Abuse and trauma in the home can lead to severe problems in one’s learning behaviour. Such was the situation that Imtiyaz* and his siblings were growing up in. Addressing the unsafe situation in their home was the first action we at Vision Rescue had to take to engage and sustain Imtiyaz and his siblings in our Education program.
Imtiyaz (7 years old) and his family of eight members have been under Vision Rescue’s care for the past four years. Imtiyaz is the fourth of six siblings. His brother and sisters too are a part of Vision Rescue’s Education program. His eldest brother Abu* (17 years) dropped out of school due to the poor economic situation in the home and now does daily wage jobs as and when she finds work. His sister Rehma* (10 years) and Tara* (9 years) study in Class II and Imtiyaz studies in Class I at our Beacon Learning Centre (BLC) within their slum. He has a younger brother Haneef* who is also with us in Junior K.G and a younger sister Farida who is 2 years old. His father Hanif* used to sell fish for a living, but due to an accident is unable to walk comfortably ever since. He takes up daily wage jobs near their home, to support his family.
Imtiyaz’s family has been living in a rented house near Mumbai’s largest garbage dump ever since they migrated to the megapolis. They came to Mumbai 25 years ago from their village for better employment opportunities, however the family has been living in unhygienic conditions, thanks to the garbage dump they are surrounded by. The house they first lived in was close to the dumping grounds, where tonnes of Mumbai’s solid waste is flung into a landfill each day leaving the surrounding area filthy and stinking. Their house was not only unhygienic but also unsafe as one of the walls was broken.
The children too were unsafe at home. Their father had a history of violent physical abuse towards the children. Their bodies bear the scars of many beatings. The environment of constant fear at home, led to the children underperforming in education. Worse, they began acting out with their classmates. Imtiyaz used to raise his hand against the other children in class. His attendance with us was sketchy, and when he did attend, his attention and concentration was low. In just a few days of class, our teachers and Case Officer understood that the root cause of Imtiyaz’s difficult behaviour was his unsafe home environment. For Imtiyaz to succeed in education, we first had to intervene in his home.
Imtiyaz’s Case Officer visited the family frequently for months together. Unlike the mothers in the other families, who were attending awareness programs conducted by Vision Rescue and gaining information from them, Imtiyaz’s mother Kareema had to stay home and look after her little children and the house. The only way to reach out to this family was frequent home visits to counsel the family members about the issues they faced.
Slowly but surely changes were observed in the way the family lived, and in the mindset of the parents.
We witness how through regular visits, supervision and counselling the father’s unhealthy behaviour toward the children changed. Soon enough we saw Imtiyaz’s behaviour toward other children in our classes change. He stopped raising his hand against his classmates, his attendance in school increased and so did his attention and concentration in class.
Their living conditions have also improved and as suggested by our Community Case Officer, the family moved into a safer house within the community. This decision was taken by the father, after the Case Officer brought to their notice the risky condition the children were living in, thanks to the precarious broken wall.
Imtiyaz and his three siblings who attend our BLC also receive a nutritious tiffin every weekday. They take home the extra-filled tiffins so that the other siblings who are not in our classes can also benefit from it.
The family has also received medical aid at their time of need. Imtiyaz ’s father was treated by the Vision Rescue medical team when he got sick and his mother was also helped with registration in a Government Hospital after her 5th month of pregnancy,
Regular visits, counselling, gentle but firm conversations about their social issues, breaking down various problems they faced, giving relevant suggestions and hands-on assistance as and when needed was Vision Rescue’s way of Reaching out with Love to this family.
It is the conscious decision and commitment of our community staff to meet such families in the community who are in dire need, where they are at today and empower them to be where they need to be. We thank you donors for your support and encouragement. Your timely donations make it possible to be available to these families in the community.
Imtiyaz says that he wants to be a police officer when he grows up. Your help makes it possible for these children to dream of a life far beyond the constraints of the one they are living now.
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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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