school time...

now that the team is all pepped - up, i am looking for avenues to market the stuff that these boys are making enthusiastically and am also looking for more easy designs for
bags, cell phone covers, aprons, wall hangings, file covers etc.

please pass on any ideas that you might have on this…

meanwhile, i am also trying to send some of the younger boys to school. i have been working with these boys for the last one year but i have never directly talked to them about begging...i knew that the elder boys usually controlled one or two younger boys (generally their siblings) and made sure that the younger ones begged and gave their money to them or their parents at the end of the day...the elders also tried to earn by polishing shoes or begging but of course, are not as successful as the younger ones. i also had quite some idea as to who controls whom.

so last week, i thought that it is time to do some plain talking as well as to experiment to send some of the younger ones to school. i started by talking to 3 younger boys - Anike, Aakash and Bobby. the first thing that i promised them was that i am not going to send them to government school (they have heard horror stories about these schools where the teachers talk less and hit more). we decided on a school - Sikhya, which is free for such children. i took them and showed them the infrastructure, the computer labs, the clean bathrooms/shower and made them talk to the principal who assured that there would no hitting. So the trio agreed provided their family agrees.

getting Bobby enrolled is not an issue since his parents don't make him beg....he anyways, stays at home the whole day so his family agreed right away. anike's Uncle and brother and aakash's brother are learning stitching and are quite motivated after the exhibition. i did some plain talking with them and without criticizing or belittling them, i was able to make them realize (at least for that moment) about the exploitative cycle that exists around them and how they can help me in this experiment to come out of it. they agreed. Now the biggest hurdle was Anike's grandfather who controls everybody and gets Anike's earning at the end of the day. So i tried the "munna bhai's" way...i went to him with some mithai (sweets) and gently talked to him about Anike and his son (who is Anike's Uncle and is doing quite well in tailoring and earned the most from our first exhibition). he said that he will only send Anike to me and not to anybody else as he does not trust anybody. i explained to him as to how it was so difficult for me to teach the elder boys as well as younger ones and then i lied about that school and told him that it is being run by a very close friend who has offered to help me by talking in a few of the younger boys. He agreed to try out for one week :-)

i am keeping my fingers crossed and am now looking for an affordable conveyance to take these children to school in the morning (any sponsors for the conveyance are welcome J). will let all of you know once the school starts...

next step??

Now that the exhibition is over, the team is all pepped up for the next step…I do plan to continue the crafts and am working on marketing the stuff that we make. I am talking to a couple of stores where we can keep our stuff for selling and also, plan to do regular exhibitions till we come up with some solution that would ensure regular flow of income for these boys.

Apart from the work, I am also trying to convince the elder boys to start sending their younger sibling to school or to bring them to us. This will take some time because the younger siblings do the majority of the earning (begging) and if they go to school or come to “chhotti si asha”, they will not make as much money. I am making these boys aware of the exploitative cycle that these people have created for themselves where they were exploited by their elders and now they in turn are exploiting their younger siblings and how they can break that cycle for their younger ones. For me to be able to convince them, a regular income is a must and that is the challenge that is on top of my mind these days.

So any suggestions from anybody are welcome!!


*** since I have children from varied age group coming to me, it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage all of them in the same way. So I have to expand a little and hire atleast 1 to 2 people and also rent out a garage or a room for this activity. Anyone who would like to contribute financially for this effort, do write back at gagchaw@yahoo.com

the exhibition...

"Chhotti Si Asha" had it's first exhibition on 13th April in sector 17 - market plaza - the same place where these kids beg or polish shoes. It was a street exhibition and the "chhotti si asha" gang loved it...there were journalist to cover the event and a lot of friends and strangers stopped by to support and admire the beautiful bags, files, pencil stands, jewellary etc that we had put together for the exhibition.

the best thing about the whole affair was the smile and pride on the face of the boys...they loved the fact that people liked their work and that it was actually selling. we made about Rs.8000 in about 2 hours and all the money was distributed amongst the boys depending on their work contribution. needless to say that our whole team is really pepped-up and wants to do more exhibitions and learn to make new things.

here are some pictures from that day...

file cover - made out of waste

jewellary

Coasters (made out of waste)

Pen Stands(made out of waste)


bags - most of these are made of waste clothes

the bags and aprons

Bobby and Anike - these two are the most regular kids at "chotti si asha"...they are very naughty but love being with us. now, i am convincing their family to put them into a school.

We also had a section of "not-so perfect" items ...here is the write - up on that -

Expenses...

I have been getting a few emails about the expenses of this project. So far this project was mainly being funded by my family. But now i do have to expand the scope a little and get some more people to help me out.

So far my monthly budget is as follows -

Lunch (for about 15 to 20 children at Rs.10 each) - Rs. 7200
Teacher (who teaches craft work) - Rs. 1500
Raw material cost - Rs. 2000 (so far we have only purchased cloth for making bags...everything else has been made out of waste).

Going forward, i am planning to hire another person to teach tailoring to the boys (so far the boys had been learning at Jan Shikshan Sansthan - a vocational institute but the institute has added so many students in each class that the teacher is hardly able to give the extra attention that these boys need).

Expected salary would be - Rs.1500

i have been able to convince the family of 3 children to send them to school. the school - Sikhya is free but since it is far off from where these children live, we have to dole out money for auto or bus - Rs. 350 per child = Rs. 1050

let me know if anybody wants to contribute on any of the above mentioned expenses.

***I might rent out a place but am not sure on that since Chandigarh is really expensive. I am trying to convince the Director of Jan Shikshan Sansthan to give us some dedicated space for free.

latest at our end...

We, at "Chhoti Si Asha" are planning to put an exhibition of the craft work that these children are doing in the sector 17 market (the plaza where some of these kids beg) on Friday (13th
April). The money collected from the sale of the items would be distributed amongst the kids.

we all work from 10:00AM to 4:00PM and during this time, we provide the kids with lunch and give the kids money for dinner. Most of the stuff that we are making is by using waste material e.g. pen stands (using the yogurt boxes), file covers (using different packing material and waste cloth), cushion covers (using old saris and bed covers), hand bags (using waste
clothes and sari). Some of the stuff has really come out well...i will put up some photographs soon.

Here is the logo for "Chhoti Si Asha"

after the exhibition, i am planning to rent out a small space that we can use during the day...we plan to continue the craft work (as that has helped in increasing focus as well as
perseverance in children and is also providing some financial support to the kids), hold some theatre workshop and continue teaching basic numeracy and literacy.

the expenses of keeping this experiment running have already increased since i have started (about Rs. 10,000 per month). let me know if any one of you would like to be a part of this
experiment. email me at gagchaw@yahoo.com.