Cityzens Giving For Recovery - Mumbai

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realise that digital education and access to computers is an urgent necessity, especially to reduce drop out rates in low-income areas and slum communities. Further, computers not only help develop digital skills but also serve as a crucial medium to access a number of key services including education, documents and banking. In a rapidly changing world, with community influencers like our teacher Pooja, we help ensure that children living in poverty are not left behind. This is her story of digital transformation :

Pooja (27), belonging to Osmanabad in South East Maharashtra migrated to Mumbai in 2015 with little knowledge of city life or the problems faced in Mumbai’s sprawling slums. Life in Mahul, Mumbai was a shock for Pooja. Amongst all the problems faced in her community, she noticed that children suffered the consequences of poverty the most. While Pooja always wanted to help children and had a brief vision for the same, there were no structured interventions or facilities to help her realise her plans. That would change in 2019 when OSCAR Foundation would start offering football and life skills sessions to children belonging to her community.

Pooja joined OSCAR Foundation in 2019 and started out by helping children attending OSCAR football sessions with their school work. Despite completing her education, Pooja never had the opportunity to learn computers. The children of her community too were deprived of that knowledge due to a lack of affordable facilities. Having visited OSCAR’s Digital Learning Centre in Cuffe Parade, she longed to have such a facility for children belonging to her community. Inspired, driven and committed, Pooja completed a certificate course in Microsoft Office offered by the NIIT foundation. She quickly picked up the basics of computers and gradually developed her confidence with computers, even making presentations and spreadsheets for her students. She was amazed by the simplicity of softwares like Word, PowerPoint and Excel and its practical applications in daily life. She knew this was something that would greatly benefit the children in her community. After multiple meetings with supporters, OSCAR secured funds to open a Digital Learning Centre in her community with 14 computers offering a variety of courses to various age groups. Pooja currently works with 100 children at the centre teaching the basics of MS Paint, Microsoft Office, e-mail and much more. She hopes these skills will benefit the children when they are older and seeking jobs. 

Community leaders like Pooja help facilitate concrete change in low-income areas. While a number of factors have contributed to the opening of our new Digital Learning Centre, it would not be possible without Pooja’s tireless efforts. Computers and digital education have long been seen as a luxury in our society. 

Pooja says - “I am so happy that we have our own digital centre in Vashi Naka. I am inspired and look forward to enabling positive change in the lives of children belonging to my area. I am overwhelmed by the support of my teammates and the response from the parents. As we approach 2021, we will adapt our curriculum to help children access their school work online. This will include using Word to take notes, PowerPoint to work on school projects and presentations and Excel to make tables and sort data.”