The India Projects are located in and around Kodaikanal town in the Western Ghat Mountains of Tamil Nadu state in Southern India. The students who participate take part in a variety of fund raising activities before the trip to support the projects. They pay for their own travel costs and accommodation for the trip which takes place over the Easter vacation. The group usually comprises students from year 10 and is open to all three campuses, la Chataigneraie, Nations and la Grand Boissière, and thus provides a unique opportunity for students from different campuses to work together.
The overall aims of the India Trip is to
- introduce students to a developing country
- carry out social service
- interact with students from a different International School
The projects
As well as travelling through and experiencing the fascinating Indian culture, the main work of the visiting team is to support several crèches in the Kodaikanal area. The crèche concept means day care, nutritious food and basic education for young children which has a ripple effect through the local community. Crèches enable mothers to go out to work, often as farm labourers, and thus raise precious income for their families. Older children are freed to attend school, rather than being involved in the care of younger siblings. Local teachers together with other school staff gain employment.
The Ecolint India project group was started in 2000 and the first trip was led by the Harrisons, in 2001, and from there, Ecolint students helped to set up and fund the establishment of two new creches, Little Lilies in 2002 and Peach Tree in 2003. The project was subsequently led by Tim Gurney, a science teacher at La Chat, and, one of many teachers, I became involved in 2004. The Harrisons, and indeed all of the teachers and students who have worked with the project over the years, have stayed closely involved with the project and, as you know, we were very lucky to have the Harrsions join us on this year's trip to help us lead the project work and to see how the creches have evolved since their last trip in 2005. There are now three creches in the Kodaikanal area, run by the Betsy Elizabeth Trust and supported by the Ecolint community, as well as other donors.
We also support a school in the tribal village of Thamaraikulam run by the Bethania Foundation in Kodaikanal, the cookstove
Ann Peck, advisor to the board of the trust, retired teacher of Kodaikanal International School and founder of Help Kids India, an organisation that raises funds through community groups in Vermont, USA, for the Betsy Elizabeth Trust. Ann is American and she now spends six months a year in the USA and six months in Kodai. She advises the board, supports Hilda in the management of the crèches, oversees the cookstove project, and helps to coordinate our Ecolint project work in India. annpeck.helpkidsindia@
Hilda Isaac, member of the board of the Betsy Elizabeth Trust and manager of the creches. She is an Indian lady who comes from a similar background to that of the creche children and is well established in the village communities where the creches are based. She was a friend of Betsy Dailey and she has managed the creches since the establishment of the first one in 1990. hildaisaacBET@yahoo.
 |
| Working with crèche children. |
The India Projects - a short history
The India Projects were started in 2001 by Kate and Dave Harrison. They were long term teachers of history and sciences at La Chataigneraie and Campus des Nations before their retirement five years ago. They spent a sabbatical year from the Foundation at Kodaikanal International School and, during their time there, they developed connections with people and projects in the local community. One such connection was with a project established by the Betsy Elizabeth Trust, which had been set up in 1990 by an American lady, Betsy Dailey, living in Kodaikanal and was managed by a local Indian lady, Hilda Isaac, overseen by the board of the trust. At the time, there was one creche only, established to provide early education to children from the most impoverished families in a village near Kodai, thus providing the children with education, nutrition and care while at the same time freeing their mothers to work as labourers in local farms and forests. The Harrsions learned about the crèche project in their time in Kodaikanal and they recognised this as an opportunity to develop an educational project based on service learning in line with the international values of the IB and our school. As contributors to the development of the IB programme and having established many service learning projects in international schools over the years, including the Tanzania project at La Chat, it seemed a natural progression to develop such a project between the two international school communities In India and Switzerland upon their return to Geneva.The Ecolint India project group was started in 2000 and the first trip was led by the Harrisons, in 2001, and from there, Ecolint students helped to set up and fund the establishment of two new creches, Little Lilies in 2002 and Peach Tree in 2003. The project was subsequently led by Tim Gurney, a science teacher at La Chat, and, one of many teachers, I became involved in 2004. The Harrisons, and indeed all of the teachers and students who have worked with the project over the years, have stayed closely involved with the project and, as you know, we were very lucky to have the Harrsions join us on this year's trip to help us lead the project work and to see how the creches have evolved since their last trip in 2005. There are now three creches in the Kodaikanal area, run by the Betsy Elizabeth Trust and supported by the Ecolint community, as well as other donors.
We also support a school in the tribal village of Thamaraikulam run by the Bethania Foundation in Kodaikanal, the cookstove
Ann Peck, advisor to the board of the trust, retired teacher of Kodaikanal International School and founder of Help Kids India, an organisation that raises funds through community groups in Vermont, USA, for the Betsy Elizabeth Trust. Ann is American and she now spends six months a year in the USA and six months in Kodai. She advises the board, supports Hilda in the management of the crèches, oversees the cookstove project, and helps to coordinate our Ecolint project work in India. annpeck.helpkidsindia@
Hilda Isaac, member of the board of the Betsy Elizabeth Trust and manager of the creches. She is an Indian lady who comes from a similar background to that of the creche children and is well established in the village communities where the creches are based. She was a friend of Betsy Dailey and she has managed the creches since the establishment of the first one in 1990. hildaisaacBET@yahoo.
No comments:
Post a Comment