Objective
Our second project in India, launched in October of 2000, is targeted at alleviating the hunger and enhancing the daily nutritional intake of poor school-going children.

In developing this project, we intend on boosting the academic success of poor children whose families encourage them to attend school.

Background of India's slums
In India's major cities, almost half of the population live in slums. The children of the slums face a very unpredictable life in terms of food and shelter.

The children of India's slums often have only one meal a day at home. This meal typically consists of plain rice mixed with a thin soup, perhaps with a small amount of pickles.

Due to an innovative program run by the government of Tamil Nadu, the school-going children also receive lunch at no cost. Though the concept of the Government is noble, the funds are so limited that the meals provided are very meager and unappetizing.

Obstacles for the Children
Because most of their fathers are daily laborers and drift from job to job whenever work is available, the support for the family is very haphazard. Since these families live a reality that is literally a hand-to-mouth existence, children are often sent to work at a young age to help feed the family.

Many of the children that are fortunate to attend school simply do not have the basic requirements of food and shelter to successfully support them in their studies.

Even if the family is supportive and they allow the child to attend school, there are so many factors that present obstacles to the child graduating from high school. In government schools, an average of 80% of the children drop out or fail before completing 12th grade. One of the most fundamental problems is hunger and the resultant lack of concentration on studies.

Partnership with the Rotary Club of Madras
By joining hands with the Rotary Club of Madras, we developed a scheme to maximize the impact of the food we could provide with our current funds.

After discussions with various headmasters of the government schools around Chennai, we decided that we could focus on helping the children preparing for their high school graduation exams.

The exams are quite demanding, so the government schools conduct daily special classes throughout the year for the children in twelfth grade. These classes take place after school for 2 hours after their regular curriculum ends around 3 PM.

Our Program
We are providing a large snack before the after-school class to enhance their daily nutritional intake and aid them in concentrating on their studies. All the schools we support have found that when food was provided on a trial basis before the classes, that the children performed better on their exams. Additionally, the opportunity of having a snack encourages more children to attend these special classes and thus successfully graduate from high school.

The daily snack provided is an energy bar of peanuts, 4 slices of bread and a pack of vitamin-enriched biscuits. The cost of the snack per child is Rs.3, or 7 cents.

We have selected 1100 children from 3 different high schools in Chennai. The average household income of the families of the children is Rs. 1500, or $30 USD per month. A small percentage of the families may have income up to Rs.2000, or $45 USD per month.

Success!
After launching our program, the headmasters of the school report that attendance for the special classes is 100%!

This is a simple concept, but one that strikes to the heart of children living in poverty. Without the most basic requirements of food and shelter, children cannot be expected to take advantage of the educational opportunities offered to them- much less perform to their optimal level.