Tree Plantation and summer camps by the children Groups at village level

 Sports Event at rengasamuthram village

 Tree plantation at Kothapatti village

 Tree plantation at Kothalothu village

 Children Back from Camp Rain Bow Programme for II batch

Zonal Level Meeting at KN Patti Annanagar 

Zonal level meeting was organised at KN patti Annanagar  were as 30 children  group leaders were participated from 11 villages discussed about there group activities for past 3 months. climate change issues were discussed. Selvi Suvulaxmi facilitated this session 

Children Participation in the development of the Tamil Nadu State level Children Protection Policy Development i

Our Children Arun Kumar and Sevanthi  actively Participated in the Tamil Nadu Child Protection Policy development workshop organised by Forum for the promotion of children participation at Madurai 

Zonal level Meetings


As part of the strengthening of the children federation,36 children group members organised zonal meetings at 3 zones. 150  children participated in the zonal meeting discussed about the climate change and child rights. 100 trees were planted by the children. children club leaders shared there own children groups achievement and challenges 

 As part of the Strengthening of the Thanambikkai children federation active leaders were involved in the leadership training programme to improve the quality in facilitating the Children federation

Camp Rainbow follow-up day

As you might remember Arogya Agam had a camp programme for HIV+ adolescent back in January. Yesterday we had a follow-up day with the same group. This time they discussed HIV challenges and stigma. The session in the pictures below was about stigma. Before one from the group would blindfolded find their way to the container named "stigma" with dirty water in with a cup of water in their hands the team had to answer a question about HIV. The point of the exercise was to show that when knowledge is increased stigma decreases. So the more water or knowledge they poured into the "stigma" the clearer it became and less stigma was left.

They also had an arts and crafts session where they made their own paintings. Overall it was a really fun day where they gained a lot of new knowledge.

Holiday activities

The children have their summer holidays now until mid June. They are often complaining about being bored and lacking fun activities to fill their time with. The children groups in 20 villages have therefore arranged an afternoon filled with games and competitions. They competed in race walking, drawing, chess, skipping, singing and dancing. 

Congratulations to Mahendran!

The results from the 12th standard board exams came out on Thursday and the marks in these exams determine what and where the students can apply for higher education.

Mahendran, a Arunthathiyar and son of parents who work as daily labourers, came out with the highest marks in his school! He is now able to study medicine and become a doctor which is his dream. 

His got 195 in Tamil, 181 in English, 200 in maths, 196 in biology, 195 in physics and 200 in chemistry which gives a total of 1167!

Congratulations to Mahendran and his family!

Mahendran with his mother and brother

Higher education for dalits

Dalit students are underrepresented in higher education. Arogya Agam held a meeting for students who just finished their final exams and are ready to go into higher education. The meeting addressed the application process, their expectations, the scholarships which they are eligible for because of their low caste status etc. Many parents and students attended to learn more about the possibilities for the future!

FPCP

Uruguay Agam is part of Forum for the Promotion of Children Participation together with four other Tamil NGOs. This initiative tries to identify ways in which the children's voices are ensued central place in the way they work with children. The different organisations meet and share how they promote this and discuss improvements together with children representatives. 

CMCJ meeting

The federation is part of the national initiative Children Movement for Climate Justice where children and young people join together to discuss and fight climate change. More than 40 members of the federation participated with trainers coming from Madurai to facilitate the meeting.

It was a fruitful discussion where the members discussed what they can do in their own lives and community and what needs to be done on a national and international level.

A national meeting will take place in May with representatives from the different Indian states in Delhi and three of Thanambikkai Children's Federation's members will be participated in this meeting.