Is poverty just bad luck? : Majima's Story

6-year old Majima Khatoon, one of the 9220 children we reached in the quarter July - Sep '13, says, “Mere log, mera gulab, sab gaon mein chhoot gaye. Yahaan  chhupa-chhupi khelne dost bhi nahee hain”. (My relatives and my rose plant are in my village. I don’t even have my friends to play hide-n-seek with, here!).

India has a rich tradition of caring for children through the extended family, but when Majima’s parents migrated, that network got lost. 

Majima is one of the 60 million children in India, living in poverty and in dire need of care, especially so if you are a migrant child, moving across rural and urban landscapes in India, and coping with neglect, harsh living conditions and little access to playgrounds, schools and healthcare.

 Majima is lucky, as the site on which her parents work has a Mobile Creches’ centre to take care of her. She’s learning reading and math to get into formal school.

But poverty is not just bad luck. And the opportunity to learn, play and eat should not just be a matter of chance. How do we ensure the right to protection and development for every child?

Purnima’s story

16-month-old Purnima came to the Ansal API construction site centre, in Gurgaon, as a malnourished child (Grade 2 Malnutrition Status). She was extremely weak and couldn’t participate much in the centre’s activities. The doctor recommended a special diet, regular body massage and multi-vitamin supplements. MC staff further counseled her mother to give extra attention and take care of her health and hygiene. Purnima’s attendance remained regular and slowly her weight and nutritional status improved to Grade 1.

 

A cheerful Purnima now interacts with other children: she climbs, swings & plays with blocks. At meal times, she is the 1st one in the line!

Perseverance against Malnutrition: Sakshi's Story

Sakshi is one of the 14,500 children we reach out to, every year. Her mother, Radha sighs with relief,“Sakshi ki bahut chinta rahti thi, par ab nahi” (I use to be very worried about Sakshi, but not anymore).

6 months ago, 19-month old Sakshi living in the Khanpur slums, Delhi, weighed 7 kgs, only.

Unaware about compulsory breastfeeding for the first 6 months, Radha supplemented her breast milk with bottle-feed well before the half year mark and, failed to replace the bottle with soft frequent feeds of solids.

With guidance and support from Mobile Creches, Sakshi weighs a healthy 11 kgs today.

Sakshi’s family watched street plays and Radha attended parent meetings on goodnutritional practices. Plus the Mobile Creches team visited her every week to build her confidence and monitor Sakshi’s progress every month. Perseverance won against malnutrition.

Indian has 200 million malnourished children. Do not each of these  children deserve a chance to a better life, like Sakshi?

THE MOBILE CRECHES LOGO

The Mobile Creches Way!

We do things first: We focus on children under 6 to lay the foundations right. It costs a society less to intervene early than to treat the effects of neglect when the child grows older.

Our area of focus remains the children under six

We reach the unreached: We care for migrant children on sites, our creches release the older child providing sibling care, our training and advocacy effort reaches the child in remote villages with no access to public services.

A migrant child at a construction site

We educate educators and care givers: Childcare is a huge unmet need for the working poor. To meet this need we build awareness that links the issues of poverty, gender, jobs and skills; we change attitudes to give priority to childcare; we train local women from within marginalized communities to create viable childcare options.

Mothers and caregivers being imparted training

We build on what exists: We recycle materials, source expertise from the volunteer pool and mobilize families to access public services and infrastructure. Communities trust us because we listen and adapt to them. Increasingly our model depends on the participation of local people.

Participation of community is important for us 

We combine care with advocacy: Our first-hand experience with marginalized children gives us insights into how policies, laws and programmes work on the ground for them. We engage with communities to build pressure from the bottom for services and protections that are due by law. And we work with NGOs to lobby with the government to translate policy commitments and electoral promises into action.

We advocate for their betterment

Volunteer Diaries: A lifetime experience!

The Mobile Creches summer camp at Sector-38, Gurgaon center was the most wonderful experience for me as a volunteer. Watching and interacting with the children was a great learning and helped me realize the importance of the smallest things. Here’s my amazing experience of the summer camp:

Day 1:

The first day of the summer camp at the Mobile Crèches center was a very joy filled experience. The children were given small pieces of paper and sheets with drawings made on it and were told to stick the small colorful pieces of paper on the drawing provided to them. With no rules to bind their imaginations, the children made the plain white paper into a colorful rainbow.  I interacted with the children as they worked and discovered how quickly they accepted a person into their groups. Not one kid was left alone. The day’s activity ended with the girls singing an inspirational song on Girl Child.

Girls singing the song: ' Bitiya hun bitiya main tara banoongi'

Day 2:

On second day the children portrayed theatrical skills. They dressed up as various animals and danced to the songs sung by the staff and the children themselves. Bharat, who is better known as Bum Bum sang a song based on personal hygiene. His enthusiasm towards everything was very pleasing to watch. The staff then raised various educational slogans as the children repeated after them. The children also put up a brilliant play based on Akbar and Birbal.

'Jungle Friends'

Day 3:

The 3^rd day was spent making toys out of well-moistened mud. I sat with children with my share of the mud and watched the children create beautiful toys while I was still wondering what to make. Sapna, the most talkative and active one, out of the girls made a wonderful ‘chullah’.

'Clay workshop in progress'

Day 4:

The 4^th day saw the children teaching me how to make a wonderful plane, boat and a flower just by folding papers. I was fascinated by how talented these children were despite them not having any sort of formal education. On interacting with them, I learnt more about each one of them. They talked about their hometowns and their likes. I was immensely touched when the staff and the children made a flower for me made out of paper.

Day 5:

On the 5^th day of the camp, I worked with the older children and helped them prepare a chart on the evolution of education over the years. Their eagerness to do any kind of work and complete their task was really touching. They did not fight if another person got what they wanted; they happily accepted what was being offered to them and they did their activities with all smiles. They might not be great artists but their willingness and efforts were more than enough to make the chart a perfect piece of art. 

Day 6:

The last day of the summer camp concluded with the exhibition of the children’s craft works, final performances of the songs, dances, acts and drama. The centre had been beautifully decorated and the excitement of the children was so evident. They performed the jungle song on the beat of music instrument by the staff. They wore paper butterflies on their shirts. Children sang, danced and showed their skills happily.

'Exhibition of Efforts'

The children at the Mobile Creches centre have taught me that despite the hardships of life, one should stay up and have a big smile. The dedication of the staff is amazing. They are so patient and have taught the children the very basic things in the most fun ways possible. Every moment spent with the children brightened my day and I’m really thankful that I got an opportunity like this.

These words have been written by Qudrat Singh who is a student of standard XII at G.D. Goenka World School, Gurgaon. As part of her summer vacations, she volunteered with Mobile Creches at the Unitech Resort Centre in Sector 38, Gurgaon. 

Volunteer Diaries: A Beautiful Experience!

Back after a four day gap, I could spot similar faces again. They as usual had a lit up face and nothing seemed to matter to them. Seeing children everywhere, giggling and gaggling enjoying their childhood, fearless of the outside world, always cheers and boosts me up.

 

I go there to inculcate in them teeny-weeny bits of knowledge, but at the end of the day it’s not always them who end up learning, I am also able to learn various things from them. The way they do what theywant to do and don’t allow anyone to force them onto something, speaks of their levels of concentration. If they want to draw, they would only draw and likewise in other areas such as Maths, Colouring, Hindi etc. Spending those 2 hours with them always turns out to be a whole new experience, each and every time.

These words have been written by Manan Kedia who is a student of Standard XI at DPS RK Puram. As part of his summer vacations, he is volunteering at the Mobile Creches Day Care Centre at Raja Bazaar, New Delhi.