Improving lives of underprivileged women and children in Delhi

When I started my visit to Sshrishti, I had no idea what to expect from a relatively new NGO with two Ss in it. After conversing with Ms. Sanghamitra Bose, CEO and founder of Sshrishti, I was pretty sure that a few unique days awaited me. I wasn’t wrong.

The first centre, Sshrishti Learning Centre, opened a decade ago in September 2004 at Kishanghar, Delhi. This program offers primary education from Grade 1 to Grade 4 to over 100 children by using modern teaching methods. In fact, children of this centre also receive regular computer classes. While this centre was successfully running, Ms. Sanghamitra Bose noticed that many children did not have the prior and necessary elementary education. Moreover, their younger siblings were loitering around while their older brothers or sisters were getting educated in Sshrishti Learning Centre. That’s how Project Sshrishti Ladli was born.

The aim of Project Sshrishti Ladli is to introduce the concept of formal schooling from nursery until UKG to children from the slums in Kishanghar. A majority of children living in slums lead a nomadic life style. They are migrants; they travel from one place to another often due to their parents’ fluctuating jobs. This constant oscillation between their native villages and the city disturbs their education. Due to this, some children from this section of the society begin schooling much later than they should. Hence, the nursery classes of Project Sshrishti contain students as young as 3 years old and as old as 10 years. Not only do these 250 children receive education, but they also get milk in the morning and lunch in the afternoon for proper nutrition.

The unique aspect of both Sshrishti Learning Centre and Project Sshrishti Ladli is that students can get promoted to a higher class in 3 months. Children who are very old to be in a class receive special attention and personal training from the teachers in order to help them quickly close the gap in their education. For instance, a 12-year-old girl studying in Grade 3 of Sshrishti Learning Centre stays after school hours to learn more than her fellow classmates in the hope of getting promoted to Grade 4 very soon!

After spending a fairly good amount of time with the children at those centres, Ms. Rupali took me visit the most recent centre, Sshrishti Vidya, near Vasant Kunj, Delhi. Located in a deep slum area, the building in which the children are taught was earlier an unused community centre for the people residing in the slums. Covering education from nursery to LKG, Sshrishti Vidya is helping children of the slum understand the significance of education.
Sshrishti Bal Siksha, located in Bhatti Mines, Delhi is one of the most recent learning centre of Sshrishti. It was inaugurated on April 1, 2011. Giving education and nutrition to almost 100 hundred on daily basis, Sshrishti Bal Sikhsa’s motive is to provide the initial years of schooling to children in the age group of 3 to 10.

Sshrishti is not only providing education to the children and helping them achieve a bright future, but it is also making efforts to protect the women of Bhatti Mines. The Mahila Panchayat Program was given to Sshrishti by the Delhi Commission for Women. The program helps the women of Bhatti Mines feel protected and helps them gain control over their family life. This program also assists these women raise their self-esteem and confidence. The panchayat is held every Wednesday for several hours in order to discuss cases that have been brought by the women of Bhatti Mines.

Started in 2003, Sshrishti has grown beautifully and successfully in the last decade. Sshrishti is not only improving the lives of underprivileged children, but is also helping the women of India gain respect and independence.

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Aadeep