Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hello friends,
The annual report for the financial year April 1, 2018– March 31, 2019 of our projects
is being sent very late. Many apologies for that. Our work has expanded a great
deal and our available resources have not kept up with it. More over, our work in
semi rural areas has taken off very well but new situations crop up there constantly.
Bastis (‘slums’) in Mumbai have filled up. Accommodation in them is difficult and
expensive. The poor now coming in search of livelihood from backward regions in
India are increasingly settled in border districts of Thane and Palghar. We have
added four centres in the villages of Kalyan-Dombivli area in Thane district. These
have now been included in a large urban Municipal Corporation with no additional
facilities that residents in urban areas have. Of these, an area called Netivli-Patripul
has been served with no one funding the work there as yet. Vacha staff has
volunteered to take up the responsibility of running centres there. Of these, Netivli
village is on a hill where as patri pul is called that because the entire area has a
largish hutment colony made entirely from patri i.e, tin sheds that get very hot in
afternoons. We had hired a small hut. We are expecting support for more intensive
work in the area. Response of the participants has been high and their initiatives
heart-warming.
The regular 15 centres are doing fine. You will get the details in the report. We have
added two more in areas affected by a new metro line. Our main focus is girls in
early adolescence. However, we have another programme for 14 plus youth who
now become peer mentors and also make presentations of girls’ and youth issues
from various platforms.
We thank you for your support and goodwill. They do much more for us than one
could imagine. So thanks again.
Board of Trustees:
Dineshwari Thonse
Meenal Patel
Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Dr.Veena Devasthali
Sonal Shukla , Managing Trustee
3 15 48 5
6
Districts Communities Schools Colleges
Wards
Vacha has impacted 1430 Girls and 738 Boys through regular empowering
activities and sessions across its 15 centres in deprived communities.
Vacha has reached out to 1022 Mothers through meetings across 15 centres
and created support groups for girls. A self help group has been established
in one community.
OUR PROGRAMMES
AGE GROUP : AGE GROUP : AGE GROUP : AGE GROUP : AGE GROUP :
10 - 13 years 10 - 18 years 16 - 24 years
14 - 18 years 16 - 35 years
In order to make teaching—learning more efficient, we have divided our children across levels –1,2
and 3 in English and Computer based on the pre and post test data. In English, level 1 deals with
introduction to English and some basic grammar concepts like nouns, verbs etc., while level 2 deals
with some advance grammar concepts like degrees of comparison, interrogative sentences, use of
dictionary and conversation in English and in level 3 we teach them comprehension and spoken
English. In Computer, level 1 deals with understanding basic computer functions and introduction to
word and paint, while level 2 includes advanced Word and introduction to PPT and Publisher and
level 3 deals with introduction to Excel , formulas, social networking and internet handling.
This year, we are delighted to have 124 participants in Level 3 across 15 centres which indicates that
they have advanced their knowledge in English and Computers.
Level Wise division of our Girls From the adjoining figures, it can be noted
across 15 centres that 320 girls were in level 1, 189 girls were
98 in level 2 and 98 girls were in level 3 while
113 boys were in level 1, 47 boys were in
320 level 2 and 26 boys were in level 3.
189
Number of Respondants
208
800
39
600
678
16
400
200
47
HB Improve less than 2 Count HB Improvement between 4.1 & 6 Count
7
0
HB Improve Drop Count HB Improve more than 2 Count Yes No
HB Improvement above 6.1 Count HB Constant Count No Answer
The above figure highlights the post test results, The above figure highlights the post test results, 957
where 678 program participants have reported adolescents confirmed that they understood TB is
improvement of H.B of less than 2 points which contagious which has been possible due to
has been possible only because of the key dedicated sessions held on Tuberculosis (TB)
intervention strategies adopted by Vacha. repeatedly with the programme participants.
Interventions by Vacha
Connected TB patients with Govt. hospitals and Primary Health Centres for medication and treatment.
Constant monitoring involved follow ups with respective programme participants and doctors to under-
stand if the patients were taking the needed treatment in a timely manner.
Two health camps were organised for anaemic programme participants to monitor their daily meals and
provide nutritional supplements
The doses of iron tablets, nutritional supplements and incessant family counselling to effectuate a change
in diet pattern have proved to be beneficial.
Aarti, aged 16 years lives with her family of 9 who migrated to Mumbai from Sangli a decade ago. Both her
parents have been working as contract labour in factories. With their busy lives of making ends meet to
support a large family they did not have the time to think of their health. In 2018 after our awareness work on
health, Aarti was diagnosed with TB, this was a huge blow to the family. Vacha guided the family for her
treatment, she was referred to the Primary Health Centre in Vasai. Her HB levels dropped from 8 to 6.5 as she
also developed a hole in her heart. With consultations at the Government hospital in Vasai, Aarti was
suggested to not go for surgery unless her HB levels improved. Today, with support of Vacha and RPG
Foundation her HB has improved and the hole in heart has reduced in size with medication.
17 year old Nafisa (name changed) has been associated with Vacha for the last
5 years. She is in her second year of Commerce stream. She enjoys singing and
guiding younger programme participants in writing articles for their youth
newsletter. She likes to participate in street play and tutoring those who require
help in studies . Her helping and approachable nature has attracted many
younger programme participants to reach out to her for any que-
ries. When she first joined Vacha, she would barely communi-
cate and was not allowed for overnight stays. However, as time
passed by, she has now gained confidence to voice her opinion and
negotiate on matters of individual freedom with her family. She has
attended various capacity building training programs out of Mumbai
and has convinced her parents for overnight stays for training
programs.
Nafisa, got a scholarship through Vacha without which she would not
have been able to go to college. Her father, a small time fisherman,
has had very limited schooling. The scholarship takes care of her
semester fees, travel and provides for her needs for nutritional inputs, books,
stationary and sanitary pads. We thank Shadhika Foundation and Meenal
Mamdani for their support.
MENTORSHIP
One of our objective is to encourage basti youth to own the project so we
create opportunities for them to utilise skills, we im-
part for working for their own communities. Mentoring
younger participants by seniors is important for this.
In this capacity 63 girl mentors and 17 boy mentors
have been active in training younger members in
Computers and interventions in community actions.
Peer mentors have helped our younger members in
the online admission process, writing application to
the school/college principals and convincing girls'
parents/relatives for their education.
Youth Council
Participants in the age group of 13—17 years who
have been regular and most active have been
elected by others to become members in Youth
Council across 13 centers.
The councils have joint meetings once in two
months to discuss current socio-economic issues
and often share their areas of interest and ask for
Vacha’s interventions. Vacha has conducted work-
shops to build their capacity on understanding Youth Council members
constitutional rights and responsibilities during this period. making a presentation
RESOURCE CREATION
This year we have launched two new publications :
‘Mahilaon par Prashnavali’ a Quiz book in Hindi, in
tends to break the conventional idea of quiz books
and TV shows that were largely men centric for
highlighting women achievers in various fields as we use these
books to run sessions in bastis;
‘Balkishori: Girls in Early Adolescence’ a handbook in English on Puberty and Menstrua-
tion focusing on breaking the taboo and myths related to girls’ mobility with some worldwide
data on health and education of adolescent girls.
See all our publications at- http://www.vacha.org.in/resources/publications/
OUTREACH
EVENTS &
NUMBERS
REACHED BY
VACHA
Participants from the trainings shared the following insights post the training :
Participants stated that they were unaware that patriarchy affects men too.
Participants stated that they now believe that society can function effectively only when both
men and women consider each other
equal.
Participants were now aware about gender
concepts more clearly.
Session with college girls on ‘Women and Dignity’ Gender & Health Fair at Shahapur
Radha, one of our program participants and girl leaders , presented as a young panelist in a
city level youth symposium organized by the NGO SNEHA. She shared her own menstrua-
tion experiences and overall myths observed in her community. Radha also discussed
about a Vacha Publication- “Puberty, Poverty and Gender-Girls Speak about Menstruation”,
a book , also translated and published in Hindi and Marathi. Her presentation was highly
appreciated by the experts, key note speakers, the attendees and her fellow panelists.
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung organized ‘Political Feminism in Asia Future Lab’ an Asia-
wide gender-inclusive network of progressive feminists and political economists mainly
from their partner organizations across Asia. Medhavinee Namjoshi representing Vacha
was in the group that launched Mango Meter an intersectional feminist film viewing app
about the stereotyping and discriminatory content of films and other media.
This year on the Global Campaign of ‘16 Days of Activism’ held from 25th Nov. to 10th Dec,
we worked on various aspects such as socio- economic and legal related to elimination of
violence against women. This year, our programme
participants across 15 bastis conducted multiple
events in Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivali through
rallies, photo exhibitions, fairs, street plays, film
screenings, signature campaigns, online poetry,
storytelling and other awareness activities on
sexual harassment, unsafe public spaces and
gender-based violence. These events witnessed an
overall participation from more than 800
community girls, and was attended by more than
3000 people which included residents, people from
nearby schools/colleges, local leaders, police,
corporators, other community-based organizations and social workers. One such event in
Bharat Nagar and Sant Gnyanaeshwar Nagar was conducted in collaboration with Action Aid
India.
ary education. 80 81
74
40
Almost 64% girls were able to attend sec-
ondary school but only 3% out of those GIRLS DROP ADDICTION WATER TOILET RATION MENTAL TB
OUT CARD HEALTH
girls pursue junior college. Issues Identified across 9 communities
Only 15% girls have rights on technology like The above chart indicates the number
of respondents interviewed across dif-
mobiles etc. at home.
ferent issues.
Team Members: 29
Volunteers: 16
Interns: 21
(Rupees in
ASSETS Lacs) Percentage
Fixed Assets 155 48.3%
Investment 39 12.1%
Loans and
Balances 4 1.2%
Cash and Bank
Account 122 38.0%
(Rupees in
INCOME Lacs) Percentage
Overhead charges
in projects 16 7%
(Rupees
EXPENDITURE in Lacs) Percentage
We are accredited on Global Giving and GuideStar India for accountability and
credibility.
All donations to Vacha are exempt under section 80G of the Income tax Act.
REGISTERED OFFICE:
5, BHAVNA, S.V.ROAD, VILE PARLE (WEST), MUMBAI– 400 056, INDIA.
E-MAIL: vachamail@gmail.com
PROJECT OFFICE:
D-53/ 1144, ANUPAM SOCIETY, AZAD NAGAR, VEERA DESAI ROAD,
ANDHERI (WEST), MUMBAI– 400 058, INDIA.
E-MAIL: admin@vacha.org.in