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...
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...
posted by Gagan (Liza) Chawla at 7:01 AM
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