By Taarika Chandy | Coordinator - Communications
Sahaara believes that every person has a dream, and our work centers 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 which will help them break out of the poverty cycle and fulfill 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.
Hope for a Second Chance
Some friends protect and care for us, some don’t. Some friends have good intentions in mind, but some friends let us down.
Such is the story of Praveen*, a young sixteen-year-old who lived with his parents in Bhandup, a suburb in Mumbai. He was studying at a Hindi medium school in his area where he met his friend Sanjeev*.
Much like every teenager, Praveen wanted to have a mobile phone for himself. On one unfortunate day, Sanjeev approached Praveen to sell him a phone for 5000 rupees. Little did Praveen know that this phone was stolen. With the permission of his parents, he purchased the phone.
Two months later he received a call from the Kurla Police Station and realised that he owned a stolen phone. He informed the police that he had bought the phone from his friend Sanjeev.
The police later arrested Sanjeev, who confessed to the crime. He was sent to Byculla Prison. As Praveen was underage, he was admitted into Umerkhadi Observation Home (UOH) in February 2017. In the month of April, he was moved to David Sassoon Industrial School (DSIS) in Matunga, Mumbai.
Sahaara conducts computer and coaching classes in DSIS. This is where we met Praveen in August 2017, after he enrolled into our computer classes.
As he has only studied in a Hindi medium school, he didn’t understand English and had no knowledge of using a computer. Through dedicated personal attention, we began to notice that he was a fast learner.
Praveen has been able to learn and now teach Microsoft Word to his peers. He has grown an interest in learning more about computers and hopes to continue learning. He practises Microsoft Word daily and is working towards learning English as well.
In the short time that Praveen has been a part of our class, he has become an inspiration to his peers. He respects his teachers and is punctual. This is wonderful growth to see in him!
We are grateful to have been able to make this impact on his life and we are very proud of the progress he has made so far. We hope to continue making such a lasting impact on every child we meet in the future!
*Names changed to protect identity
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