Setu – The Bridge

Shaishav believes that to bring about substantial changes in society, we need to network with many different actors at the local, state, national and international level. This work is carried out through our Setu (The Bridge) programme. The first aim of the programme is to involve different actors to take social responsibility and ensure optimal utilisation of scarce resources, to make changes which are sustainable in the long run. The second aim of the programme is to facilitate mutual sharing between experiences on the grass-root level and the macro level, which can lead to replicability of successful action in the field of child rights.

Local Level

At the local level, Shaishav has initiated the formation of a Bal Dost Manch (Collective of Friends of Children). The aim of the collective is to identify and solve issues of child rights, particularly related to education. The Manch works towards improvement of education infrastructure, services and facilities for children of their area and also takes up difficulties faced by the teachers in municipal schools so that they can become more effective in their work. The community branches of the Manch provide support i Shaishav's programmes and Shaishav invites resource persons from the Manch to come and share their experience and knowledge with the children. The resource persons act as role models for the children and as ambassadors of Shaishav in society.

Shaishav has also linked 14 reputed private schools to 20 of the municipal schools where we intervene. We have trained more than 800 children from these private schools to come regularly with us to the municipal schools to do activities with these children in groups. The idea is that these children can have mutually enriching exchange, whereby the resources of private schools are utilised in bringing about positive changes the municipal school system. This serves as an excellent example of child to child approach based on solidarity and is part of our work towards bridging inequality.

Moreover, Shaishav links with NGOs and Government departments in Bhavnagar to expose and educate the children about the society at large. Shaishav is a founder member of Bhavsetu, a local network of voluntary organizations in Bhavnagar.

State, National and International Level

At the district level Shaishav collaborate with other NGOs and local leaders to take up issues faced by the population. At the state level, Shaishav organises an annual State Level Convention of Children. In February 2005, more than 2200 children from 15 districts of Gujarat, belonging to 35 voluntary organisations participated and discussed about their problems and how to solve them. Shaishav is also an active member of Janpath, a network of voluntary organizations in Gujarat. Moreover, Shaishav has initiated the process of a state level network for rights of children called Child Rights Collective – Gujarat.

On the national level, Shaishav is an active member of the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), where we are the Convener for the state of Gujarat and in the national Executive Committee. On the international level, Shaishav is part of Campaign Against Child Trafficking (CACT), Child Rights for World Social Forum (CR4WSF) and the Girls International Forum (GIF). Both of Shaishav’s founder members, Mr. Falgun Sheth, and Ms. Parul Sheth are Ashoka fellows, which is a global network of Social Entrepreneurs.

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