Amidst the rubble
|
COMMENTS 
Looking after children of labourers on construction sites.
Children of construction labourers get a raw deal at building sites. India's construction workers are dispossessed migrant labourers, with neither home nor hearth. Young mothers carry newborn babies and infant children to the dust and rubble of the sites, because these workers have no family support systems in the cities they build.
In 1969 a young Delhi girl, Meera Mahadevan, picked up a baby wailing in the rubble of a construction site and decided instantly to start a crA"che for the children at the site.
Later, when the workers shifted to a new construction site, Meera upgraded her crA"che to a mobile one, and a movement was born. In the next 25 years, Mobile CrA"ches evolved into a voluntary organisation with 369 branches across the c! ountry, reaching out to some 2,00,000 children.
Mobile CrA"ches function as day-care centres for newborns and infants. Non-formal education and recreational facilities are organised for children in the 3-12 age group. A nutritious midday meal and milk are provided. Mothers are educated on health, childcare, hygiene and nutrition, and visits by a doctor are regularly scheduled. Through Lokdoot (a drama group) street plays and puppet shows, the organisation's staff disseminates information on social issues, such as adult literacy and the importance of education, alcoholism, dowry and AIDS.
To start a crA"che at a potential construction site, Mobile CrA"ches first approach the builder for permission. If he agrees, he supplies accommodation, electricity and water. The centre is usually divided into the infant section and the balwadi (kindergarten). Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed bab! ies, but powder milk is also provided. In the balwadi non-formal education is given to pre-school children, with the intention of preparing them for school. Children of schoolgoing age are supported to join local municipal schools.
The centre's staff regularly updates its teaching methods. The Prakalp method is used and projects are designed for each month, to give basic education to the children and inform them of their surroundings. Mobile CrA"ches also provides employment to women who have only basic education.
At Mumbai, Mobile CrA"ches has a unique Bal Palika Training Programme, recognised by SNDT University. It provides training in childcare to volunteers who join the organisation and has opened up a new career for many lower-middle class youngsters. "I prefer my son in the crA"che rather than playing out here, " said a mother working at a construction sites in Pune, point! ing to a rough pile of rubble lying nearby.
In the near future, Mobile CrA"ches intends to motivate and assist other organisations in setting up an extended network of crA"ches and also track the progress made by its children after they cross the age of 12. Building lives, where other people have eyes only for building sites!
To volunteer with Mobile CrA"ches click here
Contact: Mobile CrA"ches
Oxford House, 2nd Floor
Apollo Bunder
Behind Taj Mahal Hotel
Mumbai 400 001, India
Tel: 91-22-202 0869