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The story of Vijay.

 Thought to have been a victim of a child trafficking, the police found Vijay begging on the street in Faridabad. He was addicted to alcohol and tobacco. He could not provide any information of his parents or home.

Vijay came to us in February this year referred to us by the Child welfare Committee, the government agency. He seemed to about 14 years old.

He was in a terrible condition both physically and mentally.His left hand is affected by polio. His teeth were rotting. Hygiene standards were non-existent. He was malnutritioned. He was very violent and used a lot of bad language. He got fits often.

 He seemed to want to run away from the home. Constantly asking for money and permission to go out so he could buy tabacco and alcohol. When we refused, he used to create havoc. His temper, bad behavior and foul language was affecting all the other children at the home.

 Like with all the new children who come to us, we realized love and acceptance is what he sought desperately. That was the base of his therapy. We started him on regular counselling and behavior modification therapy. We sent him for treatment for his teeth and his fits to the local government hospital.

 It was a long, arduous journey till now but we are happy to report, he is now well settled at the home. His health and personal hygiene has improved drastically. Every time he remembers to brush his teeth is a cause of celebration. He has better control on his language and violent behavior. It’s heartwarming seeing him repeat his sentences again, leaving out the abusive words.

 He is still a master of his own will often skillfully dodging his training and responsibilities. Very opinionated, he is more of a leader than a follower. Very affectionate and hospitable, specially towards all visitors. He insists on getting tea for visitors in the hope he will get some too. Discovering his love for tea, we now we use tea as a reward and a carrot on a stick at times with great success.

Most importantly he now seems happy, alert and very social, preferring to spend time directing everyone in the Jugaad’s production team.    

 Vijay’s adjustment to our home has again reaffirmed our belief that what children need most is love and acceptance. We cannot expect every child to become perfect or achieve academically. We must set goals according to their potential and abilities. Most importantly, each child is unique. It’s our job is to find an individualized plan of action that helps the child achieve their own success, however big or small.

Other news at the home:

The primary school children were transferred to a school closer to the home so that they could be monitored better, less time was spent on commuting and we could save money on bus fuel too. The arrangement of school transfer certificate, uniforms and books took lot of planning and effort. The saved time is being invested in extra curricular activities for the holistic development of the children.

 This quarter was also important as the yearly performance appraisal of staff was done by the board members and increments were announced and given to staff. The board members held one to one meetings with all staff members, discussed their problems, performance and invited suggestions from them to improve the functioning of Karm Marg. The board also encouraged staff members to enhance and upgrade their skills which will help them to add value to their individual self and also help grow Karm Marg in the process.

Two new girls were referred to us for permanent stay. One boy and girl have been referred by CWC to us for short stay. Five children have been restored with their families. Govinda, Rahul and Ruby have started living independently after getting settled in their new jobs.

 Shayra has secured admission in a Bachelor Of Science course at Nehru College in Faridabad. We are very proud that she is fulfilling her dreams of getting a degree.

 Three new children have been admitted in a primary school. Pooja, or staff member continues to conduct non-formal education classes for the children who are temporarily with us.

 In this quarter children celebrated the festival of Eid and Raksha Bandhan. Independence Day was celebrated on 15^th August 2014 by the children and staff. Flag hoisting ceremony was followed by a patriotic song singing session.

Jugaad our vocational training and income generation wing, was featured in a TV program, ‘Gaon Connection’ on Doordarshan channel. They also covered the story of our alumni and staff Shabila.

Two of our boys went to Indian Football Federation (IFF) for training to become a football coach. Evening exercises and sports activity for all children is being conducted on a regular basis.

Rahul, our staff member has been conducting etiquette classes with all the children on a daily basis. He has also training them on communication skills.

Our counsellor training for the staff is going very well and we are seeing the impact in our day-to-day relationship between staff and children.

In continuation of the earlier workshop on human behavior taken by Dr. Bharti and Shewta ji of Sarthak, two more sessions were held by them on more advanced topics.

Vocational training:

• Govinda was interning at Haat chaap company to learn stock maintenance for a month. After that he and Rahul were sent for six weeks training in housekeeping at GMR.
• Iqbal has started going to The Shop in Noida for training in screen printing.
• Vipin is attending basic computer training at GMR. It is a residential program and they will also help in providing him a job later.

Our special needs youngsters are getting training in bakery, twice a week. They are also participating in regular extra curricular activity where they are learning to make products out of waste.

We have appointed Rehana, one of our alumni to give them training. Rehana had been sent by us on a Pravah youth exposure program to Prayas NGO in Jaipur after which she successfully completed their three year course for special needs educator training.

 Plans ahead:

Our main focus next term is to start production at our bakery unit with our special needs youngsters. It’s important that we can sell the bakery goods so that they can start earning some money and become more independent economically too.