Educate Children Living on Construction Sites

“I created my identity as a teacher which was a proud moment for me.” Kalpana shares with confidence. Kalpana is one among many trainees who graduated from MMC’s Balpalika-teacher Training Programme which prepares women extensively in care-giving and various aspects of working with children.

Kalpana’s life was very different from what she has today. Her journey from being a daily wage worker in sugarcane field to a teacher at MMC’s day care centre is full of struggle.

Due to her family’s poor financial condition, she could not continue her education after 11^th grade. After marriage also she and her husband used to work in the sugarcane fields for bare minimum wages. Since managing the household from that income was becoming very difficult, they decided to move to the Mumbai and Kalpana’s husband got a job on a construction site. Fortunately, on the same site, there was a day care centre for children of construction workers, run by Mumbai Mobile Creches.  Soon she came to know about the one-year teacher training course of MMC.

The training programme not only helped her to get the job in Mumbai Mobile Creches, it helped her to overcome her fear, to regain self-esteem. It helped her to groom her personality. Kalpana remembers “Initially I had to struggle for everything, like with the language, with travelling alone in the new city, etc. But soon I felt a positive shift within me.” She is currently pursuing her graduation.

Kalpana is now a very active teacher at one of centre on construction site helping children to get education, giving them wings to fly and achieve their dreams. After creating her own identity, she is helping these children to create their own.

Like Kalpana, over 30 percent of our teachers come from the community of construction workers which MMC serves. The teachers at Mumbai Mobile Creches’ centres are unquestionably our most valuable asset on the construction sites. They do much more than just teach and implement the curricula in the classrooms, although that alone constitutes an enormous feat. In the classroom, our teachers adopt the role of both teacher and caregiver, undertaking tasks ranging from monitoring a child’s health to conducting writing lessons to miraculously soothing crying crèche babies. In the community, they lead our outreach initiatives, whether by facilitating meetings with parents or conducting home visits. Their integrity in maintaining databases of children and centre activities is remarkable. Despite the enormous responsibility and arduous working environment, our teachers (some of whom have worked with us for over two decades) remain devoted to their work and to our children.

Funds received from GlobalGiving helped us fund salaries of teachers, like Kalpana, who are the torchbearers of our programmes. Your contributions helped us to run the programme in effective and sustainable manner.  

For most children, summer vacation is one of the most anticipated times of the year, of less work and more play! To celebrate, we organise ‘Khel Mahotsav’, a festival of play, along with ‘Shramadaan’ – voluntary services for the community, at all our centres in May. For children, it acts a respite from books and studying for a month. And at the same time, it enables development of multiple skills among children like sportsmanship, team work, societal awareness and civic responsibility. 

This year’s Khel Mahotsav began with preparing mascots for the festival, and the games quickly followed. Several indoor and outdoor games were organised by children and teachers, of which many became popular favourites at the centres! Team spirit quickly grew amongst the children—the competition was high, but so was the solidarity amongst them.

The onlooking parents soon had their own fun, as MMC organised icebreakers and games for all community members! They were grateful to share in the joy of play with their children. 

‘Shramadaan’ – voluntary services for the community, was celebrated, which brought children together in a different way—not to compete, but to change the world in their own ways. The environment was a key focus this year. Children learned about civic responsibility, conservation, and waste segregation. The importance of the latter they explained confidently to their parents at chai pani meetings (community meetings), creating wet and dry garbage bins and encouraging their use! Teachers and children also created banners and posters to rally their community.

Under this year’s theme of “Save Water,” children were also able to experiment with buoyancy, solubility, and filtration. Their curiosity and engagement never fails to impress us here at MMC, and it is for the excitement and joy we see in them that we do what we do.

Through Khel Mahotsav and Shramadaan, we ensure this sense of true childhood, fulfilling every child’s right to play and learn.