From Child Labour to College: Support Her Future

Gouri is 5. She lives with her 2 brothers, who are 7 and 4, her parents. She is physically handicapped, not able to use one leg, which means she finds a few things more difficult than other children. Her father and mother work in a farm. The NISD créche worker visited Gouri's home a few times, whenever she was in the village, and saw each time that she was alone with her brothers in the day, while her parents worked.

When the créche worker finally met Gouri's mother, she explained that there was a créche in the village, and the different facilities avaliable there. Her mother was worried, but she was worried about her daughter everyday anyway, hence she used to leave her with her brothers, who would take care of her food and drink. It wasn't a great system - and sometimes the social worker found Gouri hungry and thirsty. Gouri's mother agreed to enrol her in the créche, though she remained concerned.

Now Gouri regularly comes to the créche, has new friends, and recieves extra attention from the créche worker which is making up for her previous neglect. It was difficult in the beginning for Gouri, but now she sings songs, knows some rhymes and can count from 1 to 10. She's smiling and happy.

Her mother now goes to work without having to worry about her daughter's safety. Her father is also happy that she's no longer unattended, and her brother has now also enrolled, leaving her older brother free to go to school.

Thank you for helping Gouri and her family, in the early years of her life.