Centre for Education Development Action and Research

28/06/2025

Meet Iniya Mathivanan — just 14, a 9th grader at Santiago School, USA — and already changing lives! Through her initiative Chess4Girls, she’s teaching chess to empower young girls. During her visit to her mother’s home, Madurai, she engaged 30 CEDAR children — and left them awestruck!

To them, she was a “Window to the World,” a true Global Citizen, and an inspiring Child Leader.

Paper Boat Lizzy Storyteller Chinnaraj Joseph Thangaraj Deborah Wetherall HCLFoundation Child Safe Foundation Tata Trusts ChessBase India FIDE - International Chess Federation Chess.com Chess.com - India @64 squares chess academy

24/06/2025

“Camp” is a wrong word to describe what children went through during the 5-day ‘art experience’ at Lingavadi Children’s Hub. It was 5 days of bombardments of excitement, exploration of wilderness and experimenting with art-learning. It was a discovery of oneself and others. Playing parai brought out in them, a deep sense of belonging and togetherness; their painting and drawing was a new language of expression; what they would not say otherwise they could say through the plays they staged; they saw through the lens what they failed to see with their naked eyes. Children said in a chorus, “Now we know what we are saying.” It was not a camp—but a 5-day feast of joy.

Deborah Wetherall Paper Boat Lizzy Storyteller HCLFoundation Tata Trusts SexEd கற்போம் கற்பிப்போம் Chinnaraj Joseph Thangaraj

14/11/2024

"Today, as we celebrate Children’s Day, we at CEDAR NGO extend our heartfelt wishes to all the incredible children out there, especially those who inspire us every day with their resilience and dreams. Our mission has always been to uplift and empower marginalized children, giving them a voice and a platform to thrive.

To the young minds who deserve endless joy, opportunities, and the freedom to dream without limits—know that you are the heart and soul of everything we do. You teach us that with hope, creativity, and support, every child can shine, no matter where they come from.

This Children’s Day, let’s remember: every child has an untold story waiting to unfold. Let’s listen, support, and create a world where their dreams are not just seen but celebrated.

Happy Children’s Day from all of us at CEDAR! 🌟 "

29/08/2024

The "Community Vigilance against Child Sexual Abuse" program was initiated on 24.08.2024 to raise awareness and mobilise action against child sexual abuse within the community.

16/07/2024

𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 "𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥" 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘴; 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵 "𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳!" | 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐑

𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒇𝒖𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅'𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒂.

15/07/2024

𝘌𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘺 | 𝘈𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦.

10/07/2024

𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘊𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘳 𝘕𝘎𝘖 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘒𝘉 𝘕𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭; 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨!

𝘈 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦!

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨,
𝘾𝙀𝘿𝘼𝙍.
Paper Boat Deborah Wetherall

18/05/2024

18/05/2024

John Newbiggin OBE, Chairman of Creative England and of Cinema Arts Network visits CEDAR

On Wednesday around 11 AM, a professor friend of mine telephoned me, “Hope you wouldn’t mind if I come right now to your office with a friend from the UK... he is interested in meeting you. He missed this opportunity fifteen years ago when he was here last time. I have told him about your work with children.”I said, “Yes” without hesitation. In the next half-an-hour, John was in my office discussing war, poverty, climate change, children, and the global future.

The great meeting point for us was how Alternative Art can open wellsprings of creativity in children. He said, “Education that doesn’t help children to joyfully immerse themselves in art at an early stage is oppression.” We were so pleased to screen two of the short films our children have made, ‘Little Dreams’ and ‘You, me, we... are Flowers.’ John was very happy for the children who made it, said “Film is a medium children love to use... it is really a powerful way for children not to just learn about filmmaking, but learn about themselves, to learn about how to work together, to communicate with other people and enjoy other people communicating to them.” These words came from his deep-seated conviction and personal experience. Going around the world, John has helped children make nearly 1500 short films.

John has held several respectable positions shaping the art and cultural policies of the UK that includes Special Advisor to the Minister for Culture, Policy Advisor to the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, Member of the British Council’s Advisory Board for Arts and Creative Industries, Head of Corporate Relations for Channel 4 Television, and many more. He is also a visitor to the University of Hong Kong. It was quite an honour he spent time with us.
- Dr.Chinnaraj Joseph Thangaraj
CEO & Director of CEDAR
Paper Boat Chinnaraj Joseph Thangaraj The Rufford FoundationMama CashKIDPRENEURSChild safe foundation indiaYouthPower Learning

07/05/2024

🎨✨ Celebrating Folk Art: Parai Training with CEDAR NGO! ✨🎨

We're thrilled to share the joyous moments from our recent Parai training session with the children from marginalized communities, organized by CEDAR NGO in collaboration with trainer Sellamani! 🥁🌟

Located near Tallakulam, Madurai, our team had the privilege of bringing the vibrant tradition of Parai to nearly 30 enthusiastic young minds at the local Government school. Over the course of two days, these children immersed themselves in the rhythmic beats and cultural heritage of this ancient art form, learning from the expertise of Sellamani himself. 💫

Parai, with its roots deeply embedded in Tamil Nadu's cultural fabric, holds a special place in our hearts. Through this training, we aimed not only to teach the art but also to instill a sense of pride and connection to their heritage among these incredible young talents. 🪘💖

The atmosphere was filled with laughter, learning, and a profound sense of camaraderie as the children embraced every moment with joy and enthusiasm. Witnessing their enthusiasm and passion for Parai was truly inspiring, reminding us of the power of art to uplift, empower, and unite communities. 🌈🎶

A heartfelt thank you to Sellamani for his invaluable guidance and to all the children who participated wholeheartedly in this enriching experience. Together, we're nurturing a love for folk art and fostering a brighter, more culturally vibrant future for all. 🌟✨ 🌟🎨