Educate street children in rural India

Hello

We hope you are doing well and staying safe. We have good news to share which shows the impact your support is having despite the current hardships of the pandemic.

The past two years have been an immense challenge to both our students and their teachers with education severely disrupted by the pandemic and lockdowns. Despite this, we are so proud that our Rehab Center and Balbhavan (slum school) students achieved great results this year.

10 Std pass rate

• Rehab Center - 100%
• Balbhavan - 100%

12 Std pass rate

• Rehab Center - 100%
• Balbhavan - 93%

This is an amazing accomplishment given that the majority of Indian children, especially those living in shelter homes and slums, have experienced a year severely disrupted by the COVID pandemic and lockdowns in one of the most significant years of their schooling. Throughout, the dilemma of starting schools and keeping our children safe through online education has continued, with schools opening and closing with little notice and adequate time to prepare properly. Despite limited access to technology, our staff continued to provide online classes and homework to around 200 students in our Rehab Center and 700 in our Balbhavan.

Of course, it all comes down to the individual children who overcame the emotional and practical disruptions to remain focused and committed to their learning. Our students stayed buoyant throughout and their perseverance and commitment to learning should be applauded and we are also grateful to our teachers who were under pressure to deliver both offline and online classes which helped our students stay on track.

This is an extra impressive result for Simran, who lives in one of our city slums, as she is the first member of her family to have completed higher secondary education, providing inspiration to them and others. Simran’s family has long struggled with making ends meet. Her father and mother both work as laborers and never seem to have enough money to care for their kids and Simran was only able to complete her education by earning while she learned.

Always a bright girl, her life changed when she was admitted to our Balbhavan where she received additional support in our after-school classes. A topper throughout, Simran was determined to better her score at every step and achieve perfect marks in Class 12, although the COVID pandemic did not make it easy for her.

“Online classes via mobile phones were very tough, especially where I live where the internet connectivity is very bad. But our Balbhavan teachers were patient and helped us throughout, answering our queries on Whatsapp, taking calls to explain the concepts and providing all the extra support we needed. The lack of physical classes was acutely felt and when schools reopened for a short time from February, we all were determined to make the best of the time we had to completely prepare to appear for the exam in May,” she shares.

Her family’s support was also vital, as she explains: “They did not understand much since no one in my family has ever completed their higher education. But they supported my dreams and gave me the space and time to study. They still don’t fully understand what I have achieved but are happy and proud of me.”

Looking forward, Simran has her eyes set on her dream of working in banking so she can help her family.

We are incredibly proud and committed to continuing to support all our graduates in pursuing their dreams and building on their outstanding achievements this year. Also, while some colleges are slowly starting to reopen their doors, many remain closed as do schools, so we are thankful to our staff and children who have risen to the challenge and adapted their learning to help all of our children continue their education in this challenging world we all currently find ourselves living in.

Save the Date: GlobalGiving's Little by Little Campaign takes place September 13-17 with all eligible donations up to $50 matched at 50%.

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