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Support tribal children

CHALLENGES
FACED BY
TRIBAL CHILDREN

As you enter a typical tribal village here, you can’t help but notice the large numbers of children running around, dressed in school uniform. They have nothing else to wear and nothing else to do. They graze goats, play with marbles and go to a school that has no teachers. Some of them are orphans, living with grandparents. Others are from single-parent families. The children whose parents are alive, migrate every year for work. Eventually, these children too will be part of a large number of youth who migrate seasonally. A residential model is, therefore, very important to ensure learning.

THE NEED FOR A RESIDENTIAL CAMPUS

Even among high school students, the dropout rate is as high as 25%. Children finishing high school do not have strong prospects to look forward to. Skilling initiatives have failed due to lack of basic skills among children and unwillingness to migrate long-term. The tribal community depends on subsistence farming or seasonal migration to cities, typically 2 times a year. The examples that come through education that can inspire children, are simply not there. Since average annual household income is Rs. 30,000, the need for children to start contributing financially to their families, is very high. 

ABOUT
MRIDA

We have spent the last 10 years, trying to change things for tribal children in eastern MP through our residential model. Now, I need your support to ensure that we can reach  more children in the next 10 years.

Integrated Education Model: Rural Education in its content and delivery has to be skill-oriented from class 9- 12 and mastery of certain subjects should be made into a mission to equip rural youth. 

We have developed pathways for tribal children that will secure stable incomes of Rs.20,000-25,000 per month
(current average annual HH income is Rs. 30,000).
Sports
with a focus on Football where children train to play football professionally and join football academies and clubs, selected through a competitive process.
Technology
with a focus on coding where high school children are taught to code, starting from the very basic – Scratch programming to Python.
education
Higher Education through Scholarships and tapping
the Sports Quota
Specializations
in Allied fields like Army, Primary School teachers, encouraging to for D. Ed course, Agri business and football coaching through AIFF.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED?

Our
Programs

Nurturing Excellence

A total of 3 children – 1 girl and 2 boys – selected in multi-round trials at Minerva FC, ATK Mohun  Bagan Youth Academy and Gokulam Kerala FC, the first to play football  professionally in the region in 2022-23

First-ever all tribal girls team from the region qualified from MP for the Subroto Cup 2022, beating teams from Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Gwalior, Indore and Ujjain and played in Delhi at the Ambedkar Stadium.

Two of the girls won scholarships worth Rs. 25,000, awarded to top 25 players of the  tournament 
Won the CEL hackathon for two consecutive years (2022-23, 2021-22). This  sees participation of 250+ children from 10 cities across India

100 percent of our middle and high school children – all first-generation  learners, know email, basic computer operations and can find information on  their own from the internet

Our students won the best robot design award at IIT Indore and have also  participated in events at IIIT Jabalpur in 2018-19  
Our team of teachers and students grew ashwagandha in 2020-21 (COVID) on 25 acres of land in the region.

They have also planned and partly implemented food forestry in 50 acres of  land.

Made, packaged and sold 100 kgs of laddoos out of local produce – kodo and  kutki millets and mahua  
Our first batch of students wrote their class 10 board exam, many of them the first in their family to do so

CHOOSE HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US.

Hostel & Sports Building

Donate INR 51,500 this includes Payment gateway charges.

Any amount of your choice

Includes Payment gateway charges.

or

Donate regularly through a monthly subcription

or

You can also choose to do a bank transfer.

Account holder’s name: Mrida Education and Welfare Society | Bank: Central Bank of India| Branch: Mohgaon| Account number: 3732264642| IFSC Code: CBIN0281549| *Donations to Mrida are 50% exempt under 80G of Income Tax. Mrida holds 80G, 12A and the CSR1 registration and is fully compliant with all CSR and IT guidelines.

HOW YOUR FUNDS WILL BE UTILIZED?

Infrastructure

The total estimated project cost of the Narmada Valley Residential Campus is Rs. 5 crore. Of this, Stage 1 is expected to cost Rs. 2.31 crore – this will include a ground floor hostel dormitory, staff quarters and the football ground. The Campus will serve a total of 300 tribal girls and boys from 6 years to 17 years who will stay there, get trained and compete at district, state, national and international levels. All of these children will be enrolled in schools in Mandla district and will complete education till Class 12. Post Class 12, children will be prepared and sent for trials, they will be prepared for entrance exams to the armed forces and others will be prepared and placed in careers in coaching and areas linked to sports.

Running Costs

In FY 2023-24, we intend to work with a total of 3000 children across our programs. Our total annual budget is estimated to be Rs. 2 crore, which includes food, accommodation, training and competition opportunities, schooling and school materials, clothing for 150 children, only schooling for another 150 and village-level programs for 2700 children spread across 3 districts in eastern MP.

HOW YOU CAN HELP TRANSFORM AN ENTIRE REGION?

Your support will help us build and develop a Centre of Excellence for Sports. This is important so that extremely poor tribal children from eastern MP have a chance to build a career in sports that they have a core aptitude for. This will build on all the work that my team and I have put in, for the last 10 years in this region.

It will also help us influence the Government of Madhya Pradesh to ensure that sport doesn’t remain restricted to cities and offer a grassroots structure and system so talent is discovered, regardless of their geographical location.

If you sign up for Infrastructure support, you will get a chance to be featured on our physical wall that will be part of our Campus. We will be happy to host you and your family in Mandla and you will get the opportunity to spend time with our children. In addition, you will also get quarterly updates about our work and the satisfaction that you helped transform an entire region.

Why are we reaching ISB Alumni Community rather than approach Corporates? We are 3 hours away from Jabalpur, on the border of MP and Chhattisgarh, not in proximity to any large corporates. Digvijay and I started this with our own savings. Over the last 7 years, we have built a base of 300+ donors and have got corporate Partners such as Amazon, BCG Partners, Union Bank of India and Reliance Foundation who have supported different areas of our work. However, funding for capex, especially in an impoverished area, is hard to come by. We have sent proposals to Indian Oil and a few others but haven’t gained traction.

Yes, we are always looking for volunteers who are passionate about working with tribal children in sports and education. As an NGO dedicated to improving the lives of these tribal children, we rely on the support of volunteers to help us achieve our mission. Whether you have experience in coaching sports or teaching, or simply have a desire to make a positive impact, we welcome your involvement in our organization. Together, we can provide these children with the tools they need to succeed in life and create a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

Join the movement and help us reach our goal of
3000+ tribal children.

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