Why is the project necessary?
Many of the children and families the Project reaches out to come from castes that were traditionally itinerant travellers, always some of the poorest members of society, they tried to make enough money to eat travelling through the area picking up what work they could find and begging when unable to find enough. Castes no longer exist in India, and many thoroughly believe and live that way, but the effects of the system are yet to be overcome. The lack of education and poverty of the lower castes and those out of the caste system still needs to be addressed. The children of the project are most often of Nath Caste backgrounds- the Nath caste were itinerant travellers and performers, providing puppet shows, circus acts and music for weddings. Luhar Caste- iron workers Muslim peoples- again often some of the poorer people in the village. For parents who have managed to get through without any education what so ever, who struggle day to day to put food into the mouths of their family it is hard to imagine the benefits an education might bring, when that child might beg enough to supply a chapatti for the table tonight. Parents, like parents the world over want what is best for their kids, through the Shakti Project some have been able to considerably enlarge those dreams into realms of unknown advantages like education. This will hopefully give their children a brighter future. OUR AIMS • Provide two hours of education and 1/2 hr for other activities - six days a week for all children under Project care, prepare and escort the children to school each day, a drop-in centre to get them off the street. • Give them a good meal after school. • When they are ready get them into government school, after one year for those who show commitment and if finances allow move the child to a private school and the better level of education it offers. • Provide them Uniforms, Note Books, Pen, Pencils and other necessary materials for free. • Provide them free medicine and medical aid. • Try to help parents to understand that the begging is not their future. • To develop the living standard. • To create and develop interest towards studies. • To inform them of the importance of the literacy and future planning. • Try our best to make their future bright and good. • To bring the children into the social life of Society as civilized citizens. |
| Shakti Project of Rajasthan |
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| Shakti means power The aim of the Shakti Project of Rajasthan is to empower street children through education. As the twig bends, so the tree is inclined.... |
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| Stay tuned... we are starting a Shakti Shop, we will have for sale contemporary designs produced under Fair Trade terms by local women and young people, helping support our local community members, and some Traditional items from local artisans, where we can document the provinence of them with a photo of the artisan and story of the tradtion behind the piece. We hope to be able to foster the continuance of traditions in this way. We are thinking to use Ebay or Etsy for a sales platform...do you know of any shops or other types of ways we might sell some of our goods? help or suggestions appreciated email contact@shakti-streetkids-pushkar.org Reality- for the moment my day job is keeping me so busy I am not getting anywhere fast with my Shakti dreams, but hope to show some results later in the year. - Fiona |
| A recent picture[Jan, 2009]- many of our younger children, most of the biggies were away this day at exams. |
| A dream...We are a little like “the Old Lady who Lived in a Shoe” we don't know what to do for space... At lunch time these days, it is difficult to find enough space for all the children to sit to eat, playing and school work is very cramped. We have as much space again upstairs- a flat roof area, too hot to use most of the year. The owner of our building has agreed we can make it into more class space. If we do this at our own cost, the amount will be paid back to us from the rent each year. We have a quote of approximately 200,000 Rp [US$ 4,500, £2500 or €3350]for the building extension, 40,000 would come off our rent each year for the next 5 years- this will be written into our lease agreement. As you can imagine we are hoping for some kind soul to help us out. We would really appreciate a generous donation or even a generous loan- we could pay it back from the rent we save for the next 5 years. Reality!!! Thank you to so many, building is starting in June, 2009...as we speak |
| Our group in 2007 |
| Registration details: Shakti Bal Shahyog Santha [Translates- Shakti children self-help Project] Dev Nagar Rd, Badi Basti Pushkar 305022 Registration Number:14/2009-10 |