By Rahul Thomas | Coordinator - Donors
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 in observation homes are one of the most marginalized populations in Mumbai.
The children who live in these Homes come from different states of India and are educated in a Marathi medium school run by the Home. The language difference makes it difficult for them to learn. Remedial education helps in coaching the children in the Marathi language as well as their school subjects thereby helping them understand what they are learning and maintaining their interest to continue education once discharged from the Home.
Sahaara staff procures addresses of discharged children from the home authorities. The social workers then traverse through labyrinthine gullies of Mumbai slums searching for the children’s residences. Through such home visits, networking with local schools, facilitating assistance in books and materials, the child is facilitated entry into formal education paving the way to a bright future.
We are also proud to annouce that a local newspaper recently highlighted Sahaara's work where we were able to reunite a girl and her mother who were separated for 15 years! Click here to read the article.
FROM RAGS TO MATHS
Suresh* is a teenage boy of sixteen. He is always respectful, holding the memory of his mother close to his heart and working hard at his studies so he does well. There was a time however when Suresh was not so happy.
Suresh’s father was an alcoholic and used to beat his mother, younger brother and two younger sisters regularly. In 2008, when Suresh was nine, his mother took his two sisters and left for Gujarat. The next year Suresh, his brother and father moved to Nashik where they lived on the footpath for four years.
One day in 2013, when Suresh was fourteen, his father came home drunk and began to hit his younger brother. Frustrated with circumstances, Suresh finally stood up to his father, enduring a thrashing himself. In despair, the next night he took a train to Bhusaval station in Jalgaon district and began to work as a rag-picker.
He was caught by the police and put in a home in Bhusaval. After two months, he shifted to David Sassoon Industrial School (DSIS) Home in Mumbai.
This is where Sahaara staff met him. We conduct coaching classes to supplement the education of children in these homes. Suresh started attending our classes in DSIS.
When he initially attended, Suresh was extremely self-conscious of his lack of education. He had studied only until 1st standard and didn’t have even a rudimentary knowledge of Maths and Marathi. He couldn’t count even until the number 20!
We noticed how upset Suresh used to get and how self-conscious he felt about his lack of education. Seeing this, we gave him special attention. We began to coach him in Maths and Marathi using the computer and interactive educational methods.
Gradually he began to feel better about himself and he grew in confidence about his skills. “I can learn and do better in my studies,” said Suresh recently, demonstrating how hard working he is.
Today Suresh can count until 200 and he knows all the Maths tables from 2 until 10. He can also read and write in basic Marathi.
We are so proud of Suresh for his hard work and his determination to rise past the circumstances of his life! We hope to see many children, like Suresh, become confident in their abilities and pursue their dreams with determination!
*Name changed
Links:
By Rahul Thomas | Donor Coordinator
By Rahul Thomas | Coordinator - Donors
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
