Author: Misgana Kurban

VISION
Tiljala SHED envisions a society where the most marginalized communities are free from all forms of exploitation to live a life of dignity, equality, justice, and peace.

Girl’s Community Library Hub & Boys‘Institutional Care Home

Initiative
Through this initiative, we aspire to develop one of the best Juvenile Justice Homes in Kolkata. Currently, the Gyan AzharLibrary and Open Shelter Home for Boys share a single common place(temporary makeshift structure) in a facility rented by Tiljala SHED for the past 15 years. The welfare of disadvantaged children from urban slums will be improved. The building is run-down and too small to accommodate the current and growing needs of these projects. The current structure will be replaced by a three-storey youth centre that is designed and equipped to serve the needs of local vulnerable children. The new building will enable the Open Shelter Home to expand support for a total of 50 or more vulnerable boys and enable the library to provide learning support for up to 3000 destitute girls.

Main Focus: Education, Employment Enhancing Vocational Skills, Eradicating Hunger, Poverty & Malnutrition, and Empowering Women.

Aspirations
– 800 current members to increase to as least 3,000 members.

– A safe and positive environment for the well-being and development of vulnerable children.

– A safe, secure and spacious place for girls to study and take part in different extracurricular activities including access to computers and internet.

– Skill development will be enhanced for adolescents and youths can better the chances of work opportunities and be encouraged and empowered to improve their livelihoods.

– Zero drop out from schools will be achieved within 5 years of completed facilities.

– The shelter home will prevent them from criminal behaviour and becoming a liability to society.

– Enhanced skill development of adolescent girls to improve their chances at work opportunities and encourage empowerment to improve their own livelihood.

– A place to learning, play, support, advice, counseling, and ultimately uniting the community.

– Classes and courses for civil services and other competitive examinations.

Who is it for?
Street children, children in difficult circumstances, children at risk, children involved in violence, rag pickers, orphans, adolescent destitute girls, children involved in begging and selling on the streets. 

Why? Current Challenges:
Space:
– The lack of space is very limiting and prevents the library and open shelter from being fully productive and helpful to the children. With a single room of 200 sq. ft. and an average of 20-25 girls visiting at one time, it becomes congested very quickly. Often times, multiple activities take place simultaneously, making it difficult for girls to focus (guitar lessons, English tuition, computer classes, etc). Because the boys’ shelter, where the boys are either sleeping or studying, is adjacent to the library, the girls have to be quiet and cannot always practice music and dance. Additionally, 39 boys are registered to use the home throughout the day. Ten of these boys stay in an area with dimensions 24X7 ft. All the boys share two 10X12 ft. room for sleeping and one 18X15 ft. hall for studying and playing games. Additionally, there is not always enough space to store every book so decisions have to made on which book will help the students the most and rest of the books are kept in storage.

– Infrastructure: During monsoon season, the library floods and is full of ankle-deep water. This damages computers and books that are on the lower racks. Behind the shelter, there is a dumping ground for waste. As the facility is a temporary strucure, the roof leaks sometimes when it rains. This results in children sometimes having unexpected health problems.

– Computers: Because the computers are in high demand, Anjum allows each girl to use a computer for only 10 min
utes at a time. There are currently four computers at the library.

– Staff: The boys need a full-time counsellor who can discuss health/safety issues with them on one-on-one basis. They facilities also need counsellors who can hold workshops and classes for boys and other members of the community. 

The open Shelter Home with Gyan Azhar Library will have:

Living	Education	Facilities
Staff Room for staff and security	Tuition Room for studies and extra tutoring	8 Bathrooms
3 Bedrooms for a total of 50 children	Games and Activities Room to engage in games and cultural activities	2 Computer Rooms
2 Open spaces to practice dance, support games such as Carom, table tennis, table soccer	Vocational Training Room to display handicrafts, beading, etc.	Kitchen & cafeteria
	Library for reading and subject preparation	3 Storage Rooms for store supplies

Location
The Gyan Azhar Library and the Open Shelter Home for Boys are both located in the same facility at 52 Tiljala Road in the Tiljala Darapara Slum. This legal slum is bordered by the E.M. Bypass in the east and Ballygunge Place in the west and is a two-minute walk from the Park Circus Railway Station.

Project Timeline
This a three-year project that will be divided into three phases

	Start Date	Completion Date
Phase 1: Purchase of Land (2160 sq.ft.)	15.12.2018	01.01.2019
Phase 2: Demolition & Construction	01.01.2019	15.10.2019
Phase 3: Interior Design & Asset Purchases	15.10.2019	01.02.2020

In the FutureThe foundation will have the capacity to support four floors. If needed, we will add an additional floor in the future. Additionally, adjacent to the library there is a large land that we at Tiljala SHED are currently in talks with the authorities to acquire that land in the future. If we are successful, we hope to expand the Community Centre and potentially build a school for these communities.

Investment Amount (show status bar)Rns. 2,69,01,640/- à $407,600.60USD (using 66.00 exchange rate)

Contact Project Head
Md. Shafkat Alam          Phone: +91.983.141.3187