- Athi-Sundar Community Libraries - based out of anganwadis, with books for anyone over the age of 3 years.
- Donate a phone program
- Tele-counseling & welfare calls for unaided play school workers and children.
- Spoken English classes in orphanages, unaided schools & childrens' homes
- Worksheets and basic books and crayons for children unable to go to play school
- Workshops on art and creativity with basic learning skills for children
- The First-Aid Box Project
- The Early Childhood Education Program
- The Anti-Mosquito Effect
- The BlackBoard Project
- The Book & Toy Box
- Vegetable Gardens
- Special Children in Special Places
- Community Services
Community Libraries
The actual beginning of all learning - libraries are where dreams begin and memories are made.
With donations of books (with separate shelves for each age-group), our libraries are for everyone in the community to access whether a 3-year-old or an adult.
We hope that with this small initiative, every Anganwadi then becomes a hub for the local community to come and get books to read to their children or for themselves, ultimately getting them to contribute and take care of the library themselves.
With donations of books (with separate shelves for each age-group), our libraries are for everyone in the community to access whether a 3-year-old or an adult.
We hope that with this small initiative, every Anganwadi then becomes a hub for the local community to come and get books to read to their children or for themselves, ultimately getting them to contribute and take care of the library themselves.
Donate a Phone Today
Workbooks & Crayons During the Pandemic
Worksheets, workbooks and more. There's so much children in unaided play schools need today but don't have.
2020! The pandemic has not been easy to live through for the best of us - worse for children under the age of 6 who have had nothing to learn these past months.
The Ashoka Tree has been aiming to provide books, crayons and worksheets for all these children we work with.
We also work on online competitions, singing and dancing or story telling, providing little prizes to keep them motivated every week.
There's a lot more to be done, but here's how we've started.
2020! The pandemic has not been easy to live through for the best of us - worse for children under the age of 6 who have had nothing to learn these past months.
The Ashoka Tree has been aiming to provide books, crayons and worksheets for all these children we work with.
We also work on online competitions, singing and dancing or story telling, providing little prizes to keep them motivated every week.
There's a lot more to be done, but here's how we've started.
The First-Aid Box Project
The Ashoka Tree First-Aid Boxes
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Every childhood memory is filled with laughter, running around, playing and an equal number of tears and scraped knees.
Here's the thing, if each time you hurt your knee, there was somebody to put a band-aid on it - what's the reason every other child doesn't have a band-aid available to put on her little injury? The Ashoka Tree First-Aid Boxes contain everything from band-aids and Dettol to thermometers, pediatric paracetamol and nasal saline. There's nothing on the planet that says she has to wait with a burning forehead till her mother comes to pick her up later in the day. We aim to ensure every un-aided play school has a basic first-aid kit to take care of every little scrape and clear every little blocked nose. |
The Early Childhood Education Program
Going to school is something we've all taken for granted. What if you considered for a moment the number of children who don't qualify for school based on the fact that they can't spell their names out, based on the fact that their parents can't afford to pay for private schools, based on the fact they were sent to a play-school for the free meal it provides.
The Ashoka Tree aims to ensure every unaided play school has the infrastructure and facilities that are good enough for the 20-25 children aged between 2-6 who go here everyday. We ensure there are basic fans and tube lights, we ensure there is child-proofing (so cooking gas and stoves are not balanced on planks of wood where children run around and play), we ensure the child has toys to play with and is not being asked to sleep on the floor all day till a parent comes in the evening, we ensure there is a toilet so we don't have children using the outdoors instead. This is 2017. It's the least we can hope to achieve, but not something we can do without help. Do get in touch with us if you'd like to be the change you wish to see in the world. |
The Anti-Mosquito Effect
Living in areas where mosquitoes are a menace is bad enough. Having to spend all day in a play-school where there's nothing you can do about it, is worse. The Ashoka Tree works at mosquito-proofing unaided play schools to essentially minimize instances of dengue, malaria, chikungunya, filariasis, yellow fever and more. One mosquito prevented from entering that room is one child saved.
The BlackBoard Project
The Ashoka Tree aims to ensure every child in every play-school, aided or unaided, has a blackboard to draw on.
Affordability and continuity is the key here - after all a box of chalk costs a mere quarter of a box of pencils.
We work with volunteers and school children from bigger schools with larger dreams who want to make a change.
We Spread More Smiles!
Affordability and continuity is the key here - after all a box of chalk costs a mere quarter of a box of pencils.
We work with volunteers and school children from bigger schools with larger dreams who want to make a change.
We Spread More Smiles!
The BlackBoard Project - The Ashoka Tree
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The BlackBoard Project - The Ashoka Tree
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The BlackBoard Project - The Ashoka Tree
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One of The Ashoka Tree's BlackBoard initiatives with volunteers and children from Global Public School, Cochin.
The Ashoka Tree Book & Toy Boxes
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It's the fun you have at play school that gives you the interest to stay on through high school. Playing with real toys is still a luxury in most parts of the country. The Ashoka Tree aims to provide book and toy boxes in unaided play schools across the country. These are play schools where a large number of children are sent more for the free meal the government provides than the strong foundation early learning is for further education.
Vegetable Gardens for Tomorrow
The team at The Ashoka Tree helps every unaided play school set up their own little vegetable patch where there is space (plants in grow-bags where there is none).
Not only does each child have a fresh batch of healthy vegetables to eat at lunch every other day, but this also gives them the joy of watching these plants grow as they look after their vegetable patch every day.
Not only does each child have a fresh batch of healthy vegetables to eat at lunch every other day, but this also gives them the joy of watching these plants grow as they look after their vegetable patch every day.
Special Children in Special Places
The Ashoka Tree works with Father Tezza's School, Wynad, and the St. Camillus Training Centre for Mentally Challenged, Kannur. With over 108 special children, the oldest 'child' here is 46 years old.
Most of these 'children' (especially the older ones) have been abandoned when they were younger, although now more stringent rules are in place that requires parents to visit their children at least once annually.
About a dozen of these children are orphans but not up for adoption, simply because nobody wants to adopt a special child.
The Ashoka Tree contributes to monthly rations here and is always on the look out for more donors to contribute to the daily functioning and growth of these children. We send them toys, have contributed to establishing and training fairly competitive volley-ball and basket-ball teams. Our children eventually made it to the 'All Kerala Special School Volley Ball Finals'.
From toiletries to sanitary pads and adult diapers, from basic rice to eggs and fish, from cycles and tricycles to play with to fuel for the school jeep, there's a continuous need every day.
Most of these 'children' (especially the older ones) have been abandoned when they were younger, although now more stringent rules are in place that requires parents to visit their children at least once annually.
About a dozen of these children are orphans but not up for adoption, simply because nobody wants to adopt a special child.
The Ashoka Tree contributes to monthly rations here and is always on the look out for more donors to contribute to the daily functioning and growth of these children. We send them toys, have contributed to establishing and training fairly competitive volley-ball and basket-ball teams. Our children eventually made it to the 'All Kerala Special School Volley Ball Finals'.
From toiletries to sanitary pads and adult diapers, from basic rice to eggs and fish, from cycles and tricycles to play with to fuel for the school jeep, there's a continuous need every day.
Run The World - An UpCycling Initiative
The Ashoka Tree, works with unemployed mothers, women from the Mahila Mandiram and unaided play school teachers who need an income to make life a little easier.
These are women who have worked tirelessly from day one to get where they are today.
Working with newspaper, bottles, cloth and plastic, we're on the path to sustainable lifestyle products from generally unused material.
'Run The World' aims at giving these lovely ladies a voice through their art – a chance to do something they enjoy, and yet make a profitable business for themselves.
These are women who have worked tirelessly from day one to get where they are today.
Working with newspaper, bottles, cloth and plastic, we're on the path to sustainable lifestyle products from generally unused material.
'Run The World' aims at giving these lovely ladies a voice through their art – a chance to do something they enjoy, and yet make a profitable business for themselves.
Run The World - An Upcycling Initiative - Sale
Run The World
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Run The World
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Run The World
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COMMUNITY SERVICES
We help people in destitute homes, general hospitals, old age homes, and special schools across India.
The Ashoka Tree sends blankets, clothing, and medical aid in affected areas throughout India.
The Ashoka Tree sends blankets, clothing, and medical aid in affected areas throughout India.
