiroli Toll Plaza

Classes are provided by Avani School for68 children whose families live and workfor the brickyard owners.

ABOUT THE BRICKYARDS

B Current Avani brickyardschool locations

Legend

Current AvaniSchool location

Future locationof the GandhiEducationalCenter

A

G

Nomadic families migrate to these 18 brickyards for a period from October-May each year. The families live in very small, unhealthy dwellings without proper nourishment and clothing. All family members work for the brick kilns mainly paying the interest on loans owed to the brick owners. In recent times, the Avani staff has rescued the exploited children of these fami-lies and provides teaching at or near seven brickyard

locations. Neither the government nor the brick owners provide shelter for teaching and the teachers provide their own lesson materials. Avani relies on makeshift tents or the shade of a tree if constructed sheltered cannot be borrowed from close-by facilities. However at the end of the six months, all children receive a record of progress to carry to the school of attendance in the alternate six-month period.

The Avani School

Child Labor Rescue Locations

Copyright © 2010 Avani and GWEI. All rights reserved worldwide.Compiled by Jean Williams. Illustrated by Scott Kafora.

Rev. 061810

BhogawatiRiver

A

Avani

G

GandhiEducational

CenterKolhapur, India

1 mi2 km N

Copyright © 2010 Avani and GWEI.All rights reserved worldwide. Illustration by Scott Kafora.

Avani School is an active participant in the ChildRights Campaign of India that is organized byChild Right And You (CRY). Avani was approvedas the coordinator for the Kolhapur District oftwo million people in January 2008.

ABOUT THE CHILD LABOR RESCUE EFFORTS

Legend

Current AvaniSchool location

Future locationof the GandhiEducationalCenter

A

G

More than 250 exploited child laborers have been rescued from such work locations as construction sites, domestic work, retail shops, hotels and lodges. Also, minor children have been rescued from street begging, bondage of brothels, and from the exploitation by their

own families. Once rescued, these children are sent to the District Child Welfare Services where they are housed and decisions are made as to the rehabilitation process.

R

R

R

Amshi

R

Sangrul

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Donwade

Khuprre

Balinga

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R R

R

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R

R R

R

R

Inchikrangi35 km NE of

Kolhapur

R

R

R

R

R

R

R Areas of child laborrescue efforts

“I would enjoy a career in the food industry orbecoming a loving mother to my own children.”

allavi was the middle child and the only girl of three children when her mother passed away early in life.

Pallavi doesn’t remember her mother, but she remembers the difficult life that ensued when her father remarried. Following the birth of her stepbrother, Pallavi was taken out of school by her parents and became a child laborer within her own home. She was forced to care for the smaller children as well as to cook and hand wash the family’s laundry beginning at the tender age of nine years old.

But it wasn’t the hard work that hurt the most; it was the beatings and the mental harassment that she received as being an unwanted child. She realized early in life that being a female did not carry the same love and admiration from her father that her brothers enjoyed. She tried work-ing harder in hopes that she could please her father and step-mother, but she soon learned that the more she tried to please, the more she was expected to perform. But the worst was still to come. It seems the family fell short of money, and Pallavi became the easy target of being sold into servitude for the needed cash. Her days were long and exhaustive while working as a child laborer, but her nights were even longer as she performed the household chores and received neither family support nor affection from anyone. Her life seemed hopeless until the intervention by her older brother who came to Pallavi’s rescue. He learned

about Avani School and managed to get Pallavi enrolled when she was twelve. Her nightmare was ending, but she faced a lot of emotional healing which is still her challenge today.

Pallavi is now 16 years old and misses her brothers and her grandfather, but she went on to explain that she likes being at the school where she knows the people love her. She doesn’t enjoy schoolwork but she takes pleasure in cooking and often volunteers to prepare the meals for the 34 children in residence. As for her future, Pallavi states, “I would enjoy a career in the food industry and becoming a loving mother to my own children”. -Jean Williams

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-Pallavi Patil

TheAvaniSchoolKOLHAPUR, INDIA

“I intend to become a teacher and devote my lifeto resuing other children from the perils of child labor.”

hen Sunil was asked what he thought about life at the Avani School, he answered without hesitation “I get

enough to eat, lots of care and love, and I am able to learn”, but that has not always been the case. For many years, he served as a child laborer for a brick manufacturer where he carried one thousand bricks daily, six days a week from the kiln to a truck. Without the assistance of tools, Sunil man-aged the task of balancing ten bricks on his head per trip and earning 17 rupees (35 cents) a day. Sunil performed as an adult and provided his parents with two meals a day since his father was too handicapped to work.

Rising each morning at four A.M., Sunil left the family tent situated at the edge of the brickyard to begin the daily routine. Without any breakfast, he walked directly to the jobsite where he worked in the hot Indian sun for the next nine hours. He continued what seemed to be endless trips before stopping for lunch that consisted of a small serving of rice and occasionally a portion of a vegetable. However it wasn’t the 100 trips of carrying the 40 pounds on his head that he dreaded, it was the headaches that followed at the end of his workday. He often went to sleep early curling up in the corner of the tent while his mother gave him an herb to minimize the pain.

Sunil does not know how many years he transported the bricks because he never attended school and couldn’t

comprehend the calculation of a calendar nor does he know his actual birth date. What he does remember is that his head became flattened from the weight of the bricks over the years, but by being fed proper nutrition at Avani, his head has rounded to a nice shape. Anuradha, the school director, sought permission from Sunil’s parents to enroll him in school and to provide proper care. His father gave his full support and explained to Sunil “to study hard and we will be together in my older days.” Sunil considers himself to be lucky. With a broad smile and a twinkle in his eye, he states, “I intend to become a teacher and devote my life to rescuing children from the perils of child labor.” Estimated to be 16 years old and in the sixth standard of school, Sunil enjoys learning and spends his spare time locating exploited children. Even with his late start in life, there is no doubt that Sunil will reach his goal and be a blessing to the world of disadvantaged children. -Jean Williams

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-Sunil Kamble

TheAvaniSchoolKOLHAPUR, INDIA