Transforming the lives of street children with education

Sarva Seva Sangh provides refuge and is trying to secure a life of respect for shelterless kids Unable to bear the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic father, 12-year-old Salman ran away from home in Paharganj in New Delhi and boarded a train. He reached Pune railway station, which became his home. Six-year-old Shyam and his 10-year-old brother Ravi are staying at Sarva Seva Sangh for the past couple of months, whilst their mother begs for alms at the Pune railway station. They both dream of leading a life of respect, and the social centre is helping them realise it. Father Babu Kakkaniyil is the director of Sarva Seva Sangh, a registered charitable society involved in the education, empowerment and rehabilitation of needy children. Started in 1978, the organisation started focusing on the rehabilitation of street children from 1996. Over 1,600 street children, including some affected by HIV/AIDS, and children of CSWs are being supported by the Sangh. The children the Sangh is helping, were ragpickers and garbage collectors, or working at street vendors or begging on the streetside. They are children who have left home due to abusive parents, extreme deprivation and poverty, while some among them have been abandoned by their parents. The Sarva Seva Sangh provides shelter for 36 children, while others have been put up at different hostels across the city. “These children suffer from despair and low self-esteem and do not respond to normal patterns. We try to motivate them and teach the basics of personal hygiene. Used to an independent way of life on the streets, they refuse to be disciplined in the beginning. Some even run away from our home. But when they return, they bring with them more children. After all, there is always food and bed waiting for them,” Father Kakkaniyil said. The organisation aims to help these children find a purpose in life. They are encouraged to get an education and are provided books, clothes, food, shelter and medicine. The Sangh has also launched a mobile school for children at slums, pavements and construction sites. Besides the school, the Sangh also provides tuitions. The children live together as a family. Father Kakkaniyil said, “One of our students scored 88.6 per cent in Class X and another secured 78 per cent in Class XII. Some are pursuing BCom, technical education, computer courses, nursing and other streams. One of the HIV affected girls has passed her fashion designing course and has got a job. Another boy is now an account in a well-known brand in Phoenix Market City.” Helping Sarva Seva Sangh are organisations like Railway Protection Force, AFMC, YMCA, NAARI, SAARTHI and Women and Children Commissionerate.