The Anganwadi Project aims to rebuild and renovate 66 ‘anganwadi’ (pre-schools) in the slum areas of Ahmedabad, Gujurat, India. The project is currently sending teams of qualified AWF volunteers to work in Ahmedabad for periods of six weeks up to four months. Volunteers are involved in designing, documenting and supervising the construction and repair of these anganwadis. Each anganwadi currently consists of crude one room galvanised or brick lean-to’s which have little or no ventilation and light. The anganwadis are constructed by local labourers and use largely re-cycled materials in order to support the Manav Sadhna philosophy of ‘Re-Use, Re-Cycle, and Reduce.’
Only the children from wealthy and middle class families can afford to go to a formal pre school in India. Over 18% of children do not get any formal education at all and children from these poor families are often lack the proper nutrition. More than 43% of children in India are malnourished. Proper care, hygiene and discipline are also lacking in these children. It is proven that a child given a chance to attend a preschool will more likely to start formal primary education.
Manav Sadhna currently operates 75 preschools – nutrition centre in Ahmedabad. They serve over 3500 children and 700 mothers every day. The subsidy they receive from government for each center is R/s 1900 a month. The cost of operating a quality (nutritious food and proper supplies) center, however, is R/s 3000.