Udayan Revamps its Funding Strategy

With our administrative staff working from their homes, it has presented a good opportunity to forge ahead with our work to secure the financial security of the organization going forward.

 

There is great uncertainty in India among nonprofits about the future of funding opportunities and there is an expectation that many funding opportunities will dry up and or decline due to the economic impact of COVID-19 and diversion of funds to tackling the pandemic and its impacts (it is estimated that the pandemic may push 400 million Indians further into poverty).

 

Working with Mumbai based fundraising expert, Nandita Dalal, Udayan is conducting weekly fundraising meetings to revamp our strategy and diversify income sources. As part of our preparation, we are putting all our fundraising collateral in place, developing databases, qualifying prospects and allocating roles and responsibilities across our fundraising team.

 

Udayan collaborated with Nandita Dalal, a Mumbai-based Fundraising Consultant earlier this year to conduct a strategic review of the organization from a fundraising perspective and take Udayan to the next level.

Ms. Nandita Dalal

Udayan also welcomed new staff member, Shourya Chatterjee to Udayan in March who takes up the role of Fundraising Manager.  With extensive experience in raising Sponsorships and working with Schools and colleges in and around Kolkata, Shourya is a great addition to the team to help support our fundraising efforts.

 

Currently, the core fundraising team comprises Nandita Dalal, Dipak Sahu, Adrija Mitra, Shourya Chatterjee and Emily R Menon. 

Continuing Education During Lockdown

Udayan is committed to keeping up the educational interests of our children despite all challenges. Even during lockdown when children are at home with their family members, Udayan staff is making sure to keep them engaged with educational and awareness activities. Besides academics, the emphasis is also on highlighting the importance of social distancing, frequent hand wash and wearing face masks.

 

With whatever little access to technology that our families have, Udayan is trying to make use of it and conduct online sessions with children. For children from grades KG to 4th, our primary teachers are taking sessions over WhatsApp video calls or simple phone calls. Teachers have formed WhatsApp groups and are taking classes from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 1 pm. Our intent is to keep our children in touch with the subjects by revising concepts and clearing their doubts.

 It is encouraging to see children showing a lot of interest in the classes. In fact, those who don’t have smartphones are borrowing it from their neighbours.

For senior kids studying in classes 5th to 12th and who have been attending the local government schools, they have re-joined online classes from 11th June 2020 - after their summer vacation. The State Government has also taken initiatives and is telecasting educational programmes on television - Udayan encourages them to watch the series and clear their doubts during online sessions.

Seven of our children pursuing nursing courses in Chhattisgarh are also regularly attending online classes organized by their respective colleges.

 

We hope the schools and colleges will reopen soon and all children at Udayan will continue their journey towards a brighter future.

Ensuring Proper Nutrition with Ration Support Program

Current times have been particularly difficult for families surviving on daily wages – and with most families from West Bengal’s Leprosy Colonies relying on daily income from begging, rag picking and labouring work, the impact has been harsh. To ensure proper nutrition during this time, Udayan responded with distribution of ration kits to families, with the support of corporate donors, Wipro & SBI Life Insurance.

The nutrition of Udayan children was affected during the lockdown as it was becoming increasingly difficult for their families to arrange the basic necessities, despite rations delivered by the Government. Considering that many of our children and their family members are undergoing leprosy treatment or have been affected in the past, proper nutrition becomes even more crucial for them.

Despite government aid and support from ‘local groups’, it was evident that the members of our Udayan family would need more support to make it through extended lockdown with adequate supplies to ensure proper meals. 

In April 2020, Wipro Foundation extended its support of INR 6 lakh to provide dry ration for families facing the loss of livelihood due to COVID-19. Our staff members and community volunteers from the respective colonies quickly mobilized and coordinated with local grocery shops to finalize the rate of dry rations for relief work, with the support of our Director.  

With the help of Wipro Foundation, Udayan team provided dry ration support to 600 families in 10 colonies under the district Bardhaman Bankura & Purulia of West Bengal. Each family received 20 Kg rice, 1 Kg soybean, 3 Kg potatoes, 1 Kg masoor dal (red lentil), 1 liter of mustard oil, 1 Kg sugar, 1 Kg suji, 1 Kg salt, and 1 pc soap.