Sanju Rao, Excalibur Foundation, Bengaluru
On a Sunday last February, in a cloister close to Ramaiah Hospital, Bengaluru, over a hundred children in green uniforms participated in Sparsha Trust’s Annual Day Function: dancing, rangoli sketching, performing acrobatics, competing in relays.
These children were the poorest of the poor: the abandoned, the orphaned, the ones wandering the streets in search of a meal or menial work or secluded pavement spaces to sleep on runaways, drug addicts or beggars.
Sparsha was founded by a handful of young graduates with master’s degrees in social work. They began in June 2006 by building a centre – Shikshana Mitra- in the slums of the Yeshwanthpura Singh communities. The centre was imagined as a shelter where the slum children would be safe, where they would be nurtured, tutored and transitioned into mainstream schools.
After three years, Sparsha’s first batch of seven children aced their exams and graduated from school. Today, five of them are attending top universities.
Other batches of children followed, tutored by Sparsha staff, brought up to speed with the syllabus in mainstream schools, and subsequently admitted to these school. The children attended school during the day and were tutored and mentored by Sparsha staff in the evenings.
Over time the local community came to appreciate Sparsha’s work. Sparsha encouraged them to get involved with Shikshana Mitra – to value superior aspirations for their children as they excelled in studies.
Over a few years, Sparsha was in a position to hand over the management of the centre to the community itself. Some children – products of Shikshana Mitra – also took ownership of the centre and of the responsibilities entailed with running it. They eventually made the centre their own – independent of Sparsha – and self-sufficient.
Sparsha’s staff spent days, weeks and even months entreating parents to send their children to Sparsha’s centres where children can be cared for and educated. Most parents prefer that their children work alongside them at construction sites or beg or look after their shanty homes.
After conducting awareness programmes spanning over six months among a community of pavement dwellers, Sparsha’s team convinced parents to send their children to Chinnara Thangudhamma in Shivaji Nagar – away from the streets and squalor – where children were provided de-addiction programmes, offered a clean home, fully furnished hostel with bathrooms, trunks for their belongings, smart uniforms, toys, school materials and three nutritious meals daily courtesy an immaculate kitchen and a versatile cook; essentially everything to lead a nurturing, healthy life.
They are taken to playgrounds; those requiring psychiatric treatment are admitted to Nimhans; all children receive health check-ups, medical treatment and dental care. They are also taught sex education, counselled to deal with psychological and emotional problems, motivated to equip themselves with literacy – the means to deliver them from destitution.
Like Chinnara Thangudamma, every Sparsha centre is designed to provide children their right to lead lives of dignity – away from degrading streets and hazardous construction sites where they toil under the scalding sun.
The safety, comfort and education from Sparsha inspire in them the confidence and ambition to pursue careers that empower them to climb out of poverty.
Sparsha has built a sophisticated, resourceful children’s library and a ‘Multi-Dimensional Learning Center’ for computer training. The founding members of this young NGO, that now has over 180 children directly under its aegis,have set themselves a new target – Mission 2015 – a shelter home to house and care for up to 1,000 children.
source: http://www.articles.economictimes.com / Home> News> News by Industry> ET Cetera> Education / April 18th, 2012