Nearly 200 adolescent girls at Poonthura in the city will be provided support in areas such as learning, emotional skills, and health and hygiene by Kanal Innovations, a charitable trust that works among school and college students, as part of Project Changathi. The project has been rolled out to empower underprivileged adolescent girls, particularly from coastal areas, using a range of interventions with mentorship as a key strategy.
Kanal had in 2019 set up a Vayanaidam in Poonthura that is now being managed by Cherurashmi, a voluntary association. Project Changathi is a follow-up to the Vayanaidam that was envisaged as a reading space for children that would bring about a positive transformation in them.
Issues identified
Kanal had earlier identified many issues among children in the coastal areas such as child abuse, nutritional deficiencies, social isolation, dropping out of school, and broken families. Accordingly, the interventions focus on the girls’ comprehensive development – physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, educational, and social.
Anson P.D. Alexander, founder of Kanal, says they will focus only on early adolescents, specifically those in Class VII, at a Poonthura school where a majority of the students are from economically weak backgrounds. Changathi is a bio-psycho-social care and support programme through which leadership, confidence, and goals will be imparted to the girls through consistent engagement by two case workers till April next year.
This mentorship will prove critical in enhancing the children’s confidence and motivation, nudging them towards personal and professional growth. The daily engagement will be guided by a training module that includes psychometric assessment, psycho-social intervention, child nutrition profiling, life skill training, parent management training, menstrual hygiene training, art therapy, leadership and community projects, and theatre camps, all with the help of NGOs in the area.
Not only will time be allotted for this at the school, but also at weekends, holidays, and vacations outside school hours to bring about a transformation in their habits, attitudes, and beliefs, he says. Infoblox, a Technopark-based company is the CSR partner for Changathi.
Singer G. Venugopal, former chairperson of the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Shobha Koshy, and Thiruvananthapuram Subcollector Aswathy Srinivas will be present at the launch of Project Changathi on June 30.
