Education India Project #18618

Educate street children in rural India

by Snehalaya 'Home of Love'

Project Report | Oct 1, 2018
Educate-ability

By Joyce Connolly | Honorary Director

We know all the children living in our slums

Thanks to your support we are reaching a diverse range of children within our slum community schools. While we aspire to encourage and support as many children as possible to break the cycle of poverty by gaining the qualifications they need to accomplish their dreams, we also aim to improve the overall quality of life for as many children as possible. While we carefully select 100 children from each of our slum centers for a program of education we also reach out to others to offer our support.

For example, 9-year old Rashid has physical and learning disabilities and unable to offer the specialist support he requires we could instead help his family access disability funding which has allowed them to focus their attention on his education and development. Where we can we do aim to include children with special needs in our classes through a range of educational activities. Our Toybank games and puzzles particularly work for disabled Ahmed. The educational games keep the 7-year old active and involve lots of movement which is helping increase his attention and learning skills.

Nilima was missing out on her education as she was unable to speak. She now regularly attends our classes and with the help of sign language is enjoying reading and studying. Although Kavita also can't speak she is very bright so we made sure she was admitted into a specialist school where she would get the support she needs. It paid off and she soon joined our after school classes and has flourished coming top in our scholarship exam receiving Rs 3,000 for additional education support.

We also strive to breakdown other barriers to education. When Shabana was excluded from school for disruptive behaviour our team mediated between her and the school to return her to the classroom. She is now doing well with our financial support to complete her 12th Standard. Sarika is the first girl from the Shikalkari community, a nomadic group made up of petty and violent criminals, to take up education after we counselled her parents. She has been followed by her sisters and neighbours and is becoming a good role model as a star football players and Malala peer mentor.

Thank you for all you have done to support the children living in slums, without you they would be left forgotten and be missing out on the vital childhood development and encouragement that will help them reach their full potential.

Our peer educators conduct regular slum surveys

Nilima is finding her voice through education

Ahmed engages in all classes now

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Jul 3, 2018
Expanding horizons

By Priti Bhombe | Director

Some of our recent achievements

Thank you, your first-class support of our project is paying dividends.

This year has been a really succesful one with our children showing great progress in their school results. This was possible as we have researched and developed our own syllabus of books for our night classes which complement and consolidate children’s learning in school. Our books have received praise from school teachers who want to use them to replicate our model in their own classrooms and homework. Kudos to the dedication of the education wing of our Balbhavan team.

Balbhavan is not just night classes. Home visits and surveys have seen us reenroll 461 children in school. Thanks to our per educators, the children who would be otherwise working as labourers/ rag pickers or would be attracted to other unwanted vices are attending school regularly. This has been possible only because of the regular surveys and continuous persuasion by our Balbhavan volunteers and peer workers. The survey team has really done a great job in counseling the parents of these children and made them undersatnd the value and importance of education.

Our SSC (School Secondary Board) 10^th standard results came out last month, with our Balbhavan achieving an 95% pass rate with top marks of 82.80% going to Karuna, a bright student with an ambition to become a top ranking officer in the civil services. The results of the 12th Standard board exams also looked very promising with 28 out of 35 of our children securing very good marks.The highlight of the results was each girl student getting a 1st class in the 12th board exams which was a great achievement for them and our project staff who are truly invested in their success.

We are now expanding our horizons beyond our district. We have opened our first balbhavan in our neighbouring district of Aurangabad. Our new after school for children is in the predominantly Muslim area of Osmanpura and we made our mark the day after being handed the keys to our new home by hosting one of our Educate. Empower. Lead. roadshows campagn with Malala Fund.

Our team of peer mentors and volunteers traversed the lanes of slum dwellings gathering children to attend the event. Just as we were about to start our program the long-awaited monsoon arrived! Unfortunately the downpour stopped many in their tracks but those who braved it were rewarded with presentations from our team on equality in education, the story of Malala, sexual abuse awareness and, when the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started, some fun games and self-defence demonstrations.

Overall it was a great start to our new educational year. We are now busy planningn for 12 July, Malala’s 21^st birthday, which will be marked by special celebrations by our students. There will be a unique workshop for girls which will include games, interactive sessions about girls rights and menstrual health, competitions with a lot of interesting prizes to be won. Every girl attending the workshops and celebrations will be given the skills, knowledge and training to be an Ambassador for Girls education in her own community, thus carrying forward Malala (and Snehalaya's) dream.

Our peer educators conduct regular slum surveys

Teaching vital self-defence skills

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Apr 5, 2018
Thank you for being a part of Team Snehalaya

By Joyce Connolly | Honorary Director

Shubanghi can't wait to play in Mexico

Thank you for your support of our education projects for children living in our city slums. We are making great advances and eagerly await the results of 10^th and 12^th standard exams which recently concluded. Over the past three years we have seen a 350% increase in the number of A and B grades our children are achieving, fingers crossed this trend continues this year as well!

While our centers focus on raising the academic grades of our children we are also equally as focused on soft-skills development and extracurricular activites. Shubangi is one of our longest attending Balbhavan beneficiaries who we have proudly watched grow up over the past 12-13 years. She lives in one of our poorest slums with her two younger sisters and brother. Her father is one of the ubiquitous bottled water sellers plying bus stands and her mother is a maid so money is very tight for the family.

As well as completing her final years of a BA in social work she is campaigning for girls' education as a peer mentor for our Educate. Empower. Lead. campaign with Malala Fund. This involves visiting communities throughout our 74,000 sq km district with roadshows focused on improving equality in education and peer mentors like Shubanghi are delivering the presentations and running activities to engage girls aged 13-17 in campaigning to improve their own opportunities. It’s fantastic to watch our mentors facilitate discussions amongst the young people and listen as they come up with their own very practical solutions to help break down the barriers. One example is the paperwork required for college entries, for some people the documentation needed, such as caste certificates, is incredibly hard or even impossible to get hold of. Our girls have since appealed to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to relax the rules for people from poor socio-economic backgrounds and he has promised to look into it.

Sharing their own experiences is also important in inspiring others. Despite watching all her friends give up their education in favour of marriage, 22-year-old Shabanghi is determined to complete her degree and join the police force before settling down herself. Having grown up attending our evening study classes she still turns up every night to teach and inspire the next generation and is a great role model for other girls.

On top of all it all she also has a passion for football and is a member of our women's team and recently represented Snehalaya and Maharashtra in the Slum Soccer state and national championships. Her teamwork and skills on the field stood out and she has now been selected to represent India in the Homeless World Cup in Mexico in the next few months. We are equally as excited as she is for her to embark on her first overseas trip and represent our organisation and nation on the international stage.

Thanks for being part of our team and the part you are playing in giving our chldren life-changing opportunities to achieve their goals.

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