News from recent volunteers in Marica
-1- excerpt from the report of Pierre Marie (july-august 2007)
-1 - When I arrived in Hyderabad, in early July 2007, Marica Higher Educational Society,
had just started a new project: the creation in cooperation with the municipality
of “ Afternoon School “
[....] This project aimed at inserting children of the slums of Hyderabad in the
education system proposed for several years by Marica association. Specifically the
municipality is responsible for "recruiting children" to ensure their transportation
to school in the city, where their education is then provided by the association.
This project is named “Afternoon School” because teaching of slum children takes
place in the afternoon, more suitable time to welcome new staff, as children of lower
levels have almost finished their day and leave school offering space for the others.
Arriving when this project was beginning to work effectively, the work to be done was quite important, and the founder decided to entrust another student of the IEP de Lille, Simon Miclet, with practical and functional organization of 'Afternoon School, and she asked me to prepare file about the Marica Higher Educational Society and the new draft of the Afternoon School to seek partnerships, in particular with a Swiss bank, with whom we had been in contact for some time.
However, in southern India only company realizes the assembly, shipping and repair of these machines. It is located in Worth Katpadi Trust, a city situated at several hundred kilometres from Hyderabad.
The association has been collaborating for years with the Worth Trust, and in particular with Mr Patrick Babu, head of Worth Brailler, the antenna Trust dealing more specifically with supplies for people with visual impairments. This man had been asking for long that members of Marica come to visit the Trust in Katpadi. Far
from being a formal invitation as it might be the case in Europe, in India, such a proposal must be taken seriously and accepted in order to preventhe ruin of the relationships between the two organizations.
Marie Christine de Rochemonteix therefore decided to send the two boys, trainees of the IEP (which is more sensible as on in Indian roads young girls are easy targets for juveniles delinquent. She asked us to ensure the good image of our association, and to provide her with to a full account of our visit, for herself and for all the partners of Marica.
The journey to arrive until Katpadi lasted for several days because of the distance between the two cities
(more than five hundred kilometers) and the slow means of transport of India (this is the train). At our arrival we were greeted by Mr Patrick Babu. The visit of the trust turned out to be highly instructive. We did not know that the Worth braillers was actually a small antenna of a much greater organization, Worth Trust. This association main goal is to integrate disabled people into the working world that’s why it provides vocational education in its workshops and has contacts with major Indian companies in the region.
Our visit was very instructive allowed to bring lots of advice and inspiration to Ms. Rochemonteix
In addition, during our meeting with Mr Patrick Babu, he told us that he would have to send technicians from the Trust in to Hyderabad in order to repair all the machines Braille of the sector, and asked if the Higher Educational Society Marica could accommodate them. We responded that it was an honor for our association to deepen the cordial relationship that had been existing with the Trust Worth for years.
Then Mr Patrick Babu who was very pleased proposed a partnership with Marica, saying that we would welcome some children of Marica School wishing to acquire vocational training in Katpadi, and at no cost.
We therefore left Katpadi having strengthened the existing good relationship between our two organizations.
Once back in Hyderabad, Marie Christine de Rochemonteix was pleased with the success of our visit and asked us to organize the reception of the technicians Worth Trust and to prepare a presentation of the Trust in order to see if the children of the school were interested by the vocational training that was proposed.
