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Dear Friends,

I would like to take a few minutes of your time, if I may, to tell you about what you will find in this newsletter. As you turn the pages, you will read incredible stories that you have helped make possible.

What you will not read here however is that almost 50% of our children continue to die due to lack of nourishing food after birth or because of malnutrition. You won’t see images of an estimated 10 million children that are forced by circumstances to do forms of work, often in hazardous or exploitative conditions. You will definitely not read about girl children killed in infancy – or even while they are still in their mother’s womb – just because they are girls.

You won’t read about them, but CRY works towards giving children a future full of opportunities. We appreciate your continuous partnership with us. It is the support that we receive from individuals and institutions that has enabled our efforts over the last 35 years. It has helped us change things for the better, to make a difference permanently in the lives of children.

But, as the numbers tell you, there is lots more to be done. And your support, your partnership will permit us to do just that. It will allow us to ensure children are educated, healthy and protected. Your solidarity is needed today, more than ever.

This CRY in Action newsletter is dedicated to each one of you who joined us in our ultimate goal of giving India’s children a happy, healthy and creative childhood.

With faith and goodwill,

Puja MarwahaChief ExecutiveCRY-Child Rights and You

P.S. Please write in to webinfo@crymail.org with your feedback. It will guide us and help us be more effective at what we do.

Over 9 lakh children impacted because of you

1.4 million people say YES to Child Rights

Before every election, politicians debate key issues that the country is concerned about inflation, corruption, and many more. One significant issue that both citizens and politicians should take seriously but often don't, is the issue of child rights. Every day, millions of Indian children are denied their fundamental rights to education, healthcare and safety. And although the country’s youth is critical to our present and future, not enough action is taken to improve this situation.

Prior to the 16th Lok Sabha Elections 2014, CRY launched the Election Advocacy Campaign to make child rights a national priority. This nationwide campaign sensitised citizens on the status of children in India and urged them to vote for child rights.

CRY garnered over 1.4 million pledges, unanimously demanding that

the nation make children a top priority. Because of your continuous encouragement and commitment to the cause, CRY was able to hold meetings with over 140 political leaders and representatives, urging them to include child-friendly policies in their respective party manifestos. Media houses and publications covered articles on children's issues (more than 300 articles), so that thousands of households reading them could be made aware of the situation of children in India.

People from all walks of life joined CRY in its efforts to put children first. Thousands of people in villages and cities across India, volunteers with CRY, youth and student groups in colleges, over 35 celebrities, employees from nearly 30 corporates offices, networks and groups organised activities such as awareness drives, flash mobs, a cycle rally, Harley Davidson bike rally, workshops and football matches to garner support for the cause.

What we have achieved together in this campaign has laid the foundation for changing the lives of underprivileged children in India. CRY thanks everyone for their support in making this possible

and enabling each of us to be accountable to the children of this country, today and for their future.

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CHANGE MADE POSSIBLE Recipe to fight malnutrition

mentioned in the submitted list and committed to focus attention on improving the health of malnourished children. They also assured the CRY

volunteers that all children in the area would receive proper healthcare and nutrition, all thanks to the survey.

Bangalore: A lot can be achieved together, if we put our minds and hearts to it. And CRY volunteers have proven it time and again. Around May-June of 2013, CRY volunteers conducted a survey to study the various aspects of malnutrition, the government schemes introduced to address it as well as the number of malnourished children in the Aanganwadis in Jeevan Bima Nagar, Bangalore. The data of the children was taken from the official records maintained by Aanganwadi centres and physically verified by CRY volunteers who assisted in weighing the children.

The list of children found to be malnourished was submitted to the Child Development Protection Officers (CDPOs) of the areas with a request for action. One of the CDPOs forwarded the list to the Aanganwadi supervisors in her area for further implementation.

This development was also covered by a leading publication on January 28, 2014. The CDPO responsible for Jeevan Bima Nagar area took note of this and organised a thorough check-up of the children who were

Celebrating 600 happy childhoodsDelhi: CRY’s late founder Rippan Kapur once said, “The responsibility of change lies with us”. This was very much evident with the Hindustan Times’ enrollment campaign called ‘You Read, They Learn’ in June-July 2013. The readers of Hindustan Times (HT) and CRY volunteers came together in Delhi-NCR area with the aim to get drop-out children, back in schools.

Around 284 HT readers registered themselves as volunteers for this campaign and were led under the guidance of the CRY volunteers. CRY

volunteers filed Right to Information (RTI) applications and conducted field surveys to find out the number of children who were out of school, and thus work began.

Renowned cricketer Gautam Gambhir took part in one of the orientation sessions held on the 23rd and 29th of June 2013 to show his support and motivate the volunteers to make a difference. HT and CRY volunteers visited nine zones, knocked on doors, engaged with parents on the importance of education and collected data on children currently

out of school. The outcome - 600 children were enrolled back in school in the Delhi-NCR region through this initiative. Volunteers continue to track the attendance levels of these children to ensure that the enrolled students attend school regularly.

“This campaign triggered a new passion in me towards volunteering for child rights, as I came to know about the ground realities that deprive children of education. I now want to focus on these reasons

through various campaigns. It is necessary to focus on children’s education in order to have a prosperous future for the nation,” shared CRY volunteer Divyanshu Singh from Delhi, who champions the cause with immense positivity.

Volunteers help serve it rightWest Bengal: The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is a programme of the Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-going children. Yet, there are many gaps in the implementation of this scheme in schools. Five volunteer groups took up a study to assess the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme in 25 schools in four wards / Panchayats in Kolkata and Kharagpur, West Bengal in April 2013. The volunteers were trained to use survey tools like interview schedules, focus group discussions and questionnaires to gather data.

Volunteers observed serious gaps in the quality and delivery of mid-day meals in these schools. Issues ranged from irregularity to poor quality food.

The objective of the assessment survey was to ensure authorities take action to ensure good quality and proper delivery of mid-day meals in schools, volunteers put together a report. State Commission for the

Protection of Child Rights took note of the report and has made references to the data while making recommendations to the government of West Bengal for improvements.CRY volunteer study included:

• Lack of awareness in the community and among students about the entitlements under the MDM Scheme

• State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights took note of the report and referred to the data while making recommendations to the government for improvements

Child Rights champions at workMumbai: Armed with an authorisation letter from CRY, young graduates, Priyanka Nanavati and seven of her friends, went from door to door in a residential complex over a weekend and collected old newspapers, telling

people about the cause of child rights they champion. The result? After two weekends of visiting neighbours, they raised Rs. 20,000 which they donated to ensure change for children. Priyanka shared, “CRY has given us a

platform to bring out our real selves. We are here to stop children from crying and show them a new tomorrow. It has given me an opportunity to give back to the society and help change lives, bringing back

a lost ray of hope. As a vigilant member of society, I support CRY.”Priyanka and her friends proved that no challenge is big if you have the will to succeed. CRY thanks Priyanka and her friends who believe in building a better today for our children.

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ART OF GIVING

Some relationships get stronger with each passing year, and that is exactly what we have with Marico. Nihar Naturals provides a platform for women across India to come together and enable children’s education. While education is a concern that is seen as critical to the future of India’s children, access to schools is limited. Inadequate staff, limited classrooms and poor infrastructure further act as deterrents. As part of the ‘Chotte Kadam Pragati Ki Aur’ initiative, 2% of all proceeds from the sale of Nihar Shanti Amla are contributed to the cause of children’s education.

In year one, the initiative impacted 36,058 children across 19 states in India. In year two, Nihar Shanti Amla & CRY partnered to develop a mobile phone based tutorial, to help children learn common English words in an

Marico Nihar Shanti Amla - Chotte kadam pragati ki aurengaging and fun-filled manner. A novel concept, where one needs to give a missed call on a toll free number, post which they will receive a call back with a recorded message taking the children through a learning module that is interesting and holds the child’s attention. Given the increased penetration and usage of mobile phones today, this initiative has reached far and wide, impacting 1.4 lakh unique callers.

CRY thanks Marico for their continued support. This is a relationship that goes beyond to add value to our work and drive change.

Worldoo is an online platform which provides a combination of various activities ranging from movies, education, games, music to children. Tara, a CRY initiative, was created to enable children, who earn ‘stars’ by engaging on the site, and share them with children from underprivileged communities so that they can have access to education and health. Tara received an overwhelming response from children across India. The initiative collected close to 7.5 lakh stars in a period of just six months.

This partnership has helped brighten the future of many children and CRY

www.worldoo.comappreciates Worldoo for extending their partnership in making this happen.

Microsoft India Development Center’s ‘Giving Campaign’ has been contributing towards making children in India a priority for eight years. Microsoft has successfully motivated more and more employees to contribute towards the cause of child rights. The NGO Day at their workplace continues to be an important platform showcasing children’s issues. To take their long-term commitment to children one step further, this year Microsoft has started directly supporting two CRY projects – Human Rights Education and Protection Council (HREPC) in Tamil Nadu and Comprehensive Health and Rural Development Society (CHARDS) in Bihar. Microsoft’s dedicated support has boosted CRY’s efforts in this journey of ensuring lasting change for children.

Microsoft makes child rights a priority

Micromax #cangifthappinessSometimes just one small step can lead to positive change. And with Micromax, we are now closer to giving children a happy childhood they deserve. In 2013, Micromax launched a Christmas #cangifthappiness campaign and partnered with CRY. Aimed at spreading the festive cheer for underprivileged children, the #cangifthappiness campaign was a unique Twitter contest for a week, where Micromax promised to donate one rupee to CRY for every tweet/retweet or shared Facebook posts with the hashtag

#cangifthappiness As a socially conscious organisation, Micromax doubled the happiness by matching the amount. Not only was this a fun, innovative campaign and the first of its kind for CRY, the over 2 lakhs worth of tweets generated awareness on child rights in the online space and united many likeminded individuals to stand for the cause of children

Thanks to Micromax and the power of social media, the festive season spread more joy in the lives of children.

The second year of CRY partnership with Hindustan Times (HT) started off on a very interesting note with the rolling out of a reader engagement activity across Delhi NCR – ‘Enroll A Child’. HT invited readers to sign up to volunteer with CRY over a month, to ensure children get access to education. Under the guidance of expert CRY volunteers, HT readers visited communities where the incidence of dropouts were particularly high and after identifying such children, facilitated their enrollment in the nearest government

schools. The readers interacted with these children and their families and discovered many stories of why children have been forced to stay away from school, along with what can be done to help them escape this situation. A total of 284 HT readers registered and successfully enrolled 600 children in one month.The enthusiastic participation by HT readers for this initiative was very heart-warming. CRY thanks HT and its readers for playing an active part of this programme and making it a huge success.

Hindustan Times - Enroll a child

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VITAL for children is a non-profit organisation and one of CRY’s Direct Project Funding Partners in the Eastern region works towards a world where no child should suffer the injustice of poverty. Yvonne, the founder is an excellent example of people who believe in making children a priority. Yvonne was looking for ways to ensure protection and realisation of children’s rights, and CRY was her ideal choice for this.

VITAL decided to fund a project helping children living at four different railway stations in West Bengal. Following the VITAL ethos of creating change with a sustainable future, this project not only rescues children living

Ensuring sustainable change with VITALin the railway stations by reuniting them with their families, it also advocates the promotion of alternative care where institutionalisation of children is the last resort and where family or parental care was not in the best interest of the child.

In the words of the founder Yvonne “All it will need is that we do not turn our faces away, that we do not walk the other way. All we need is to look at the truth, for while there are millions of street and slum children, there are also millions of us”.

CRY is immensely grateful to VITAL for taking up this project and ensuring children in West Bengal begin their journey to a happy and healthy childhood.

Holi, a festival that instantly brings out the child in us, is also a day that unsafe colours are used, harming both people and the environment with unwanted chemicals. CRY partnered with colour powder brand Rang De, the only Indian manufacturer to provide clinically tested and proven safe colours for play. With each pack bought, a certain amount of the profit

Rang Dewas given to CRY to benefit underprivileged children.

CRY is thankful to Rang De to make this initiative possible.

I am a Dalit, and the first educated girl child in my family. I grew up without any education, without proper food and clothing and without any healthcare services. I often watched the children of landlords going to school and resigned myself to my fate, assuming that I could not change my situation. However, at the age of 17, it all changed, I had the opportunity to work in some organisations and interact with other dalit children who faced similar oppression in their lives.

With the inception of the Salem People Trust, I dedicated myself to help children get out of the clutches of forced labour. In 2008, efforts by CRY gave impetus to Salem People Trust and gave me the much-needed inspiration and confidence to completely dedicate myself towards this cause.

We selected 16 Panchayats and 32 villages where bonded labour was prevalent and after conducting a survey we found out that 414 families and 1686 children were forced into labour. With the help of the government and strenuous efforts from our dedicated staff, 49 families were freed from forced labour and 198 children were sent back to school.

During this time we also found that issues like female foeticide, infanticide and child marriage were also rampant. Our survey also brought to light the problem of lack of schools, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centres and health centres for children. The denial of these basic rights to dalit children and the concurrent caste discrimination historically was seen as a priority in the operational area and strategies were discussed in Salem People’s Trust (SPT) to address these issues.

We held special classes and sessions to build children’s confidence and to make them realise that they are, in no way, less than other children of higher castes. Our programmes enabled children gain confidence and dignity in society by involving parents in their children’s holistic growth.

We worked closely with the community and formed sangams at each village with the main objective of addressing the issues affecting children. Many empowerment programmes.

were also organised that addressed issues like crimes against the children

in the society, and how they are victimised through various ways.

Through the years we were able to upgrade four government schools (two schools from primary to middle school, one from middle to high school & one high school was even upgraded to higher secondary), thereby preventing thousands of children from entering the work force. We also got new school buildings sanctioned and bus facilities so that children could go to school safely. We were able to prevent 13 child marriages and 31 foeticides in the area – all with the support of the community.

At this moment I feel an immense sense of satisfaction and fulfilment about the work I have done. The Salem People Trust is committed to creating a new society where every child is respected and all children enjoy their childhood with due respect and dignity irrespective of caste. I am thankful to CRY for their unstinting support and financial assistance.

(Salem People Trust is actively involved in making its vision of liberating children from bonded labour in Ayodhiyapatnam and Valapady blocks of Salem district in Tamil Nadu a reality. The trust ensures that children get equal opportunities through education and empowerment so that they can live with dignity.)

OP-ED A life of labour is no life at all

Ms. Jayam ManoharDirector - Salem People Trust,CRY-supported project

Referrals:Here are four people I believe would like to get involved in CRY’s efforts for Child Rights. Mention my name as a reference Yes No

Invest in children, our futuredonating to CRY for many years, I don’t even know the exact date or year. We were fortunate to have parents who could afford to look after us when we were growing up. All children are not so lucky. So it is our moral duty to extend a helping hand

Children are the future of the nation. They deserve all the care, love, education and guidance that we are capable of giving. I have been

towards children who need support.

My contribution to CRY is like a drop in the ocean. The problem before CRY is Himalayan in size. But I am happy that I am able to do something towards building our nation.

V.C. Varma, long-standing CRY Donor,Bhopal

“I started my association with CRY in 2007, but was not able to contribute anything substantial. In the rat race we forget that the greatest gift of life is giving to others – those who need it the most.

I renewed my association with CRY and helped in every which way I could. I worked in getting the community in Singapore involved with CRY, increasing the number of volunteers, seeking grants and forming partnerships. The kind of

support and encouragement provided by CRY was amazing and even though we faced challenges, we decided to keep trying and moving forward because every little bit counts. It’s not the size of the contribution, but the intent and continued support from the community that will make a difference.

Recently, when I was in Delhi, I was able to visit one of CRY’s projects in Delhi called – SWATI, a slum community project in RK Puram of about 1000 families and over 4000 people. Incidentally, I was a student at Delhi Public School in RK Puram and this slum was right adjacent to the school. Returning to this place after 12 years brought back so many memories. I remembered the stark contrast of our lives in the school and

the life adjacent to our school wall.

As we entered, I saw a setup combining a pre-school, playground, a town hall centre and a skills development centre. About 90 pre-school kids (aged 2 to 5 years), who lived in the adjoining slum, attended the preschool. It’s wonderful to see how a small two room compound with a playground can change lives. The little ones greeted us with warm smiles and this was it…seeing those bright smiles on their faces and the spark in their eyes made me realise how beautiful life can be. There is nothing in this world that could provide me with greater joy and satisfaction than to see the change in lives of children and me being a part of it!

I met the team at SWATI and was

overwhelmed with their passion and resilience. I decided to take a tour and met some of the youngsters, anganwadi workers, an accountant, an artist, and several others who had gained college education and gone on to become successful role models. The project’s continued effort over the past 20 years has trans-formed lives and I could truly see the impact taking shape now and for the future. I urge everyone to be a part of this change. This was an awakening and my genesis of true happiness-Make it yours.

Genesis of true happiness

Nishant GoyalDonor,Singapore

`3,000 - Activate primary health centers

`6,000 - Help provide early childcare, health and nutrition

`12,000 - Stop child labour, help remove children from work situations, enroll children into school

`24,000 - Support a cluster of villages to demand new schools and upgrade existing schools

` - Fill any amount you would like to contribute to CRY.

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