One of Friends of Vellore’s ongoing projects is the Pachaikili Play Centre for pre-school aged children. This is situated in a rural area 25 km from Vellore and overseen by CMC’s Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs.

The Pachaikili Centre plays a vital role in creating a strong foundation for pre-school age children ensuring better growth and development leading to healthy adulthood. There are places for 20 children aged 3-5 years from families who have very little means. The care is provided free of charge apart from a minimal monthly contribution for activities.

The centre provides a safe, positive, nurturing environment where children can develop socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually. The goal is to stimulate the children’s development through play. The play-way method adopted encourages creativity and curiosity.

The centre is located in the same building as one of our elderly care centres, allowing interaction during the day between the children and the elderly. The bringing together of the young children with the elders at this centre is an incredibly positive experience for both age groups. The elders take great joy in interacting with the children as it makes them feel part of a family. A parachute is used by both elders and children for lively fun and play. They also enjoy painting and colouring together.

Two teachers and a helper are employed by the play centre. The teachers monitor each child’s development, creating a profile and tracking the child’s progress over time. This enables them to provide developmental based interventions.

The children are taught to take care of their own basic needs to foster independence from an early age. Play activities help build fine motor skills in preparation for learning to write. Opportunities for interaction help the children to learn how to build relationships and work through conflict peacefully. Teachers model the importance of listening well and encourage the children to express their ideas and feelings.

In addition to learning through play, milk and nutritious snacks are provided to aid healthy development. Regular interaction with the parents equips them to care well for their children, including making nutritious meals.

This project makes such a difference to the children and their families – preparing them for school, promoting healthy development and providing a strong foundation for their future lives.

Friends of Vellore sent a grant of £2791 to run this project in 2023.