Udayan

Vision: Our goal is for Indian society to embrace youngsters whose families have been impacted by leprosy, and for them to develop, flourish, pick up moral values, reach their full potential, and live long, happy, healthy, and respectable lives.

Mission: Udayan disrupts the cycle of intergenerational leprosy. We empower the children of leprosy-affected families by giving them space to develop, learn, and become self-sufficient. These children and their families will "rise above leprosy" via education, personality development, and employment opportunities.

Location: The children under our care hail from seven districts of West Bengal, i.e., Purulia, West and East Medinipur, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, North 24 Parganas, Bakura and Kolkata. These are the colonies where we are active – Piyardoba, Kalyanpur, Adra, Jamunabadh, Simonpur, Durgapur, Kakordanga, Rahmatdanga, Lachipur, Barakar, Snehapur, Jhargram, Bachurdoba, Nimpura, Tatigeria, Kakinara, Titagarh, Devnagar, and Gandhi Ashram.

Project Details
Educational support to 270 children from kindergarten to 12 th standard: All of the youngsters in Udayan are enrolled in age-appropriate courses at Udayan Vidyalaya and government schools. The youngsters receive subject-specific private tutoring help. Children receive stationery and books. Secondary school students visited historical sites such as Murshidabad (Hazar Duari built by Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah of Bengal in the nineteenth century) and Shantiniketan (home of Rabindranath Tagore). The primary school students visited the Alipur Zoo and the Birla Science Museum. All 270 children also received school bags.

Digital literacy: Our 270 children are regularly attending computer classes. These are equipped with ten desktop computers and four laptops connected to a projector and internet network.

Educational support to 23 boys for 11 th and 12 th standard: During the financial year 2022-23, 23 children in the eleventh and twelfth grades were provided with books, admission fees, school fees, uniforms, shoes, and socks. These youngsters were able to complete their academic sessions safely.

Home care, support, physical and emotional development of the 270 children: Udayan provided two sets of home uniforms and slippers to all the children. In the evening, the children at Udayan enjoy playing various sports like cricket, football, basketball, and badminton. A sports instructor visited Udayan and taught the children physical fitness, provided technical support, and motivated them to practice football, cricket, and other sports. Udayan also takes care of the children’s emotional and mental health by regularly conducting individual and group counselling sessions by the child counsellor.

Other activities: The children of Udayan routinely attend arts and crafts classes, music, dance, yoga, karate, and tabla sessions on the Udayan premises. Aside from intellectual growth, they participate in social and moral development activities, such as resilience-building workshops led by teachers, house brothers, and mothers. Children in the eighth and higher grades attend career counselling and aspiration-building seminars. Five of our children are currently receiving MDT for leprosy treatment, and seven have recovered from the disease this year. This fiscal year, Udayan held skin screening, dental, eye, and ENT camps for all children. We also conducted reproductive and sexual health education for adolescents.

Learnings over the past year: The FLN workshop attended by Udayan Vidyalaya teachers in 2022 has helped them to teach subjects with ease and efficiency. The Leadership Well-being Training for the administration team has proven to be helpful to the organization.

Plan for the next 1 to 3 years:

Vertical expansion of Udayan’s activities –

1. To focus on the existing programs like education (from 1 st to 12 th standard), vocational and professional support after 12 th standard, and nutrition support to all the 270 children staying inside Udayan premises.
2. Establishment of Early Education Centres in the leprosy colonies to provide education to three to
   six years old children.
3. Formal school education support to the children of leprosy colonies.
4. Vocational and professional support to the children from the leprosy colonies.