After A’nagar, Snehalaya embraces Katraj slum kids

After A’nagar, Snehalaya embraces Katraj slum kids

Kiran Dahitule

Replicating the successful model they initiated in Ahmednagar, NGO Snehalaya launched the unique project, Sharda Balbhavan, in Santoshnagar slums in Katraj on October 2. Abhishek Shejual, public relation officer (PRO) of the NGO, said, “We surveyed 300 families in the slums of Santoshnagar, and found a large number of children whiling away their lives. It’s easy for these children, who are on their own for most part of the day when their parents are away at work, to enter into wrong company and go astray. So, we decided to set up a study centre and Sanskar classes for them.” Snehalaya, which successfully runs 13 projects in Ahmednagar, has engaged 23 youths, who were into stealing, as volunteers to work for the slum children. With counselling, these boys and girls who were into petty stealing have now devoted their lives to training the slum children in various activities to improve their lives. At Sharda Balbhavan, parents are counselled to send their children to schools rather than to work, thus ensuring to minimise the school dropout rate. Girish Kulkarni, founder, said, “Abject poverty has made these slums a breeding ground for diseases and other social evils such as child labour and addictions. Snehalaya is actively working in these slums for their improvement and rehabilitation.” At Balbhavan, activities such as playgroups, tuition, health check-up camps are conducted for creating awareness about communal harmony, good health and consequences of addictions. Their centres are well-equipped with audio-visual and other educational aids for children to get recreational learning, mind stimulation and personality development, so that child labour, child marriages and commercial exploitation of children in slums is reduced. The NGO has also planned to start women’s self-help groups to enable women in slums to become financially independent, so that they don’t fall prey to unauthorised moneylenders. d_kiran@dnaindia.net

Published Date:  Oct 10, 2012