By Rahul Thomas | Coordinator - Donors
Sahaara believes that every person has a dream, and our work centres around ensuring that marginalized persons are able to articulate and work towards achieving their dream. Children living in Mumbai juvenile homes are one of the most marginalized children in Mumbai. Institutionalized, these children are most often from highly poverty stricken families.
As a part of the holistic intervention therein, Sahaara imparts computer education to the children between fourteen to eighteen years of age in the juvenile homes. Sahaara’s in-house computer course delivers a fitting foundation to the children preparing their skills for the technology-driven world outside the homes. The children attending the computer training get a start that will help them break out of the poverty cycle and fulfil their dreams of a stable future.
Below is the story of a child who has benefited with the help of the computer training carried out by Sahaara personnel.
Dhiraj* gains confidence!
Dhiraj* woke up as the train ground to a halt. Outside he could hear the hustle and bustle of the station. Stretching, he clambered out of the train, expecting to see the familiar Allahabad station, a sign he was almost at his uncle’s house. But even as he got out of the train, he was struck with the sudden realisation that this was not where he was supposed to be.
We’ve all been there, that heart-rending moment when you lose sight of your parents and the world seems like a huge scary place. This is what happened to Dhiraj.
He used to live in Rirwa, a small village in Uttar Pradesh. One day in 2013, thirteen-year-old Dhiraj decided he wanted to visit his uncle in Allahabad. Without telling his parents, he caught a train that he thought was heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, that train led him straight to Mumbai!
As Dhiraj sat down in the Tilak station crying, a concerned woman came over to check on him. He told her the whole story and she took him to New Observation Home in Mankhurd. He stayed there for one year while the authorities searched for his parents. However, the search was fruitless. He was then shifted to David Sassoon Industrial School (DSIS) in 2014.
DSIS is a government home in Matunga that houses juvenile children, semi-orphaned and orphaned children until they reach the age of 18. It is a restful place filled with greenery and surrounded by trees. Sahaara has been conducting coaching classes in computer skills in DSIS since 2005.
Dhiraj joined Sahaara’s computer classes in DSIS when he moved to the home. Sahaara staff noticed that he found it difficult to understand the computer, especially the formulas and functions of Microsoft Excel.
Sahaara staff realised that he needed personal attention and started to focus on teaching him how to use the computer with charts and photos. We also gave him practical examples of how to use Excel using bills and mark sheets.
As he kept attending the classes, Dhiraj began to get excited about using the computer.
Today he feels confident! Dhiraj is very good at using Microsoft Excel, using formulas and building bills and mark sheets with ease. In fact, he wants to pursue an advanced course in Desktop Publishing (DTP). Sahaara also hopes to track Dhiraj’s parents and reunite him with his family. We are so excited to have walked this journey along with Dhiraj and we hope that this confidence will translate to all the other areas of his life!
We look forward to helping many young children like Dhiraj equip themselves for their future and the life that lies ahead.
*Name changed
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