Name of Project: Preventing school dropout of 400 children in India
Project Period: Ongoing
Reporting Period: 01st April to 30th June 2020
Specific Objectives of the Project:
Achievements of the Project:
Number of beneficiaries: 75
Key Activities:
Challenges:
Sahaara believes that every person has a dream and our work centers around ensuring that vulnerable and marginalized persons can achieve 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 Government Homes.
However, with the onset of COVID and schools closed early to curb the spread of the virus. Many parents of these children could not earn a living as many of them were daily wage workers. Sahaara reached out to them during this critical hour of need. Many families migrated back to their villages and hometowns. Despite these challenges, there were many who remained behind. These children upgraded their skills from regular learning to navigating online zoom calls for their learning. Regular counseling sessions also helped them keep a positive mindset in the middle of all the COVID challenges they faced.
Hope in the darkness
Asha* is a young girl pursuing her 12th-grade studies at the Sanpada Orient College. She used to be a person with very low self-esteem and always comparing herself with her peers and not having a very good opinion of herself. She did not like meeting anybody and did not like talking to anyone. She always liked to be alone.
Sahaara’s youth mentor worked closely with her to help her break out of this struggle. She was given a lot of success stories to help her lift her spirit. Asha started becoming curious and wanted to know how these stories could relate to her life. She began sharing her strengths and weaknesses.
As she was mentored, she began to take more interest in her studies. She has become more open and is now dealing with her insecurities. She is also becoming a positive influence on her younger sibling and her own mother. Her new growth-oriented approach has become a beacon of hope within her own home.
(*Name changed to protect identity)
Links:
Name of Project: Impart computer literacy to poor children in India
Project Period: Ongoing
Reporting Period: 01st January to 31st March 2020
Specific Objectives of the Project:
Achievements of the Project:
Number of beneficiaries: 04 beneficiaries
Key Activities: MSCIT course sponsored for Total of 04 Candidates
Sahaara believes that every person has a dream and our work centers around ensuring that marginalized persons can 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 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 from the MSCIT course conducted by Sahaara.
Sunil*, his younger sister and mother lived in a very small settlement on the outskirts of Mumbai. Sunil belongs to a very poor family. He lost his father at a very young age. His mother was unable to provide necessities to the children, so in 2015 when Sunil was 6 years old, she admitted him at the Chembur Children’s Home (CCH). Within a few months, he ran away from the hostel as he missed his family but when he realized the acute poverty at home, he decided to return to CCH, and ever since he has not attempted to run away again.
We at Sahaara try to provide support to such children in building them up academically and giving them growth through vocational training and increasing computer literacy. Sahaara works with the State Government to provide computer literacy to its beneficiaries through the Maharashtra State Certificate in Information Technology (MSCIT).
Sunil likes to hang out with the office staff at CCH and has always been very intrigued by computers. He was very happy to get enrolled in the MSCIT course and diligently attended all classes. He enjoys working on computers and says, “Thank you for this opportunity, this will help me achieve the bright future for me and my family that I have always dreamed of.” This year he is in 9th grade & doing well in his class.
*Name changed to protect identity.
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 theyare learning and maintaining their interest to continue education once discharged from the Home.
Our Staff have been conducting an After School Remedial class at the Chembur Children’s Home for several years. Many of the children have traumatic pasts and are faring badly in School. Unable to cope with the Grade Level Requirements, they are falling seriously behind in academics. Consequently, it was observed that many children from Grade 3 – 5 had struggle in reading letters in the Marathi alphabet and even counting till 20.
Thus,with the support and permissions of the Home & the School authorities in 2017, we decided to launch a three stage Remedial Program for catering to the educational need of thechildren.
This program involves diagnostic testing in the initial stages, after which the child is introduced to an appropriate curriculum which is designed around his needs. Innovative methods are used to help the child to learn and succeed.After we had run this course we were able to see improvement in the academics of the child thus building confidence in them to flourish in theirstudies.
During the period October to December 2019, 95 children were provided with remedial education.
Ray of Hope…
Payal* lives in a high-risk locality of Ghatkopar red light area in Mumbai, housing numerous brothels. Her parents have never been to school and their financial condition is very unstable. Her parents are daily wage workers and find it difficult to make ends meet. Payal* is regularly exposed to Police raids, and riots. Being a girl, she is at a high risk of being gulped into Human trafficking. She was a weak and feeble child. Academically she was very poor and had difficulty with even the basics of her preschool syllabus.
Sahaara runs an education Centre for vulnerable children in the Ghatkopar red light area in order to impart remedial education, life skills and higher education opportunities and nutrition to children who otherwise would lack the same. Payal* joined our education Centre 2 years ago. Academically she required a lot of special attention. With regular counselling and nurturing she has progressed very well. Her academic performance is evolving successfully.
Payal* likes to be punctual to all the classes, she likes to spend time in the education center and enjoys playing with educational aids. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.
*Name Changed to protect identity
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 theyare learning and maintaining their interest to continue education once discharged from the Home.
Our Staff have been conducting an After School Remedial class at the Chembur Children’s Home for several years. Many of the children have traumatic pasts and are faring badly in School. Unable to cope with the Grade Level Requirements, they are falling seriously behind in academics. Consequently, it was observed that many children from Grade 3 – 5 had struggle in reading letters in the Marathi alphabet and even counting till20.
Thus, with the support and permissions of the Home & the School authorities in 2017, we decided to launch a three stage Remedial Program for catering to the educational need of the children.
This program involves diagnostic testing in the initial stages, after which the child is introduced to an appropriate curriculum which is designed around his needs. Innovative methods are used to help the child to learn and succeed. After we had run this course we were able to see improvement in the academics of the child thus building confidence in them to flourish in theirstudies.
During the period July to September 2019, 95 children were provided with remedial education.
Bright Future…
Viren*, a 10-year old boy came from a broken family. He used to live with his father who would him regularly. Viren, to get rid of the abuse and he ran away from home. He had nowhere else to go, so he would sleep at railway stations. One day the police picked up Viren from a railway station and put him Chembur Children’s Home (CCH).
When Viren came to Sahaara’s remedial class, he was very slow in studies and he could barely read. He had no interest in studies and was very mischievous. When he first came to class he would fight with his classmates and talk back to his teachers. We tested his skills and put him in Level-1. We began teaching him right from the basics, the sounds, the alphabets, etc. We enrolled him in our special help class where we provide individual attention in teaching through flash cards, various games, craft activities.
The teachers then taught class rules and life values through instructions and stories, on how he must respect his elders, teachers and those around him. Through an incentive model the teachers put in place, it got him to realize that he needs to change. That if he behaves well, he would get more stars based on evaluations. The more stars he got, the happier he was.
He is now doing well in his monthly tests. He has more self-confidence and interest in studies. When he grows up, he wants to become a cricketer.
*Name Changed to protect his identity
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 theyare learning and maintaining their interest to continue education once discharged from the Home.
Our Staff have been conducting an After School Remedial class at the Chembur Children’s Home for several years. Many of the children have traumatic pasts and are faring badly in School. Unable to cope with the Grade Level Requirements, they are falling seriously behind in academics. Consequently, it was observed that many children from Grade 3 – 5 had struggle in reading letters in the Marathi alphabet and even counting till20.
Thus, with the support and permissions of the Home & the School authorities in 2017, we decided to launch a three stage Remedial Program for catering to the educational need of the children.
This program involves diagnostic testing in the initial stages, after which the child is introduced to an appropriate curriculum which is designed around his needs. Innovative methods are used to help the child to learn and succeed. After we had run this course we were able to see improvement in the academics of the child thus building confidence in them to flourish in theirstudies.
During the period April to June 2019, 75 children were provided with remedial education.
Runaway Child…
Vikash, an 8-year-old boy, who lived with his parents, a brother and a sister. Vikash comes from an abusive household, where his father was an alcoholic. His father would regularly come home drunk and beat up Vikash.
One day, when Vikash couldn’t bear the regular beating, before his father could return home ran away from home. He was caught by the Police on CST railway station and was put in the New Observation Home at Mankhurd. After some time, he was transferred to the Chembur Children’s home by the Child Welfare Committee and admitted in the fourth grade. On February 2019 he was admitted in Sahaara remedial class by CCH authority. When Vikash first came to Sahaara he was extremely quiet and dull. He couldn’t understand much and would therefore sleep in class, as he didn’t go to school when he was back home.
At Sahaara We encourage Vikash to study well, we have even put him in special help classes where the teacher teaches only five children at a time to be able to provide individual attention to the children. The teacher is teaching Vikash from scratch with numbers and alphabets using flashcards and different games, to which Vikash is responding very well and picks up quickly what is taught. This made him interested in studies and began doing well. So much so that the teacher made him the monitor of the special help class and gave him responsibilities to distribute books and help the teacher. This helped build his confidence. The teacher has made a behavior chart and has put it up in class. Vikash now want his name to come in chart, so he’s constantly trying to improve his behavior.
Vikash now enjoys his studies and doesn’t sleep in class anymore. He loves studying and is now able to read Marathi letters. His aim is to be able to cope up with the syllabus so he focuses on his studies and comes to class every day.
*Name changed to protect identity.
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