The physical, emotional and mental health of a mother plays an important role in the overall wellbeing of a child. When Tarun’s mother Mansi decided to live separately from her husband she came to Mumbai with him and three of his other siblings. She was stressed, confused and worried about her children’s future. She wondered how she would single handedly take care of four of them, their education and even their basic needs as she did not even have a job at hand then.
She had no financial support from her husband who was a painter in Gujarat and earned a bare minimum of Rs. 5000/- a month. He would visit her and the children occasionally, bring a few eatables and goodies for the children, stay a couple of days and go back. Her stress was so high that she was not able to think ahead for herself and her children.
She moved to a slum which is in close proximity to the city’s largest dumping ground, with a mix of notified and non-notified settlements with little of no access to basic facilities like water and electricity. She pays Rs. 60/- a day for drinking water and Rs. 500/- a month for electricity and lives in a ‘Kutcha’ house (not concrete) made of tin. The advantage of moving in there was that she could live close to her parents who could give her some moral support.
The Vision Rescue Community Case Counsellor (CCC) met the family in May 2021 while doing a survey to enrol non-school going children and drop outs to school. It was not too long after Mansi had moved into the city. Our CCC connected with the family and rightly identified that in order for the mother to be prepared to manage the schooling of her children, she first needed to be in the right frame of mind.
Our CCC counselled her and motivated her to move on, first by finding work so that she could take care of her family’s basic needs. She said that Tarun’s education could be taken care of through our education program at the Beacon Learning Center (BLC) which was located right in their community. Encouraged to start anew, Mansi happily agreed and along with Tarun who was enrolled in grade III, she also enrolled her 3 year old daughter Farah in BLC’s Nursery class. She also registered her elder son Arun into Grade VIII in the local BMC school. She has another son who is 16 years of age but does not go to school any more.
Tarun was delighted to be in school and like all others he was happy to receive his school bag and school starter kit. He continues to get his lunch tiffin which he happily takes home with him at the end of the class. We are grateful to you dear donors for your support with this. As his medical and dental screening was done in school, the CCC counselled and guided his mother about following personal hygiene at home.
Right at the onset Tarun was very cooperative in class. He was attentive in class and a keen learner and within a short span has learnt the English names of birds and animals. He communicates boldly and respectfully with the teacher. He takes initiative and helps distribute lunch tiffins to all the other children in his class. Most importantly, his attendance in school was good because his mother made it a point to get the children ready and send them to school regularly. We can clearly see the mother’s interest in the child’s education. She also attended the open house to understand the children’s progress and was happy to see how they have progressed.
Mansi also attends Focused Group Meetings in the community as and when she finds the time out of her busy schedule; her part-time jobs and household chores. Yes, Mansi takes up whatever job she finds to earn and support the family. Be it sewing buttons on children’s uniforms in bulk or taking up small scale jobs in the local production houses, Mansi does not sit idle.
After a period of depression due a difficult marriage and separation Mansi needed help and support. Support for her children’s education, help to find a job and help to organise finances and important documents. With the help of the our CCC Mansi got the Aadhar cards of her children made and also opened an account in the Sukanya Samrudhhi Yojna (Government Investment scheme for minor girls) for her daughter Farah.
If Mansi had not come out of her depressive state in time Tarun would not be able to enjoy his right to education. Like Tarun there are many children in the community and adjacent communities who miss out on their right to education because the parents do not have the capacity; either mental, emotional, physical or financial, to send their child to school. We at Vision Rescue extend support to the families in whatever way we can so that the child in that family may be engaged and sustained in education. We thank you dear donors that through your support we can help them restore their dignity and move forward progressively.
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Vision Rescue exists to rescue children from all forms of exploitation by engaging and sustaining them in education. We are a registered NGO for child education under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950.
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