After Care Support

Dear Friend,

At El Shaddai, we enable young people to thrive in their journey from childhood to livelihood. This is achieved by enabling adolescents to complete secondary education and empowering young people with developmental skills for sustainable employment. Our programme works with adolescents and multiple stakeholders to keep children in school, fight off destabilizers and improve academic outcomes. We focus on teaching life skills, enhancing education, and improving key skills that will help them to identify their goals.

I would like to share the life-transforming story of 17-year-old Shrijana who dreamed of becoming a sportsperson. She aspired to participate in state-level sports but her lack of confidence made her keep herself away from her dreams. Shrijana comes from an underprivileged community in Sonitpur, Assam. Shrijana has two siblings. Shrijana’s mother wants to provide Shrijana with basic necessities & education, but her financial instability makes it difficult for her.

Shrijana’s father is an alcoholic and does not provide any support to his children, and does not want to take any responsibility, instead, he wants them to earn for the family. Shrijana’s mother works as a housemaid and her income is not sufficient enough to provide for and satisfy her three children. To avoid further adversities, Shrijana’s mother came to us for help and requested to admit Shrijana into our Children’s Home. El Shaddai made a difference in the 17-year-old’s life when she joined our aftercare programme. In the beginning, she couldn’t communicate properly and was often quiet which contributed to her low confidence and low self-esteem.

This kept her away from achieving what she had dreamed of. But under the help and guidance of our mentor, she developed self-confidence and made a point and eventually went on to participate in all the sessions conducted by the counsellor.  She grew out of her uncertainties and became confident in herself and her choices. She also became more resilient and grasped the necessary skills. She completed her secondary Course from Goa Board with First class wherein the school awarded her the trophy and the cash prize. Sports was her dream, we are so proud to see her participating in the State level Wushu sports competition organized by the Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs U-18 girls state level Wushu competition 2022-23 and securing Second Place.

We aim to build youth with the values of equality and respect, who share these values with their peers. Your gift brings so much hope and strength to the children who are facing life hardships. Thank YOU for being such an important part of these projects by supporting us!

Links:

• https://childrescue.net/

El Shaddai offers aftercare support to children who are pursuing their higher studies. We run cottages for children who are pursuing their higher studies and vocational training courses. The main aim of aftercare program is to make the children independent and self-reliant.

The children in the cottage own the responsibility of being independent. They are also provided with the provision wherein they can cook for themselves, this is where we help them to learn cooking skills and manage food stock at home. We have Samuel and his brother staying in our cottage facility. Samuel (name changed) came to us when he was just 6 years old. The family is financially very poor and has no proper shelter to stay in. Because of her husband's abusive nature and alcohol addiction, his mother committed suicide. Samuel's father is a drunker, he does not bother to care about his children and he is often seen drunk lying on the road and footpaths. Samuel has completed his High School with 70% and has got admission to do his hotel management course. Currently, he is doing his internship in a Grand Hyatt Hotel as a Front Office Executive. Once he completes his internship period he is also planning to apply for a job in abroad countries.

Like Samuel, this project helped so many other destitute children in our care to overcome the problems of poverty and ignorance. Without the support, he wouldn't have got the opportunity to complete his studies by now and he would have ended up as unskilled laborer. This project makes it possible for children like Samuel to pursue their higher education and look forward to a good career. His journey inspires more underprivileged children to think big and lead a successful life. It also provides long-term support for destitute children allowing them to break out of illiteracy and poverty. This makes the children aware of their rights and more ambitious in the long run.

Links:

• https://childrescue.net/

Dear friend,

A warm welcome to our latest report on Care and support for our children after attaining adulthood. We hope you will enjoy reading about the same.

We are often asked, “what happens to children when they turn into adults? And our answer still remains the same “once a child of El Shaddai will always be a child of El Shaddai”.

It’s been 25 years since our charity started and there are so many children who have now stepped into adulthood. We at El Shaddai continue our support and care towards these children.

  We provide opportunities for these children to take up higher education or a better job. Many of our children have joined colleges and some have started working within the charity itself. These children have been given separate accommodations where they are able to be independent and self-sufficient.

We have presently working with us a child of El Shaddai named Riya(name changed) who began her journey with El Shaddai in the year 2009 when she was only a four-year-old child. Her mother was in an abusive marriage and one fine day decided to leave the house with her two daughters.

Riya and her sister were able to acquire good education and a warm secure home at El Shaddai. Riya completed her education at El Shaddai Academy. She is currently pursuing Bachelors in Arts through correspondence. She has taken keen interest in learning graphic designing along with higher education as she desires to become a graphic designer in future. Riya has decided to put in a lot of hard work and with determination and perseverance to make her dreams come true. 

We wish her all the very best in her future endeavors and continue to support her.

Through this project we will be able to help more children like Riya and ensure that our constant care and support will always remain.

Till date we have been able to reach out to thousands of children and through your help we want to continue our goal of empowering and educating more children so they too end up becoming changemakers.

With regards,

El Shaddai Charitable Trust

Dear Patrons,

I Monica, 18 years old am a native of Bijapur, Karnataka. Growing up with my parents was really difficult. My mother worked as a maid and my father as a mason.

Despite having financial issues, my parents could not send me to school since whatever he earned was used to care for my mother as she suffered from TB and HIV. After doing so much, my mother passed away when I was 7 years old.

With only my father to care for me and my small sister, I thought my life would end here, but one day my father met someone who told him about the lighthouse, and soon I was enrolled there.

The lighthouse was about to close due to some issues years later. Everyone living in there were leaving with their parents, but my father never came back to take us. At that moment, I was hurt because my father had abandoned us and focused only on himself.

I want to thank the lighthouse family for letting me and my sister begin a new journey in El Shaddai. My sister and I moved to El Shaddai in 2014. In El Shaddai, we were provided with shelter, clothes, delicious food, and education.

We both enrolled in Shanti Niketan School soon after I learned to speak and write English, made new friends, and were surrounded by love and care. I was very happy to have a life I had never imagined. I used to take part in every school event and always tried my hardest to study and get good grades. I was also involved in making cards, soft toys, tailoring, sports, and painting.

There were many different artists who offered workshops, but what caught my attention was when Gasper taught us about digital storytelling. It was then that I decided to get into digital art.

In my early years, I was fascinated by drawing and making creative things. I dreamed of becoming a designer as a child. After learning about digital storytelling (DST) and being very excited about it, I got another chance to learn about Corel Draw software. I then thought about becoming a graphic designer.

I probably would have been married off or wandering about the streets begging for alms if I was not enrolled in El Shaddai. 

Thank you to Didi and Dada for giving me a chance to dream again. Children like me are missing out on all kinds of opportunities, and I owe all of my success to didi and dada. Additionally, I would like to thank Punitha for teaching me about graphic design and video editing as I am working with her as an assistant graphic designer. I have completed my 12th grade, and currently pursuing my bachelor’s degree in arts.

Dada and Didi gave me the opportunity to pursue all my dreams and desires, which is why I am here today. My sister and I have received parental love, regardless of the fact that they are not our actual parents. I am so grateful to them.

El Shaddai has given me a second chance at being who I am today. In the future, I hope to be a beacon of hope for girls like me who lack the chance to dream.

Links:

• Click on the link to know more about our work

Dear Donor,

Thank you for supporting El Shaddai with our project to support after care children with education and life skills in Goa. Here is Ronney's story of how his life changed through everything he learned with El Shaddai

Ronney (name changed) came to El Shaddai at the age of 6 years along with his younger siblings. He started a new life with loving care givers, where he and his sisters were admitted to school as well. He was very much interested to study about Computer. After completion of schooling with good grades, he was enrolled for further studies in Bachelors of Computer Application i.e. BCA at one of the reputed colleges in Goa. It was very hard time of covid-19. Initially he took time to adjust to this online studies, however, he developed liking towards it as the days passed. He was bit worried about his study due to lock down situation. He is started going to regular classes and is happy to meet all his friends. Ronney wants to become a Full Stack Developer and is working towards accomplishing his goal. Lately he has been learning video editing and Graphic designing and simultaneously helping El Shaddai in the work. Ronney is very grateful to El Shaddai and to our wonderful supporters like you for playing a crucial role in transforming his life and many other children like him and for giving him an opportunity to study well and become something in life.

With gratitude,

El Shaddai Charitable Trust

Links:

• watch Ronney speak about how his life is transformed