Aadit* and his family came to Mumbai at the end of 2021. It was almost two years after the pandemic struck and the family had no proper source of income in their village in Uttar Pradesh. His father being educated up to the 12th Grade and his mother having completed her Bachelors in Arts, the family thought the city would give them some financial relief once the parents found work.
Yes, Aadit’s father Sharan Kumar did find work as a daily-wage labourer, but since his job was irregular there were months when he was neither able to pay the rent nor the electricity bill for the house they lived in.
Their home was close to the city’s largest dumping ground making their living conditions poor and unhygienic. A lot of houses in the slum are illegally constructed and there is always a fear that it can be demolished.
Since the houses are also built close to one another with many scrap godowns right within it, the slum is highly susceptible to fire breakouts.
When Sharan took this decision to come to Mumbai with his family he was not prepared for all of this. Left with not much of a choice they continued living there.
Soon they also had an infant to look after; Aadit’s brother Sumit was born, and is now almost 2 years of age. So Aadit’s mother Anisha cannot go out to work as she needs to look after baby Sumit. Their cost of living was frequently higher than the father’s income and amidst all the changes and struggles of a new city, Aadit’s education took a back seat. He was already four years of age by the time Vision Rescue met him.
One of our Community Champions who was also a neighbour to the family referred Aadit to us. After a few home visits, we got some support from Aadit’s mother Anisha, who understood the importance of early childhood education. However his father was still sceptical that Aadit could get both good quality and free education within the community itself. After much convincing, he finally agreed and little Aadit joined our Beacon Learning Centre in the Junior Kindergarten class in June 2022.
It was the first time he stepped into a classroom and like most children, he cried for his mother. He was upset for almost two months before he settled into his new environment, but once he started learning new poems and was able to say them by-heart he began to enjoy school. He was happy to receive his lunch box daily and regular health check-ups alongside the school bag and stationery he received when he started our classes .
Once Aadit settled into our Learning Centre, he would go home and talk about his day and repeat all that he had learnt to his mother Anisha. In class he became more attentive and participative and on the Annual Sports Day he won the first prize for the running race. That made his parents happy too.
Aadit’s father who was initially doubtful of our Education Program began to support us and his mother Anisha too decided to enrol herself in our fabric-bag making course. Here again, it took some effort to convince her husband, but she finally did it. She would even have to take her toddler to the vocational class but she completed the course successfully.
The family now plans to invest in a second-hand sewing machine so she can earn some income by tailoring from home.
Aadit’s father’s job is more stable now. It is wonderful to see him dropping Aadit to our classroom on his free days. So good to see him change from being sceptical to being supportive of Aadit’s education!
The family has also been a part of our ongoing community services in their slum. Aadit’s mother Anisha enthusiastically attends the focused group meetings, awareness programs and also the Parents-Teachers-Meetings. The Community Officer has been encouraging her to take up other vocational courses in the meanwhile and is also talking about enrolling Aadit to formal school.
Thank you dear donors that it is through your support and donations that we could continually follow up with Aadit’s family and provide them with necessities at the right time. We are so glad to have this family to be a part of the larger Vision Rescue Family.
Like little Aadit, there are many children who are vulnerable to exploitation because of poverty and migration. Thank you for reaching out to us with love so we can reach out with love to others.
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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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