By Deeksha Pradhan | Manager- Communications & Operations
In the last report, we shared an update about Chandni. This time, we bring you a video update of Chandni speaking about her journey till date. Please follow the below given link to see the video.
The Street Smart program started with 4 street children and 3 teachers on the pavements of Dehradun. In the past 6 years, we have initiated close to 1000 children into education and have successfully mainstreamed 180 children into fulltime schools. This year our first batch of rag picking children were admitted into an English medium school for a better chance at education. This batch of 18 students (10 girls) were very excited to study in a new school but also sad about leaving their old school friends and teachers behind. The new school has brought with it new possibilities and also challenges. The children are learning a new language as all their subject matter is now in English. We have dedicated an English teacher for after school support along with a Maths teacher. The kids are learning to read their English books through phonetics and now have a better understanding of the content as well.
Recently, we noted a slump in their attendance in school. On enquiry, we got to know some of our children were being bullied in school. They were being called, ‘Kabadi’(rubbish) and faced discrimination. During counselling, they were told to take pride in their work and tell their new classmates that yes, they are rag pickers and this occupation feeds their whole family. They were told to ask their classmates if they ever provided for their families. That did the trick. Our kids have many more friends now!
With every little win comes a little setback but we will keep powering through the hurdles. It is important to not lose sight of the bigger goal. Our big goal is to see our kids regularly attending school. We see them acing their tests. We see them being the first in their family to graduate school and college. We see them writing their names with pride and living a life of dignity.
Thank you everyone for contributing towards the welfare of our children for which we cannot thank you enough. We urge more people to join our cause. Currently, 40 of our children are waiting to be mainstreamed and are in need of sponsorships. Join us in giving them an opportunity to attend school but more than that give them HOPE. A hope for a brighter future…
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