PICTURE THIS
Junaid was illiterate when he joined Bal Sansar in Agharpur Village near Noida (Uttar Pradesh) at the age of 12. Today at the age of 18, he earns 8000 INR a month working in a private company while pursuing his education through NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling). Within 5 years of joining Bal Sansar, he was brought up to the literacy level of an 8th standard child.
WHAT WE DO
Bal Sansar is a project under Sai Kripa, an NGO based in Noida (U.P) dedicated to the welfare and care of underprivileged children. Bal Sansar is a non-formal primary educational centre that works with children who come from slums, live off the streets and whose parents are daily wage labourers. The purpose of this initiative is to give these children a chance to gain literacy and be built up to a level where they academically fit into main stream schools.
Started in 1999, Bal Sansar currently has 150 pupils. Our vision when we started this project was to make sure that children who come from underprivileged backgrounds have a more fruitful way to spend the day rather than begging or trying to make a quick buck. In order to attract these kids, we made sure to keep the school informal because these kids need a more dynamic environment to hold their interest.
We believe that developing children need nourishment of both mind and body. To facilitate this, we provide mid-day meals, as a lot of these kids are under nourished and come from background where they don’t get more than one square meal a day.
We encourage these kids to take part in sports and cultural activities including track events, athletics and dance within the space available in the school. Once a week, classes are conducted for yoga, life skill training and teaching of basic social aspects in daily practical life. The children also participate in producing handicrafts that they sell at various carnivals; they raised 10500 INR at a carnival conducted by Pathways School in Sector 100 in Noida, UP.
Volunteers from Art of Living (AOL), HCL, Pathways School and other organisations come to teach these children once a week as well, giving them exposure to a better life.
WHO WE ARE
Sai Kripa was founded by Ms. Anjina Rajagopal, in 1988, as an NGO working to create change for the better in the lives of vulnerable children regardless of religion, caste, race, ethnicity or gender. Today, with the support of like-minded people both in India and across the world, we impact the lives of underprivileged children. Our aim is to make them responsible and self-confident citizens.
Other than Bal Sansar, Sai Kripa runs other project for underprivileged children such as,
Bal Kutir – A home for orphaned and abandoned children in Sector 12 in Noida.
Sai Shiksha Sansthan – A co-educational English medium secondary school for slum and street children with mid-day meal scheme in Wazidpur Sector 134 in Noida.
Sai Vatsalya Vatika – A primary school for special needs children with mid-day meal scheme in Agahpur Sector 41 in Noida.
Sai Vocational Training Centre – A training centre with courses in tailoring, computer operations, beautician courses, English language courses, bakery training and dance training.
WHAT WE NEED
We need your help to raise money to buy textbooks, notebooks and study materials for the children in Bal Sansar. For the 150 students from Lower Kindergarten to class 5, we require approximately 3.19 Lakhs INR. The funds raised will go towards making sure that these children from impoverished backgrounds have access to the learning materials required to make them literate and wholesome individuals.
Risks and challenges
The problems we are facing in executing our project is the drop-out rate of the children due to the regular migration of their parents from one place to another.
