On 22nd May, 2009 we made our next visit to our project site. This time, we had a considerable big group and it was heartwarming to note that many others also wanted to join.
We had a quite tall agenda this time. The foremost was initialization of our education program in that village. Initially we did some ground work on local education and understood that though most of the families send their children to schools but they cannot continue even to complete their secondary education, mainly due to abject poverty. The drop-out rate is quite high. We are starting the program first with our group of 21 families who are involved in “Bel-Mala” project. We are setting up a tutorial home for the children of these families where qualified teacher from Government High School would provide quality teaching to these children. The entire expense would be borne by UJAN. This time we officially announced the program to the villagers and in this context, we have provided each of these children an essential education-kit as a gesture of our love and determination. The kit contains school bag, pencils, eraser, pens, geometry box, exercise books; the content varies dependent upon the class of the student. We are also providing the admission fees to some children whose parents are unable to provide even that small amount. As part of UJAN’s policy we stated that all children of these families must not discontinue their education and we are trying to reach out to these families for ensuring a better and wholesome future for their children.

We got tremendous support from our members when we discussed this plan amongst our UJAN members here. Many of us have come forward with intent of contribution to this cause. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude on behalf of all members to Dan Choudhury, Santanu Chakraborty, Sourav Bhattacharyya, Krishnendu Bhowmick and Sucharita Das who donated the items of this education kit. Most watchable thing was the sheer joy and excitement in those children, as we planned to keep it a little secret till this day. Also we believe this initiative has managed to build up a huge stable and trustworthy relationship between us and the villagers.
Our “Bel-Mala” project is now self-sustainable. However we are trying to re-organize the groups so as to maximize the output, so that group members can utilize this scheme to maximize their earnings.
We are planning for quite a number of education schemes and we are in touch with appropriate authorities to begin such programs there. Some of the big organizations are also being taken into consideration for sponsoring such events.
Another important sector is Health, where many of our members are inclined to initiate some movement. This time, we shortlisted a few common ailments in local area and we are in touch with Lion’s Club so as to jointly organize some medical camps. We hope something positive would turn up in near future. In this context, let me take the privilege to request you all to come forward in case any of you have any contacts with Lion’s Club, Rotary club or any such organization which are dedicated to such philanthropic activities.