Projects

Completed Projects:

1. Provided teachers for Science, English and Mathematics

The first project that Avakaasha started was to provide teachers to the Government Kannada medium schools in need of additional teachers. Gradually we took up projects related to building basic infrastructure. 

Children from rural areas usually struggle with the key subjects – English, Science and Mathematics. We have provided qualified teachers for schools based on their requirements. Apart from teaching these subjects, our teachers also share additional work from the school, thereby contributing towards general school administration. 

Since 2015, Avakaasha has tied up with various schools in Karkala, Udupi, Brahmavar, Kaup and Kundapur taluks of Karnataka , India.

Currently Four teachers are sponsored in the Government schools of Amasebailu, Bidkalkatte, Brahmavar and Beloor. We were associated with Government schools of Molahalli, Hebri, Kedoor, Heskuttur, Vaddarse, Hunsemakki and Thekatte in the past.

2. Environment sustenance: One student, One bag, One family at a time!

Distributed Eco-Friendly Bags to all Schools[2018-2019]

Change begins at home and we did this through our initiative –One student, One bag, One family at a time! We handed over eco-friendly reusable kora bags to every student & staff of our schools. This was one small step towards reducing plastic around us. 1000 bags distributed with a hope & goal that 1000 families will stop/reduce using plastic bags every time they go to a grocery/daily needs purchase. Distribution of these reusable bags has resulted in reducing around 10000 plastic bags from usage in around 30 villages in Udupi district.

We reached the families through the students and staff of schools Hebri, Heskattur, Vaddarse, Amasebail, Bidkalkatte, Hunsemakki during execution of this project in 2018-19.

Avakaasha Foundation collaborated with an NGO, Hosa Belaku Artisans’ Foundation which works with women from villages of Kanakapura Taluk, Bengaluru rural district.

3. Health and Hygiene – Construction of toilet for girls

Construction of toilets:[2017-2018]

We fully believe that basic infrastructure like toilets are a must in schools. Not having proper toilet facilities for children also contribute to the dropout ratio in rural schools.

The Foundation sponsored major portion of the cost towards building a better, secured toilet for girls in Amasebailu school in the year 2017-18.

4. Training Headmasters for better results from schools

We at Avakaasha believe in constant learning and upskilling – be it for students, teachers or Leaders of the community.

The Foundation funded Headmasters training. The program was organized in collaboration with Kundapur Taluk Head Masters Association and was held in Byndoor. The event touched on various aspects like corruption free educational institutions, improving results of SSLC Board and the role of Head Masters in improving the quality of education.

5. Overall development of children

Holistic development in children is not possible if children focus on studies alone. So we fund talent and sports program of schools too.

We collaborated & funded an event in Government school of Heskuttur for Children’s day celebration.The program was   named  ‘Banna’ which translates to ‘Colour’. This program was completely managed by children and was a successful talent show. This type of celebration builds confidence and increases self-esteem in children.

We also conducted an inter-school multi-event competition for our schools, encouraging children to participate in cultural, science, quiz and sports activities.

Apart from these we have also sponsored many sports, cultural activities and rewards for our schools.

6. Project MASOOM – preventing Child Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is something that people hesitate to talk about in open forums, with colleagues or with friends and family. But this is a very big problem children face across the globe, irrespective of economic status, religion, gender, caste and creed. As per research, it is said that more than 90% of the CSA cases go unreported, but those children lose their childhood and carry the burden even as adults. Most of the times, the abuse is carried out by known people.

CII Young Indians drive awareness, action and advocacy towards helping our society to be cognizant of the perils of CSA and how we can enable our young minds a safe environment and future. This project is named ‘MASOOM’ which means “the innocent”. Masoom is one of the flagship initiatives at CII YI with a wide reach across the country interfacing teachers, caregivers, and students.

We at Avakaasha Foundation, sensed the opportunity to serve the rural community in this regard. We collaborated with CII Young Indians on a ‘Train the trainer’ certification for teachers. Since the schools weren’t reopened for children, we utilized the virtual platform and planned training for teachers across different schools of Udupi and Kundapur Taluk, Karnataka, India. The session by Ms. Ashwini, from Muktha Foundation held on 15th and 16th of July 2021 was received very well by the attendees. We had a good interactive participation from 32 teachers despite the rain and network issues.

7. Enabling virtual learning & access to better content

Learning from online platforms has become the norm today in schools. However remote schools faced issues. Our teachers  were accessing online information and managing online classes with limited mobile data. With restrictions on usage, teaching time too was limited. This was impacting the teaching and learning process.

We, at Avakaasha Foundation found a way to make this cycle of learning easier for teachers and students. We found a way to bring in the internet connections to the associated schools – Government schools of Amasebailu, Molahalli , KPS Bidkalkatte and Kuthyar. We are happy to report that since 6th Sep 2021, our schools have been able to use the internet connectivity successfully.

Since implementation of this project our schools are able to  manage their online classes effectively and this has benefited both  students and rural community.  

8.  Computer Learning Centers

Admissions to most of the rural Government schools have increased in last 2 years; however infrastructure in some of these schools still remains a drawback when it comes to provide quality education to rural children. Considering these schools are in remote areas of Karnataka, availability of working computers, internet connectivity is a challenge. We provided internet connectivity to four of our associated schools.

Mitel donated monitors, laptops and projectors. We procured CPUs for these monitors and built computer labs for our associated schools. Apart from the schools associated with us, few more rural schools also got the computers as part of this project.

Schools benefited with this project so far – 15 – GHPS Amasebailu, KPS Bidkalkatte, GHPS Molahalli, Vidyadayini Higher Primary School Kuthyar, GHPS Rattadi, GHPS Machhattu, GHPS Jaddinagadde, GLPS Kela, GPS Kelasunka, GLPS Holebagilu, GLPS Goliangadi, GLPS Kondadi, GHPS Nadaburu, GHPS Ballane, GHPS Hale Amasebailu. 

9. Distribution of books

1.  In 2021 the Foundation has provided 25 sets of textbooks to Lower Kindergarten and Upper Kindergarten classes of Molhalli School, Udupi District, Karnataka
2.  The Foundation has also provided notebooks to a remote school in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Projects in Progress:

1.  Building smart learning center with internet, computer and projector facility for schools in need.

2.  Providing books and learning material for schools in need.

3.  Project MASOOM – Train the Teachers and Children against child sexual abuse in collaboration with CII Young Indians Bengaluru.