Preventing school dropout of 300 children in India

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.

 
BEYOND THE PAST

Children who lives off the street are often deprived of basic necessities of life. The Indian embassy estimates that 314,700 children lives on the streets of cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Kanpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Raj* was less than 10 years old when he and his little brother started begging on the streets for their survival. Plunged into poverty, without a mother and a father trying desperately to make ends meet, Raj has always fended for himself.

One afternoon as he and his brother sat begging on a railway station for food, the police caught them and as they were very young, they were admitted to a government home. The home authorities tracked down Raj’s father and called him to pick up the two boys, but when he came, he felt that both his sons would benefit much more from living in the home than with him on the streets.

Within two months, he was shifted to Chembur Children’s Home (CCH).

Sahaara has been working in CCH since 2005, providing supplementary education to the boys who live in this home.

Raj was admitted to our coaching classes in June 2017. He immediately went through our Gauge Test and was sorted into Level 1, as he had not attended any previous institution for formal education. We found also that as he was used to going through garbage and living on the dirty streets, even after he joined CCH, he would frequently be found near the garbage cans. Due to this, he developed boils and infections on his body. He kept wearing torn and dirty clothing to our classes.

However, Raj was very clear about his desire to study further. He had not even had the opportunity to go to school and now he enjoyed the games, activities and classes we conducted. After a few sessions on cleanliness, some incentive through positive appreciation and marks, as well as our assistance in getting his clothes stitched, Raj also began to remain clean and tidy.

During our medical camp in September 2017, he greatly benefitted from getting his skin infections checked and became much healthier. He began to actively participate in things such as dance and fancy dress competitions. He learnt how to play and interact with other children through this as well.

Now, when we ask Raj what he wants to become in the future, he says “police officer”! We are so glad that we had the opportunity to help Raj grow beyond his past and look towards a much brighter future!

*Name changed to protect identity

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