TOUCH BRIDGE SCHOOL
This is a School Readiness Programme through an informal education system for street children. A well-equipped bus goes to various locations where street children are not able to attend formal schools. Currently this project runs for around 125+ street children who belong to families with no proper shelter and livelihood -living on footpaths, under flyovers or foot over-bridges.
TOUCH staff & volunteers engage these children through games, songs, plays, stories along with modern audio-visual instruments to impart education in an attractive and easy to understand way. Children are provided daily nutritional supplement during these sessions. Regular health checkup of these children helps in providing them preventive health care interventions.
TOUCH BALGRAM
Village: Vihigaon, Tal: Shahapur, Dist.: Thane,Maharashtra)
It is an extension of Bridge School. Children motivated to receive education, but without a proper shelter ,with the consent of their parents/guardians are given shelter at Balgram.and provided all basic facilities like food, lodging, health-checkups, extra-curricular activities etc. with the help of housemothers as well as qualified teachers and trainers . These children also attend a formal school with the other local children.
MIDAS TOUCH: CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
Children from underprivileged families pursuing their education find it difficult to get all the educational resources and support from their families due to poor financial conditions.
The MIDAS TOUCH educational child sponsorship programme for children from BPL family/ Dysfunctional family/ Single-Parent family works on a three guardian(child’s parent,TOUCH,Sponsor) per child principle . TOUCH coordinates between the child’s guardian and the funding partners to provide seamless and hurdle free education to the child. By utilising the sponsorship donations, TOUCH provides much needed educational material, edutainment activities and counselling thereby taking financial burden off the parent’s shoulders. This prevents school dropouts due to financial constraints of parents.
MIDAS TOUCH is currently supporting education of 4000 plus children in various districts of Maharashtra (Marathwada, Konkan, Vidharbha, Belgaum) and in various other States (West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Assam).
TOUCH TEXTBOOK BANK
TOUCH has a network of textbook-banks that store and circulate textbooks of higher studies and university education in India. Rural students pursuing higher studies but without sufficient resources are benefited through this network of textbook banks. These textbook banks are present at Shahapur in Thane District, Chiplun in Ratnagiri District, Gondia and Mumbai.
More than 2000 students are benefitted from these textbook
TOUCH ASHA SADAN
The male children brought up in orphanages are left to fend for themselves after 18 years. Asha Sadan is a home for orphans above 18 years. TOUCH strives to support them throughout the process of completing education and also encourages them to pursue higher studies and supports for the same.
RESIDENTIAL SHELTER is the ultimate solution for students where they can stay along with their peers, study and increase the capacity of gaining knowledge and help them to stand on their feet and lead a prosperous life. ASHA SADAN has an accommodation capacity of 15 students. We have 9 youngsters in Asha Sadan pursuing higher education.
TOUCH VOCATIONAL TRAINING
A. Women Empowerment
The Sewing training has been started by TOUCH at Vihigaon, Shahapur, District Thane since last year for tribal women .Many of the products were enthusiastically purchased at events where they were exhibited .We plan to train more women regularly and connect them to potential end users which will ensure the earning.
We plan to start leadership development among the beneficiaries. Once satisfactory leadership is developed & required training is given, the control of the programme will be handed over to them.
B. Computer Literacy
TOUCH provides free basic knowledge of Computer and Technology to Tribal youth in villages around Balgram
Majority of these unskilled beneficiaries will thus be able to perform basic daily computer based tasks easily. Providing the skills and vocational training will increase the confidence of the youth to get better job opportunities. This will motivate them to encourage their peers to take advantage of the programme and be benefited.
DISHA CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS
The substandard and poor quality of education in rural areas fails to ignite the spark in the minds of these children for education. This leads to high school drop outs in rural areas.
Child development centers address this issue by conducting non formal activities for rural children to improve their academic and non-academic abilities through promotion of sports, arts, crafts and reading. This is a structured programme on daily basis.
Children are also provided with supplemental nutrition daily to check the problem of malnutrition prevalent in rural areas.
As a result children are sustaining in education and are dreaming big in their lives.
HEALING TOUCH
Healing TOUCH is low cost but high impact measures to arrest the disease or infirmity at the root cause, through mass screening of rural /tribal /street children
TOUCH identifies and intervenes in correctable physical, visual and hearing handicap which may have a grave effect on normal development of the child. Mass deworming and correction of micro nutrition save the children from vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition through healing TOUCH program.
TOUCH Sports Academy (Proposed)
TOUCH center is running its Balgram covering children transferred from Bridge school where children get homely atmosphere to groom from last 3 years and needs support for infrastructural changes with modern sport equipment’s for students to carry regular sport practice in child friendly atmosphere.
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