Photo album: view photos from Yatra Foundation's recent trip to India at our photo album.
Yatra Foundation > Home
Quick links
Events:In 2009, Yatra will be holding its first Sydney fundraising event. More details to follow.
Media:Read the feature story on Yatra Foundation in the latest edition of RCHI News[pdf 1.3mb], the newsletter of the Royal Children's Hospital international department.
Photo album: view photos from Yatra Foundation's recent trip to India.
Medical Camp held in Kota and Hanuman Basti Schools
Yatra Foundation held a medical camp in the Sunshine academy school in Kota and the Hanuman Basti School in March 2009.
Co-founder, Ravi Savarirayan (a pediatrician, pictured below) was joined by a local pediatrician and a pharmacist as they conducted general medical checks on the students.
Many of the children were found to be iron deficient while others had evidence of significant malnutrition. All the children were given immediate treatment and will have free, ongoing, medical follow up. The children were also supplied with vitamins and health supplements to give them a better chance of concentrating and learning in class.
Medical checks were also performed on other children in the Basti, their parents and other relatives where necessary. The medical camp complemented the Dental Camp held by Yatra Foundation in September 2008.
Yatra foundation is committed to integrating health care in the education setting and plans to conduct medical and dental clinics in our schools on a regular basis.
[updated 26 June 2009]
Embroidery skills for local women
Yatra Foundation has also opened classes to teach embroidery skills to the women of the Hanuman basti (slum), Kota, India.
Once the women are proficient, Yatra Foundation has secured a local wholesaler to employ the women for piece work, providing their families with additional income.
It is hoped that once there is enough work the women will use the school as a resource centre and bring their children to the school, further increasing the attendance rates of the children.
[updated 26 April 2009]
Yatra Foundation held a medical camp in both the Sunshine academy school in Kota and the Hanuman Basti School.
The local news covered the story with an appearance by Yatra co-founder Ravi Savarirayan. Watch the video here or visit our YouTube channel for other videos.
The Yatra Foundation is a non-governmental, non-religious and not-for-profit organisation based in Australia, established to provide disadvantaged children in India the opportunity to access education.
Mission Statements
The Yatra Foundation aims to:
•
Increase access to quality education for the most severely disadvantaged children in India
•
Be non-discriminatory with regards to gender, religious background or caste
•
Monitor outcomes and adapt the program to suit changing needs of our participants
•
Further increase access to education, in student numbers and in years of schooling, by providing incentives for further education
•
Incorporate child health education and public health initiatives in the school setting
Background
Childhood education in India is a state-by-state arrangement. Traditionally, there has been heavy investment in the tertiary sector resulting in vast inequalities in education standards. Rajasthan state is a prime example due to the feudal social order generated over hundreds of years, geographic isolation, escalating childhood labour, resulting in poor school retention rates. Only 47% of children enrolled in year 1 reach year 8 level. ‘Millennium Development Goals’, set by United Nations to be attained by 2015, call for all children to complete to end of grade 5. India has a long way to go to achieve these goals.
Education is recognised as a powerful tool for reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality and for improving health, nutrition and promoting sustained growth (World Bank, 2004). Education has also been shown to have positive knock-on effects in the future generations.
Yatra Foundation seeks to effect an enduring change in the lives of children and their families by giving them the opportunity to access primary school education, with the hope that a good education will lead them to better opportunities.
Listen to an interview with co-founder Ravi Savarirayan on ABC Radio's 'Breakfast Club'
