What sets Parikrma apart is its complete engagement with the child's life beyond just education - nutrition, healthcare and family care. Given the background they come from, these children commonly face stressful environments at home. Financial constraints place an immense pressure and take a toll on family harmony. Alcoholism and domestic violence are rampant. Unstable family structures are common where typically the father is absent and the mother faces the brunt of raising the child.

Under these conditions it becomes imperative for Parikrma to address issues in the child's home/community so it has positive spin off on the child's growth and development. The question we ask ourselves is : what can we do to ensure that the child's home environment is stable and a nurturing one so that the child attends school regularly and makes best use of the education we impart in school.

Our Community Development Services (CDS) is what manages this aspect of the Parikrma Model. CDS is manned by a team of social workers with strong grass roots experience. They enjoy rapport with each individual family and are the first point of contact for them. It is not uncommon to find a parent confiding in our social workers about a domestic problem or a social worker attending to the health needs of a child beyond school hours. CDS workers form a bridge between the school and the family and constantly collaborate with teachers on working out solutions to problems stemming from the family/community.

CDS at Parikrma is involved in the activities of Nutrition, Healthcare and Family Care.

Healthcare

Child Health is an important agenda of CDS. We recognize that physical health is a critical building block in a child's development but is also the aspect that is quite often neglected by the family. Activities that figure routinely on the CDS calendar are: yearly general checkups, dental screening and interventions, eye testing, immunization, blood grouping, deworming and administering multi vitamin supplements. In addition CDS offers a huge support system, often emotional, to families during an emergency or a serious illness. We rely on partnerships with renowned medical institutions to access reliable treatment for our children.

Partnerships:

• MS Ramiah
• Rangadore Memorial Hospital
• P D Hinduja Sindhi Hospital
• Smile Train Foundation
• KMYF
• Sharada Rotary
• Udani Opticians
• Karunashraya

Some of our activities are as follows:

1. Mobile Dental Van Every year specialists from leading institutes screen our children to identify dental problems and take on their treatment. Recently The Karnataka Marwari Youth Federation (KMYF) partnered with Parikrma and sent a state-of-the-art mobile van to all our centers. This van is fully equipped to conduct procedures like fillings and extractions.
2. Eye testing/free spectacles from Sharada Rotary Good vision has a direct bearing on academic performance. We regularly get our children screened by specialists for myopia and other eye related problems. Partners like Sharada Rotary and Udani Opticians provide free spectacles to our children every year.

Family Care

1. Women's Health Camp Parikrma has initiated a free health program for mothers. In this program women get free health checkups and PAP smears at the local PHC (Primary Health Centre). This camp is conducted by a team of doctors from Kidwai, partnering with BBMP (Bangalore Municipal Corporation). Prior to each camp an awareness session is carried out to sensitise women about preventive health, particularly about the risks of cervical and breast cancer. Women are encouraged to attend yearly checkups. For women diagnosed with problems, CDS facilitates treatment at a well equipped private hospital, at subsidized rates. Cost of treatment is often by the women themselves. Parikrma extends some help to families in cases where costs are prohibitively expense.
2. Empowerment Most Parikrma mothers are semi literate/non literate and unskilled. In situations of domestic stress these women are the sole bread earners, involved in menial and unskilled jobs like housekeeping to sustain the family. Upgrading her skills means opening up a world of possibilities to the woman - she is able to use her skill to earn additional income and break the poverty trap.
• Tailoring A group of mothers can be seen every afternoon cutting and sewing at the Sahakarnagar centre. The trainer is a Parikrma father himself, a tailor by profession. Some mothers already running small enterprises doing simple stitching jobs are here to upgrade their skills while others are learning the basics. Everyone has the same goal - to learn a marketable skill and use it to augment present income.
• Craft with a Cause Julie Kagti, a renowned textile designer with her own line Sutra, trains a group of women at our Jayanagar centre in the fine art of embroidery and finishing techniques. The women are trained twice a week at our centre by Julie's trainers. On completion of the course, the women will execute orders from Sutra. Thus the women are assured of a ready market for their skill in addition to learning one for life.
• Self Help is best help Parikrma's own social work team runs 4 SHG's at the Sahakarnagar centre. The groups though modest in savings are powerful enablers. Women meet regularly, share problems and learn to manage team dynamics. Most importantly, some financial help comes their way when they need most, avoiding the need to take exploitative loans.
• Computer and life skills A group of five women are being trained in computers and life skills in a joint initiative of YWCA-APSA. These women are taken through basic computer skills from typing to learning Tally software and at the end of the course are able to progress from unskilled to skilled jobs.