Wednesday, July 20, 2016

GPM wins prestigious award in Child Welfare and Women Empowerment in India

Gabriel Project Mumbai won a prestigious Award of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Journal's Social Welfare and Growth (SWAG) under the category of Women Empowerment and Child Welfare. The award acknowledges the vital impact of the Love2Learn program for education among the remote rural poor in the Palghar village region outside of Mumbai.

“We acknowledge the efforts provided for a better understanding of the on-ground problems and pro-actively encourage your work towards attaining effective results,” Anuradha Devnani of the CSR Journal said in congratulating the GPM team.


Over 500 people attended the event including corporate leaders,  well known philanthropists, members of the Bollywood industry and former ministers of the Indian government.

Love2Learn is a new educational program opened in 2015 in the Western Maharashta state of India that serves 600 students ages 5-10 in 24 villages. This program, which was created by GPM educational staff in collaboration with government educational institutions and staff, uses a holistic approach to development, innovative pedagogies, and a fun, student-centered atmosphere of foundational learning. The Love2Learn program is the first integrated and comprehensive development project in the region, based on the GPM strategy of the “Triad of Children’s Development” – that is, children need a simultaneous combination of education, health and nutrition support in order to end the cycle of poverty.

Love2Learn provides schooling, with an emphasis on language literacy, math and performing arts, as well as technologically-based interactive English teaching through e-learning. The program also offers the GPM signature “Eat to learn” program, in which every student receives a fresh, hot meal when she or he attends school, a strategic approach to children’s poverty has been endorsed by former US President Bill Clinton, because it ensures that children will have the nutritional boosts that they need in order to learn and develop. Love2Learn also provides a Mobile Health Unit with medical personnel that visit the villages every day. They provide check-ups, vaccinations, preventive care, hygiene education supported by Sundara and Humble Smile Foundation, and follow-up care.

“By attending to all three aspects of the child’s needs simultaneously, Love2Learn fights poverty and child labor while caring for the literacy, health and nutrition needs of the children – the vital components that the children need to thrive,” said GPM Program Director Kenneth Desouza.

“We have worked very hard and in collaboration with leading educational experts in order to ensure that the children receive a high-quality education in an atmosphere that fully respects them and their social and cultural surroundings,” added Love2Learn Director Thaiza Dias.

“We are very grateful to the CSR Journal for giving us this award,” said GPM Founding Director Jacob Sztokman who received the award from Former DGP, Karnataka, Dr. Jija Hari Singh “It is a strong confirmation that we are on the right path in helping end the cycle of poverty among India’s remote rural poor children. This is a very important milestone for all of us.”  



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