Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

Education is the long-term tactic to combat poverty and ignorance. KER Community Center provide a window for remote areas,to give opportunity for education and organization for self help and to earn extra income to improve quality of life & peace.

Project Message

Misra is no longer dependent on charity. "It is useful for widows and poor like me. . . we want our children to go to school, we want to earn some money for them."
- KER beneficiary quoted in a report, NDTV Story on KER sponsored Potato Project

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Rafique Khan,
CEO - Managing Director
1835 Apex Avenue
LA, CA 90026
United States
1-323-662-7686
Email:

Project Sponsor

GlobalGiving

Organization

Learn more about Kashmir Earthquake Relief and the project team.

Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in India and can also be found under Education.

For more information about India, read the Human Development Report on India or the Wikipedia entry for India.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on January 24, 2008.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on June 13, 2007.

Latest Update from the Field

Survey Details

By Ather Zia & Rafique Khan - Media Unit, January 24, 2008 02:16 PM

Mohallas (Enclaves)
1.   Gujjar Patti
2.   Hajam Mihalla
3.   Qazi mohalla
4.   Lumbardar Mohalla
5.   Doli Mohalla
6.   Pal Mohalla
7.   Bringi Mohalla
8.   Bhat
9.   Razmarg Mohalla
10.   Chak Mohalla
11.   Ham Khal
12.   Loan Mohalla
13.   Astan Mohalla
14.   Kachi Mohalla
15.   Sothpather
16.   Mutt Mohalla
17.   Mutt Mohlla Payin
18.   Shikari Mohalla
19.   Matoo Mohalla

Rehbar E Taleem School
In Shikari Mohalla there are about 40 households and it is here that the Rahbar Taleem School with 80 students is situated. We saw about 40 children in the meadow with parents herding animals. School functions in a rented room and has no furniture.
The children posses no books and have no shoes. Since there is dearth of furniture they sit outside on dirt. Two teachers, young and seem frustrated with the entire scenario.

Sitaharan Middle School
The Sitaharn (Middle) School in the meadow is a brick building complex of threestructures. Single story. #00 students , 5 teachers including the head master (Bashir Mazhami). Mazhami tells that need is for ten teachers, 2 peons, laboratory equipment, a rich library, black board sand books in English
There are no physical education courses taught at the school. Majority of the students have very poor personal hygiene. School provides midday meals.

School population

Grade      Boys    Girls
8th        11   x
7th       22   6
6th      20   5
5th      15   12
4th      11   7
3rd      12   3
2nd      19   4
1st      20   15
Pre       37   18

Government grant for each student is Rs 800. Schooling after 8th class is in Drung, which is another village located far from Sitaharan.


Medical Facilities
There is one dispensary in the village. No medical officer is on duty. The owner of the building in which the dispensary is housed says he has not received any rent since 1975 from the government. Villagers say that medical officer does not come. The entire village as per the locals is treated by unlicensed medical shop and pharmacy owners.
In our visits to Sitaharan we never saw the medical officer on duty and half the school staff was on “leave” on every visit.

Main Occupation
Sitaharn has not produced any college educated person so far. There are only two persons who are employed from the village; one is a police constable and another pastry cook at a hotel in Srinagar.
Subsistence farming and manual labor are the main sources of employment. The extreme deforestation apparent around the village is a testimony to the illegal timber trade that the villagers are involved in. They admit to this openly saying they have no other means to fall back on. Nearly half the trees of the adjacent forest are gone; bare stumps are left as a stark reminder of the trade that is ongoing .

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