At the village locations where we have been working, we conducted informal surveys about the villagers eating habits and visited their homes to confirm our findings. We noticed two things: one is that; the food intake for the villagers, which consists of a piece of bread, is the same almost every day. Secondly, most of the time the younger children are the ones who suffer when there is not enough food in the house.
At our Badgaon education center there are children from gypsy families who regularly attend. Most of these children come from a place where food just means a small piece of bread. We realized for both physical and metal growth it is really important that these children get healthy food. This is especially important when we are working with the pre-school program (age 4 to 10) where we wish to help them in creating and developing an aptitude towards education, as well as trying to get them prepared for a successful transition into school.
Based on this thought the D.A.A.N. Foundation decided to have a healthy meal program for these kids. To start with we will introduce food supplements in the form of fresh fruit and vegetable salads for the children. The main reason for providing healthy food to these kids is to ensure they have a balanced diet and so that they can get essential vitamins and minerals. Though it would not be considered a full diet as we do not want their parents to think that they are free of their parental responsibility for providing 'bread and butter' to their kids.
For this program we need assistance in funding as well as implementation. Meaning, we need volunteers to purchase the fruits and vegetables, bring them to the center and prepare the food on a daily basis.
Luckily we were able to get funding for this program for one full year (2012) from a previous volunteer. However she has since left Udaipur, so we are in need of a volunteer to take responsibilty for carrying out the Healthy Meal program related tasks. With goals to continue this program we are also seeking funding for the 2013 year
In the future we wish to take this Healthy Meal program to other places. We also have set goals to provide food to at least 50 more kids, as well as older people within the village who do not have any means to get food.
Volunteers pay a discounted rate for their room/board and food at the friendly family run Chandra Niwas Guesthouse, or a similar guesthouse accommodation. Follow the link to read reviews from past volunteers and guests
The D.A.A.N. Foundation also asks volunteers for a one time donation of 5,000Rs (about $100 USD)
