I am writing to you from Delhi. This is going to be a bit of a story, but please read on and it will all become clear!
You will already be aware of the great results achieved by the school over the last 6 years. Yes, it really has been 6 years since we took the first steps to introduce some of Delhi’s poorest families to the concept of education. Since then, almost 80% of the children that have come through our hands, have gone on to enrol in full time state education – something we didn’t dare dream of in those early days.
As you know, the Commonwealth Games are being held in Delhi this October. In preparation for this, many slums have been removed and new roads and even a completely new elevated rail system have been built.
Viklang Basti, the slum that JBF was working in for all those years, was demolished at the beginning of last year. Since then we have been operating the school from a temporary site inside Nerhu Stadium (which has been completely renovated for the games). Many of the children from Viklang Basti attended that school because their parents were employed as labourers on the renovation work.
The work on Nerhu Stadium is now nearly completed and the labourers, together with their families, have been laid off and so are now departed from the site.
We have made a survey of thesurrounding area a nd identified a segment of the community close by, in a shockingly congested place called Kotla, that would greatly benefit from the services we offered to those at Viklang Basti. The people are mainly migrants from other Indian states. They are in Delhi because their own homes are in places that have suffered extreme poverty, racial/political violence, natural calamities (earthquakes, floods etc.) or a range of other reasons that have forced them to move.
These people are mainly illiterate and so are employed in the lowest strata of jobs (the dangerous/dirty jobs that no-one else wants to do!). Their children are left to roam the streets during the day or are also employed, along with their parents, doing the same work.
We feel that JBF has a lot to offer these people. To remind you, here are some of the things that the folks of Viklang Basti enjoyed:
School uniforms
School books
Toys
Midday meal
Medical Check-Ups
Dental Check-Ups
eye checkups
Sewing, crafts and literacy classes for the women
Social studies for children and women…….advice on avoiding the pitfalls of life, such as stealing, drugs, prostitution etc.
School outings to museums, parks, monuments etc.
Celebrations of National/Religious/Cultural importance (Hindu. Muslim, Christian and any other that the children themselves choose).
Visits from private schools and colleges for interaction between pupils from different backgrounds.
Sports days!
But there’s a sticking point. Most of the funding for these activities came from a grant of £8,500 received from another Trust called Parthenon. Unfortunately, Parthenon are not able to renew that grant and so I am turning to individual sponsors to bridge that gap.
At the moment we have 20 regular sponsors at £15.00 per month. To be able to offer the children and parents of Kotla all the services that were present at Viklang Basti we need a total of 90 monthly sponsors. I know, 70 new sponsors sounds impossible – but we have to try, because without this help we cannot carry out the much needed work.
 We want to make a decision on whether we proceed with the new project at the end of May, so please try and think of anyone you know who might be interested in becoming a new JBF sponsor. I will write again at the beginning of June to let you know the result. Fingers crossed! And thanks for reading such a long letter.
£15.00 per month includes: Education + main meal of the day + medical care + much more!
Nothing is taken out of your donation for in the UK – so you can be sure that 100% of your £15.00 reaches the Informal School project every month.
Jonny Krause.
Trustee.
East Newton Farm, Foulden, Berwickshire, Scotland. TD15 1UL
www.jbfscotland.org email:jonny@jbfscotland.org Tel: (01289) 386720 |
