Launch of Happy Classroom
Behala Sujan with FOKE officially launched the Happy Classroom at Bhalobasha home as part of the Republic Day celebrations. The Happy Classroom is a safe space for students from the local neighborhood to learn different skills alongside strengthening their regular school curriculum. FOKE has been running the after school sessions for students upto Class V for several years now. The Happy Classroom now extends and upgrades that service upto Class IX. Two professionally trained teachers for Art and Science subjects have been recruited. We are grateful to our partners Behala Sujon for their support in monitoring the quality of the services provided.
Renovation and restructuring of Charunibash
This year we have completed the renovation and restructuring of Charunibash to accommodate more residents, become more senior friendly and expands the space for outreach programmes. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support from Concentrix Daksh Private Limited which has made this possible.
Renovation and restructuring of Bhalobasha
This year we have completed the renovation, restructuring and construction of a new annex wing at Bhalobasha. The new annex, which has been dedicated to our Beloved Sr. Cyril Mooney IBVM was inaugurated on 30 January 2021 amidst much laughter, joy and music. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support from our donors for sponsoring the new building and renovation of the old building.
Psychological Assessment
We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of Mr. Nirmal Sarkar in creating a psychological assessment of each of our residents. Mr Sarkar has worked hard to identify their individual areas of interest which will greatly help us to engage them.
Cyclone Relief
The coastal areas of West Bengal have been battered by repeated cyclones and storms this year. We organised a medical camp and distribution of dry food at Kumirmari village in Sundarbans, one of the worst affected areas on 6th June 2021. In collaboration with our partners Kestopur –Jagorani medicine, tarpaulin, mosquito net, dry food, sanitary napkins and water were distributed. 380 villagers were checked by a group of 9 doctors from the SSKM- Government Hospital
Yaas Relief Camp#1 
Yaas Relief Camp#2 
Yaas Relief Camp#3 
Yaas Relief Camp#4 
Yaas Relief Camp#5 
Cyclone Relief Camp#1 
Cyclone Relief Camp#2 
Cyclone Relief Camp#3
Ration Cards
The Government of West Bengal announced free food rations to all citizens of the state at the very beginning of the lockdown to ensure food security. Our residents were deprived of this benefit because their homeless and destitute status meant they could not apply for ration cards. We navigated the application process with determination and are very pleased that our residents in Bhalobasha now have ration cards and are receiving their food benefit each month.
COVID 19 Vaccines
We are delighted that all our residents are now double vaccinated against COVID 19. This was a difficult task to achieve because of the lack of identity proof documents, however a combination of idealism, determination and true grit won the day for us.
Relatives comes Visiting
Maya Adhikary has been living with us since November 2017. We identified and contacted her son in 2018 but he was unable to take her to live with him due to personal issues. Maya herself too was unwilling to go back home. In November 2021, Maya’s son visited her at Charunibash. The reunion was emotional and happy and both parted on good terms.
Rehabilitation
On 23rd December 2019, Parbati a young woman who we rescued from Moulali – Kolkata, but her young age and health condition did not allow us to keep her at our premises. We are grateful to Committee Member Arundhuti who allowed Parbati for the next several months. We than found another temporary shelter for her in AshaBari until we managed to arrange a permanent accommodation for her at a home run by MAHER in Kolkata on 26th January 2021. Parbati is presently undergoing treatment at MAHER-Pune and is making good progress. We thank Calcutta Rescue for proving all medical assistance to Parbati from day one.
Happy Ending
We at FOKE are very grateful to Ambarish Nag Biswas, Founder of the West Bengal Radio Club and an active social worker for coming forward and helping us to reunite two of our elderly residents with their families. A network of HAM radio operators across India managed to trace, contact and motivate family members of two of our residents Ramlati and Lakshi to come and take their loved ones back home. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution and efforts of a whole network of compassionate crusaders from different walks of life who made this wonderful reunion a reality. HIVE India Kolkata, police officers posted at various locations across West Bengal, UP and Assam and the district administration of these states have all played a part in this process. We will dearly miss our members but are consoled by the fact that they will now be happy and well looked after in their own homes.
Ramlati who is actually Rama Devi was caught up in a family dispute of sorts, resulting in her being put on a train by her own brother, while her children were informed she died of a sudden heart attack. For more than 5 years Ramlati lived in Charunibash, weeping every night for her children. Their joy on discovering that their beloved mother was actually alive and well was emotionally moving. Her son Kishan Singh rushed to Kolkata from Delhi immediately, stayed overnight in Charunibash, completed all formalities at the Lake Police Station on 23rd November and took his mother back with him. Ramlati is now happily settled with her sons and daughter. Lakshi went missing while travelling from her home where she lives with her nephew to her niece’s house, Hoogly. She was found very unwell and distressed on a Kolkata pavement and arrived at FOKE soon after. Her niece and nephew both arrived in Charunibash the day after they were informed of her situation. They took her home after completing the formalities at Gariahat Police Station. Lakshmi is now happily reunited and settled with her beloved nephew Sanjay.
Ramlati 
Ramlati#2 
Ramlati#3
Rest in Peace
Biswanath Bayen, our beloved Bishu da who contributed immensely in realizing the dream of FOKE. He was initially one of the builders when Charunibash was being rebuilt in 2005 and then became a staff member. He suffered ill health but kept visiting even after retirement for as long as he could. We will miss Bishu da dearly but know that his memory lives on in Charunibash.
