We are the village! CRY America Project Update 2020 (Seattle)
From The President’s Desk Dear CRY Seattle Supporter, 2020 was one of the most challenging years that the world has seen, and yet, CRY America was able to create happier childhoods for 18,488 underprivileged children in 2020! This would never have been possible without YOU. Your generous contributions helped vulnerable children from CRY America projects get proper nutrition, healthcare and vaccinations even in the midst of a raging pandemic. Your support kept them safe from child labor and marriage, even as such issues became worse during the COVID-19 crisis, and helped them continue their education instead. We wanted to share the work we’ve done and the impact we’ve had with your help and we hope that this newsletter brings you as much joy as it did us! On behalf of CRY America, please accept my sincerest gratitude for everything you’ve done for our children. May we continue to stand together and be the village that these children need to grow up healthy and happy. With faith & goodwill,
Shefali Sunderlal President CRY America
Our Overall Impact
752,172
306,703
223,652
1,576
Children impacted
Children in school
Children immunized
Child marriages stopped
(6-18 years)
2,565
2,682
861
Villages/slums child labor free
Children’s groups formed/strengthened
Integrated Child Development Centers activated/retained
*Cumulative impact of CRY America since 2004 till 2020
CRY America Project SSRF
Location: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Reach: 9 slum pockets in Varanasi Focus: Education and Protection
The Problem The urban slums of Varanasi fall within the heartland of a diverse range of communities in Uttar Pradesh with very conservative social practices. Among the most significant of these is child marriage. Not only is the practice deeply embedded in these communities, but its effects are amplified by poverty and migration for labor. Girls are often married off to ensure their safety or to lessen the economic load on the family. However, child marriage, and all the gender-based bias that surrounds it, not only impacts a girl’s health and wellbeing, it forever takes away her chance to get an education and fulfill her own goals. The Solution Long-term change for children is only truly possible when the community gets behind the cause as well. CRY America project SSRF reaches out to children, their families, and their communities to change how they see child marriage and girls’ education. In addition to door-to-door outreach, the project sets up children’s and adolescent girls’ collectives to help monitor and address cases of planned child marriages, girls dropping out of school, and individual problems that girls face in the challenging neighborhoods they live in.
Project Impact (2020)
4,530 Children impacted
9 Villages/slums covered
2,580 Children in schools (6-18 yrs)
324 Children in children’s collectives
240 Children mainstreamed in schools
8 Child marriages stopped
132 Adolescent girls collectives
159 Children received health check-ups
Lockdown Weddings - How Khadija and Savitri Narrowly Escaped Becoming Child Brides For many girls in Varanasi, child marriage hits them like a storm - one day they may be playing with their friends at school, the next they are at the altar with a man they barely know. This was how Khadija and Savitri’s lives were going to unfold (names changed to protect child’s privacy). 16-year-old Khadija’s family was feeling the financial shock of the lockdown and decided to get her married to relieve the family burden. Not far off, wedding preparations were underway for Savitri, a minor getting married to a 35-year-old man and and suspected child trafficker. Luckily, both girls were part of CRY America project SSRF’s adolescent girls’ collectives. Through their alert groups, the staff learned about these weddings and worked with the Child Welfare Committee and police to stop them. The two girls now have a second of life! Yet, it’s hard to imagine what would have happened if help from CRY America hadn’t arrived in time. Stories like theirs are only possible thanks to the kindness of our donors.
COVID-19 Response 2,400 households were provided dry rations, 7,500 masks were distributed to frontline workers, and 600 hygiene kits were given to adolescent girls. In the worst phase of the lockdown, some SSRF staff members even took the initiative to produce sanitary pads for the girls themselves - a story featured on NDTV.
2020 Grant Disbursed = $26,260
2021 Budget
Protection $7,429
Participation $1,566
Administration $3,445
=
Total 2021 Budget $17,399
CRY America Project DVEUS
Location: Kaushambi district, Uttar Pradesh Reach: 35 villages in Kaushambi district Focus: Health and Nutrition
The Problem It’s deeply distressing to watch a child fall ill for any reason. However, it’s heartrending when this happens because of something completely avoidable like malnutrition. In India, 53% of children under the age of 5 are underweight* while 67% of children in the 5-59 months age-group are anemic*. In the areas of Kaushambi district that CRY America
project DVEUS is
active, access to nutritious food is a major problem. The problem is further amplified by parents’ lack of knowledge on proper nutrition, causing many children to miss out on the most important phase of their development during their early years. *Source: NHFS-4 data The Solution Ensuring children grow up healthy demands a combination of increased access to health and nutritional services for children as well as greater awareness in the community on how to best nourish them. CRY America project DVEUS’ staff works extensively with community health resources to get them to the children and mothers who need them the most. They also spread awareness to these families on proper nutrition during pregnancy, breastfeeding, infant care, and ongoing health and nutrition for children so that the community can prevent malnutrition before it impacts a child permanently.
Project Impact (2020)
28,007 Children impacted
60 Villages/slums covered
18,421 Children in schools (6-18 yrs)
1,336 Children in children’s collectives
1,317 Pregnant women provided healthcare
2 New Anganwadi centers approved
132 Adolescent girls collectives
1,109 Children fully immunized (under 1 yr)
937 Children received health check-ups
How Susma and her baby were saved from starvation! When the lockdown struck in March 2021, Susma Devi knew the next few months were going to be difficult. She just hadn’t realized by how much. Her husband had migrated for work to Delhi but found himself stuck there due to COVID restrictions. The 22-year-old mother was alone with her infant, with little money, no ration card, and meager food stocks. After surviving eight days on minimal food and then going empty stomach four more, Susma had reached her limit when she stopped lactating and could no longer feed her child. It was at this point that CRY America project DVEUS staff found out about the critical situation of Susma Devi and her baby. The team helped provide essentials such as grains, iron tablets, and vitamin supplements too. Soon, the mother and child received their NFSA (National Food Security) card and began getting regular staples. The program also helped her husband return once the lockdown was lifted. The reunited family is now healthier and able to earn a living after CRY America project DVEUS connected them to the MNREGA scheme for employment. Stories like that of Susma Devi and her baby, who were brought back from the brink, have only been possible because of our generous donors who took action when it was most needed!
COVID-19 Response 1,240 households were provided emergency COVID relief materials. The team also helped connect 191 families with PDS (Public Distribution System), 6,300 with MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) for better income security, and 100% of all pregnant and lactating mothers in the project area received take-home rations.
2020 Grant Disbursed = $33,192
2021 Budget
Health $25,024
Nutrition $3,514
Protection $18,298
Participation Administration = $9,997 $3,757
Total 2021 Budget $60,590
CRY America Supported Project Children’s Rights Inc. Location: United States Of America
The Problem There are many systems, such as foster care homes, that are supposed to work for children and give them the support they need. However, in so many cases, these systems have major gaps in fulfilling what these children truly deserve. These include access to proper medical, dental and mental health services, ensuring sufficient placements are there within the foster care system, maintaining children’s crucial family connections (such as those of siblings) and ensuring justice for children who have suffered neglect or even abuse in the system.
The Solution CRY America supported project Child Rights Inc. (CRI) aims to uphold children’s rights in the foster care system through active litigation that helps hold institutions accountable. The project works to monitor court orders and change these systems so that they support and benefit the children they serve in getting access to medical and mental health services, a higher chance of placement for adoption, and other important outcomes. CRI also advocates on behalf of marginalized youth such as unaccompanied and separated immigrant minors, LGBTQ+ youth in out-of-home care, NYC's incarcerated adolescents and young adults, and children in the Pennsylvania foster care system.
Project Progress and Challenges As is the case for most non-profits, COVID-19 has created a set of additional challenges for the population we serve and changed the way we operate as a nonprofit.
COVID-19 Command Center Since March we have launched our Putting Children First COVID-19 Command Center, begun work to eliminate hotspots for structural racism within the child welfare system, secured settlements in both Arizona and Kansas, conducted investigations into six jurisdictions throughout the U.S., and monitored nine existing cases for compliance with mandated reforms.
Active Litigation While addressing critical child welfare needs emerging from the pandemic, Children’s Rights has also maintained substantial forward momentum on all of our existing cases. We achieved several major victories that would be remarkable during normal circumstances, and are all the more noteworthy and needed as the current health and economic disaster wears on. However, dramatic reductions in our earned revenue - resulting from the delay of court ordered reimbursements for costs associated with our successful litigation campaigns – were completely unexpected. Foundation and individual supporters have responded generously, sustaining us and providing much-needed flexibility. We are deeply grateful for your investment in our work by our partners and look forward to continuing our partnerships.
Multi-level Partnerships The pandemic has reinforced the value of partnerships at every level of our organization. Our staff members, who have historically travelled to the jurisdictions where we are pursuing reforms, have developed deeper relationships with local partners allowing Children’s Rights to advance investigations in Colorado, Alabama, and Maine despite our inability to travel. Our local partners in communities where we have a long-standing presence have kept us informed about COVID-specific developments in child-serving systems of care. The firsthand information they share allows us to offer solutions that address emerging needs through our Putting Children First Command Center, ultimately benefiting thousands of children in state care. Relationships with our funding partners, and especially CRY America, remain central to our work.
COVID-19 Response CRI’s work prompted four states to guarantee that no older youth would be forced to leave the state support system and become homeless in the midst of the pandemic. Their advocacy guaranteed continuous access to housing, healthcare, and other supports for the duration of the pandemic. CRI started a #noagingout campaign to extend foster care services for older youth at risk of hunger and homelessness. In South Carolina, CRI won court-ordered reforms to remove children from dangerous group care facilities that could lead to infection. The state will increase payments to foster families and relatives, increase staff to license and support those families, and move children quickly from facilities to families.
2020 Grant Disbursed = $25,000
2021 Plan Highlights Providing abused and neglected children with protection, support and safety Advocating for state investments in effective and efficient child welfare systems Eliminating hotspots for structural racism within the child welfare system Championing the rights of marginalized youths including separated immigrant minors, LGBTQ+ youth, children in out-of-home care, and others.
2021 Budget = $25,000
CRY America Project SPT
Location: Salem, Tamil Nadu Reach: 32 villages in Salem district Focus: Protection and Education
The Problem In the many villages of Salem district, Tamil Nadu, centuries old prejudices still deeply affect the communities living there. For some, it’s the issues of caste and social status, and for most, there is still a strong bias against girl children. Because these issues have such a storied past, children in these communities often fall prey to situations of bonded labor - pushing them into many forms of child labor. Girls especially are affected by child marriage and even female foeticide. The result is that so many don’t even have a chance to grow and make it to the one place that could help transform their lives - school.
The Solution CRY America project SPT has been operating for years now on two major goals - to protect children from negative social practices that affect them and to send them to school. It works extensively to rescue and rehabilitate those families who have experienced intergenerational issues like bonded labor, allowing their children to leave many dangerous environments like brick kilns. They’ve also worked to activate health centers, ICDS center, and conducted awareness drives - drastically reducing the incidence of infanticide. The project has also helped upgrade many schools - giving access to education for children who did not previously have it.
Project Impact (2020)
4,291 Children impacted
32 Villages/slums covered
315 Schools with 100% retention
144 Births registered
1 Villages/slums child labor free
2 Villages/slums child marriage free
41 Pregnant women provided regular healthcare
23 ICDS centers activated/retained
230 Children received health check-ups
How Kousalya’s community is now supporting her in the birth of all her children! Kousalya is a mother of two wonderful girls. However, in her village in Salem district, this was not enough.
Her
community
demanded
that
she
eventually produce a boy child. The pressure on her was so intense that she was told to abort her future third and fourth pregnancies by her mother-in-law because their astrologer predicted a boy only on the fifth one. She was completely heartbroken at the thought of losing any of her children. 16-year-old Khadija’s family was feeling the financial shock of the lockdown and decided to get her
*Image used for representa�ve purpose.
married to relieve the family burden. However, help was on the way. Staff from CRY America project SPT found out about Kousalya as they already knew that female foeticide and sex-selective abortions were such major problems in Salem. They began working with her family to change their mindset while explaining the laws banning female foeticide. Today, her community has not only understood the issue but also take it as their responsibility to register her with the Anganwadi center, allowing her to access many government services, regardless of the gender of the baby. More newborn girls are able to take their first joyful breath, just like the newborn boys, thanks to the kindness of our donors who make this kind of crucial work possible.
COVID-19 Response SPT has reached out to more than 385 families and 43 widows with dry rations supplies cooked food for aged bonded labor families who had nothing.
2021 Plan Highlights Identifying 139 high risk mothers and working with them to help prevent female foeticide Reducing the incidence of child labor to 18% in the 32 villages Organizing 2 village level programs to celebrate girl power and reduce gender discrimination Reducing school dropouts/seasonal child labor to 3% in children from 6-18 years Promoting enrollment drives in villages to ensure children stay in school
2021 Budget
Protection
Administration
$13,199
$2,782
=
Total 2021 Budget $15,981
CRY America Project Margadarshi
Location: Kalaburagi district, Karnataka Reach: 22 villages in Chittapur taluka Focus: Education, Health, Nutrition, Protection and Participation
The Problem Karnataka has the second-highest rate of child labor in India in the 10-14 year age group (as per the 2011 census), and this is visible in Kalaburagi district. Here you can find children working in agriculture, cattle grazing, and even in dangerous activities like quarrying. Many of them got here because of a system of bonded labor that began when their parents could not pay back their local landlords on debts. The outlook for these children is even grimmer when one considers that there is a 47% access gap of primary schools in the area, which greatly reduces their chance to break out of this vicious cycle of poverty. The Solution One of the ways child labor most affects a child’s life, other than its impact on their health and wellbeing, is the number of years lost for their education. CRY America project Margadarshi works to ensure that villages are child-labor-free and that children can go to and stay in school. They do this through regular home visits to children’s families, mapping out and monitoring children who are out-of-school, and by helping build capacity, such as through training and development, of vital local bodies like School Management Committees (SMCs).
Project Impact (2020)
2,773 Children impacted
22 Villages/slums covered
1,072 Children in schools (6-18 yrs)
1,599 Children in children’s collectives
240 Children mainstreamed into schools
2 Child marriages stopped
115 Adolescent girls in adolescent girls’ collectives
929 Children received health check-ups
Pragnya gets back to school after being forced to work in the fields! Pragnya was a young girl who used to go to school and lived a fairly normal life in her little village. However, everything changed the day her father died. Desperate to make ends meet, her mother made Pragnya leave school and join her to work in the fields. This went on for a year until staff from CRY America project Margadarshi got to know about Pragnya and invited her to the local children’s collective. When Pragnya first joined the meetings, she was very reserved, barely talking to any of the other girls. Her mother was also fearful about their finances and for their future. However, CRY America project Maragdarshi team worked to support them both. They helped her mother get a job card through MNREGA which gave her stable employment. They also convinced her to send Pragnya to school. Even though she missed a year, the 16-year-old girl has now found her voice, a renewed study rhythm, and is ready to do great things! Stories like hers are only possible because of our generous donors.
COVID-19 Response 1,500 school children in 34 schools were given mid-day meal take-home rations, 4,312 families received ration kits and 34 Anganwadi centers were monitored for the take-home ration distribution process. A further 678 families were also visited during the lockdown period to build awareness on COVID19.
2021 Plan Highlights Creating/reactivating online communication platforms for adolescents on COVID related details Develop systems for the identification and support of children that are without parental care Spreading awareness on state and district digital legal services Assessing the impact of COVID and helping close the education gap with our evening schools Spread awareness on COVID prevention practices such as WASH
2020 Grant Disbursed = $33,192
2021 Budget
Education $17,118
Participation $3,485
Administration $5,023
=
Total 2021 Budget $25,626
CRY America Project Pragathi
Location: Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh Reach: 55 villages in Andhra Pradesh Focus: Education and Protection
The Problem When parents migrate for seasonal labor in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, their children not only leave the homes they grew up in, many also leave behind their childhood. Several stop going to school entirely and start working as child laborers in the new locations they are in. Girl children especially are often forced to drop out of school to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. For them, the threat of child marriage is also incredibly real as they are often viewed as an economic burden and social practices such as dowry are still extremely common among many of the communities here.
The Solution The staff at CRY America project Pragathi know that if effective work is coordinated among all the different groups at the grass-roots, it’s possible to tackle so many of the problems children face. The team works with Anganwadi workers, school staff and the local authorities to create a network of support that helps stop child marriages before they happen and bring child laborers back into the school system. Project staff also then help these schools, Anganwadis, and ICDS centers develop and strengthen their systems to give children a better chance to develop. Pragathi also focuses on providing children life skills training so that they can find their voice and confidently face issues that affect them.
Project Impact (2020)
5,421 Children impacted
55 Villages/slums covered
3,292 Children in schools (6-18 yrs)
3,364 Children in children’s collectives
240 Children removed from labor
28 Child marriages stopped
16 Villages/slums child marriage free
58 Children’s groups
475 Children received health check-ups
How 14-year-old Vijayashanthi’s wedding was stopped in the nick of time! Vijayashanthi is a 14-year-old girl from a small village in Andhra Pradesh who was managing to continue her studies against all odds. Even though her family’s financial situation was dire after her father died in 2018, she kept going to a school away from her village by staying at a welfare hostel. However, everything she was working for nearly broke apart when the COVID 19 pandemic struck. Her mother was barely able to make ends meet. During lockdown, a family approached her with a marriage proposal for Vijayashanathi to their son who had a chronic condition requiring constant care. They didn’t want dowry and even promised to bear all the marriage expenses. Her mother eventually accepted and the marriage was to happen at home and in secret. However, thanks CRY America project Pragathi, a community system to prevent child marriage was active and came to Vijayashanthi’s aid just in time. Two days before the wedding, the local Anganwadi worker suspected a case of child marriage and informed Pragathi staff. Pragathi then alerted the Child Development and Protection Officer, Mahila Constable (Police) and volunteers. They immediately rushed to the scene and broke-up the wedding. One can’t imagine what Vijayashanthi’s life would have become had the wedding taken place. It’s thanks to our incredible donors that these children can continue their education and keep their dreams alive!
COVID-19 Response Pragathi distributed rations, vegetables, and household groceries to vulnerable families as well as face masks, gloves, soaps and sanitizers to various community groups and government stakeholders. In total, 3,646 families and 5,100 children have been impacted by the project’s relief work.
2021 Plan Highlights Ensure all pre-school age children are enrolled in Anganwadi and ICDS pre-school programs Identify children with irregular class attendance and take steps to help them stay in school Train village government volunteers and resource staff on child rights and protection issues Liaise with the divisional labor officer provide child labor data for the 6-14 and 15-18 age groups Develop new children’s collectives and adolescent girls’ groups
2020 Grant Disbursed = $38,178
2021 Budget
Education $15,309
Participation $15,309
Administration $7,559
=
Total 2021 Budget $38,177
Thank you for creating lasting change for the children who need it the most It is because of your kindness and generosity that underprivileged children today are happier, healthier and are able to continue to hope for a brighter future! Thank you for making a real difference :) Child Rights and You, America CRY America, P.O. Box 850948, Braintree, MA 02185-0948 support@cryamerica.org | (617) 959-1273