Education can end exploitation of 1000 children

Gulshan along with his younger brother Kundan came to El Shaddai at the age of 12. Gulshan hails from a very poor family background.          " staying in El Shaddai is great fun" says Gulshan since he has learnt a lot of things by coming here. Moreover, being in El Shaddai, his life has improved a lot. He was enrolled in Shanti Niketan School where he completed his 10th standard. He has currently completed his 12th standard in Arts. Through the path of education he has gained a lot of knowledge, learnt to face the people confidently, inculcated communicating and socialising skills. He grabbed every opportunities that came his way, to perform among the people. He finds himself free from all the worries, tensions and problems after being here since his life has become much easier and valuable. A child who came with no ambition, now aims higher and is planning to pursue his further studies. Gulshan is a very bright student, though he was excellent in academics, he  also engaged  himself in various extra curricular activities at school such as dance, singing, football coaching, table tennis, cricket coaching, etc. He also took part in various competitions and won many prizes at school.

Gulshan has now gone back to his native place Bihar to pursue his further studies while his brother Kundan is still under our care and protection.  He is currently studing Bachelors of Arts and his very happy in life. He has grown up to be independent and responsible man. " El Shaddai has made me the best I am today" says Gulshan.

At El Shaddai we believe in wholesome growth of the child which comes not only from academics but also from extra curricular activities that are carried on at the school.

Currently we have 180 Children studying at our Non Formal School, Shanti Niketan School. We also 450 Children studying in Blooming Buds School at Mundgod in Karnataka.

Along with their academics, over the last few months our children have progressed a lot in their extra curricular activities as well. Below are a few of the achievements that we had.

Raghav, Nagamma and Sonia were selected for the YMCA major ranking table tennis tournament. Our girls from the U-12 girl’s league qualified for the SUPER CUP in their table and will play a full day tournament among other table leaders.On 19^th of September, Preeti and Samruddhi bagged prizes in the Junior Orator competition at Emerald Lawns, Parra. Goa. It was wonderful to hear them speak. Two of our lovely boys, Akask and Prajwal were selected for inter school boxing championship.

15 boys were selected to represent El Shaddai Sports and Cultural Club at the U-14 tournament organized by Goa Football Association.

We also had various health camps held at our school:

Vaccination Drive was held where in children below 10 years were vaccinated with DPT and above with TT. A 3 day Medical camp was conducted by the Siolim Primary Centre for the children of El Shaddai. Also we had ‘Sahayata’ in association with Goa Dental College & Bank of Baroda organized a Dental check – up for the children of Shanti Niketan School

A workshop was conducted on personality development on Teacher’s day for the staff by Mamta Kalangutkar who is a well known Personality Developer in Goa.

Blooming Buds Conducted a marvelous sports day on the 28^th & 29^th of November in which the children beautifully showcased their talents in sports. It was a day full of fun and activity for the children.

Apart from all these things, we have 16 children who will be answering their board exams through NIOS in March 2020. In June 2020, 5 of our children will be joining Jr. College for further studies.

All these activities that we conducted are possible by your help and support. We look forward to your continuous support and love from your side.

Links:

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It is not a pretty sight to see just a handful of children decked up in school uniforms when the majority of them continue in their shabby clothes playing in the puddles and loitering around. Have you ever caught that dreamy stare of a child on the street towards a well dressed child in uniform holding the hand of the mother ? If you did, you can imagine the thoughts....

There's more to school than just a building, it's a fond experience wherein they create memories that last for a lifetime. The desire to go to school sprouts in all children but only the privileged few get to experience it. Our shelters and community centers work to create an atmosphere similar to school for the less privileged children, where they can learn, play and create memories. 

This year we could help more than 2000 children in some form towards their education. We enrolled children in our pre primary classes, gave tuitions for secondary students, prepared NIOS students for their exam and helped hundreds of children to get admissions in schools. We always make sure that each child has their own set of stationaries and a bag to go with that. It's the little things that matters most for them and each of you has a major part in giving these children, the gift of literacy.

The choice of the kind of food to order in a restaurant or the school to send our child to is pretty straightforward. And yet, we see ourselves labouring over these decisions. Now consider the case where your decision was a matter of life or death. That’s the dilemma of parents who struggle to provide three meals a day for their family. If sending their child for work would ensure that the child stays free from hunger, their choice would be to sustain the child. The choice of sending the child to school would mean, years of waiting in hunger and desperation with the hope that someday they’ll pass these hard days into a prosperous life. Parents who live in the fringes of the society cannot afford the luxury of ‘waiting’ and want their children to fend for themselves from the tender ages of five, six etc. The fingers that point towards them in judgement do not see the helplessness they are facing but only the cruelty and pain these parents are inflicting on their own children.

Who wouldn’t want their children to have a childhood full of happiness, learning, fun and entertainment? No parent would wish misery upon their child but their plight forces them to take away the childhood every child rightfully deserves. Together, we can help these parents to gift future to their children.

We could change a lot of lives through our shelters & Coomunity Centres by educating hundreds of children and we are still continuing the good work. Every year, the children in need are rising and we are extending our hands to our capacities. Thank you so supporting the children to get educated.

Topon, a native of Assam, joined El Shaddai in the year 2011. He was just 5 years when he was enrolled in Victory House. He comes from a poor family of farmers. Topon recalls his connection with football since he was a child. His father cultivated a passion in him for the sport. When he joined Shanti Niketan (his first school), he joined the El Shaddai Sports & Cultural Club and was trained under the guidance of Coach Valentino. After playing a few matches at the club, he soon reached the 2nd division. During these games, Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) members identified his inborn instincts and were impressed with his skills. They selected him to play for the Goa U14 team, where he carved out his stardom by hitting lead goals to victory. Whilst Topon was playing for the U14 team, a coach named Alex noticed his potential and referred him to Dempo S.C. to play for the U14 club team. He recently joined Dempo S.C. and is always in the starting line-up of the team for all the matches. Topon has currently scored more than 25 goals in his career at Dempo S.C, and turns out as 'man of the match' quite often. He has disciplined himself to wake early and travel long distances just to get a good practice session with his team. Topon has just not excelled in football but has also transcended in his academics, topping the class. He has set his dreams towards reaching the Indian football team after his graduation.