Child Friendly Guwahati (CFG) - Guwahati

Child Friendly Guwahati (CFG)

“Child Friendly Guwahati” the Community Outreach program commenced in 2013 is a focused civil society campaign to create a city wide movement of citizens for children, especially those belongings to the marginalized section of the society to ensure their basic rights to Survival, Protection, Development and Participation. The project envisages making Guwahati a Child Friendly City. This program was the brain-child of the great educationist and leader  Fr VM Thomas, the then Provincial Superior of the Guwahati Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco. He was assisted by Fr Lukose Cheruvalel initially  in designing the project, and later he remained as an advisor. Fr Solomon Denis and Br  Prasad Kalaparthy ran the project initially and added new components to it. A large group of Civil Society members and religious organizations also participated in this project under the patronage of the Archbishop of Guwahati, Rt Rev John Moolachira. Later Fr Thaddeus Kujur and Fr Thomas Anikuzhikattil  were the Directors of CFG. It was during the time of Fr Anikuzhikattil that an agreement was signed between Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI)  (now Azim Premji Foundation- APF) to fund  70%  of the resources required. 30% would be raised from other donors of Snehalaya .

CFG was initiated as a Pilot Project with 5 Centers in Guwahati city. After the success of the Pilot phase, 35 CFG Centers were set up in different locations which were put under 7 Clusters. In these centers, the never enrolled/drop out children were given a bridge course through joyful learning methods. After a period of 9-12 months of motivational classes in the centers, these children were mainstreamed  into formal schools. 2019 onwards instead of providing motivational classes, CFG started mainstreaming the never enrolled/ drop out children directly into government schools and following them up in the community and in the schools to prevent them from dropping out.  CFG centers now are  community spaces, space inside school campus etc. where tuition classes   and co-curricular activities are conducted  after school hours.

Presently CFG is working in 32 communities in Guwahati city where regular 2-3 hours of  tuition classes are provided to children from class 1-5 for reinforcing what they learn in school and for enhancing their  numerical and literary skills. There are  32 social educators who double up as social workers in the community and teachers among the children.  Tuition classes are held in schools, clubs (free of cost) and in few places in rented rooms. MIS Database is maintained for 2300 CFG children studying in 261 Government schools. 23 Child  Welfare and  Protection Committees (CWPC)  are formed  to look after the issues regarding protection and rights of children. There are 32 Children Parliaments  (CP)  functioning in the 32  CFG communities. These are two main mechanism of child Friendly Guwahati. CPs are platforms for participation and for leadership training among children.

Rescue Department of Child Friendly Guwahati was initiated in 2014 to rescue, rehabilitate and  restore the children at risk. At present in collaboration with District Task Force (DTF), the Rescue Department has identifies 967 children in distress. 326 children under various vulnerable conditions have been rescued and restored so far.

The services of CFG to children  are:

• Child Protection.
• Rescue & Restoration.
• Training & Workshop.
• Children Parliament.
• Education 

New Trends

Child Friendly Guwahati project is now prioritizing engagement with the community to transform it into a safety net for children. It is a shift from service-providing to creation of deep awareness of child rights which ultimately leads to community commitment to  child rights in general and child protection in particular.

The Present Board Members of Snehalaya

1. Sebastian Kurichiel   ( Author Representative)
2. Lukose Cheruvalel ( Secretary and Principal Trustee)
3. Thomas Anikuzhikattil ( Chief Functionary)
4. Joseph Thelekkat – Founding Member
5. Jaya Prakash Anthonimuthu- Member
6. Sebastian Ishorary- Member
7. Martin Marak- Member
8. Mackley Augustine Gomes- Member

The Past Directors of Snehalaya   

1.  Lukose Cheruvalel ( 2000-2015)
2. Thaddeus Kujur ( 20015-2020)
3. Thomas Anikuzhikattil  ( 2020-2023)
4. Lukose Cheruvalel ( 2023-            )

The Author representatives of the Past and Present.

1. Philip Barjo
2. Joseph Almeida
3. Thomas Vattathara
4. Januarius Sangma
5. Sebastian Kurichiel

Photos