Educational foundation gives slum children hope

Story by Lorena Carmona | Video by Cole Miller (Photos courtesy of Ek Tara Foundation)

They don’t want fancy cars and jewels. They want running water and electricity.

They don’t want to be doctors because of the money they will make. They want to help people like themselves.

They don’t want to waste their time watching television. They want to learn about computers and become educated.

The children living in the Andrews Ganj slum in the heart of New Delhi, the capital city of the largest democracy in the world, want a brighter future for themselves and their slum.

Lata, a teacher, stands at the front of a room dimly lit by sunshine passing through. Young girls sit cross-legged on the black-and-red striped floor rug, listening to her talk about computer skills. Each young girl’s dark eyes are focused on her.

“I am a teacher because I like to educate, and I have a dream of doing something big,” Lata said.

Lata, a former child of the slums, has made her way back to the slums with help from the Ek Tara Foundation. This nongovernmental organization is designed to give impoverished children basic skills so they do not become victims of beggary or crime.

“We are giving them hope,” said Geeta Puri, chairman of the Ek Tara Foundation.

The foundation gives the children in the Andrews Ganj slum the opportunity to learn English, etiquette, vocational training and grooming. Puri said that after a week with these children, she’s able to see a difference.

The program also focuses on giving the children confidence and skills to compete with children who did not grow up in the slums.

“These children have the quality to aspire to more,” said Jaya Mehra, vice chairman of the Ek Tara Foundation. “They are very sharp children and have the will to learn. They just need the guidance.”

The founders of Ek Tara believe that education will enable children to succeed. Both women said that the children should be capable of seeking employment.

“We are working on long-term goals and not just quick fixes,” Puri said. “With the help, everyone will benefit.”

Lata directs the beauty salon program at the Andrews Ganj slum.

“She came up in a good way from a child from the slum to a teacher,” Mehra said.

She has been working with Ek Tara for eight months.

“I want to do something for myself so that I will not be dependent on anyone, not my parents or a husband,” Lata said. “This is why all of us want to be educated.”

It takes time for children to work their way out of the slums. When children go out on their own with no help or education, the temptation to stray from their original goal is everywhere. Children lose the will to learn when they have to survive on their own. Drugs and alcohol become a lure away from the life they once dreamed of.

Both Puri and Mehra, founders of Ek Tara, said the direct involvement they have with the Andrews Ganj slum has helped build a level of trust with the children in their after-school program.

Ranjit, the boy with the faded denim jeans, has to work because school is not an option for him, but he shows up at Ek Tara. The brown bandana wrapped around his head protects him from the sun’s rays.

Ranjit said he collects the money for the maintenance in the slum. The hope for more in his future inspires him.

“I want to become an engineer,” Ranjit said. “I want to do something for my brother, my family and the entire country.”

Each day these children have the urge to be more than just another slum child.

“I want to become a doctor,” said Kishan, a boy from the slum. “I will do everything for everyone here; for all these little kids, I will make sure they get into good schools and give food to everyone.”

Pooja Singh walks around the Andrews Ganj slum with her little her brother on her hip. Her orange veil blows in the wind while the droplets of sweat cover her face.

“I am scared of living here,” Singh said.

She said that things need to be changed, better living conditions and good water.

Singh, in her orange Punjabi dress, reveals her aspiration of becoming an engineer because that is what her parents want her to do.

“They shouldn’t be just a child of the slums,” Mehra said.

Additional reporting and translating by Fahad Saeed, Nuqra Naqwi, Subuhi Parvez and Saurabh Yadav.