A group of budding engineers have formed an organisation that works towards raising awareness about RTE. It extends material support to slum children and underprivileged students
Rashmirekha Das
Slum children are deprived of all the necessities of life and their childhood experiences are far from happy. Earning a livelihood and taking care of family members is the primary concern of everybody but there are scores of people who don’t have the financial strength to put their children in schools. With to view to providing education to slum children around 75 students of different engineering colleges have set up a voluntary organisation named Desire Foundation. Apart from providing quality education, the members of the group hold developmental programmes for the welfare of slum dwellers and orphans. The one and only objective of the budding engineers is to bring a smile to the faces of deprived kids.
Assistant coordinator of the organisation Subham Pandey says: “India is a country with more than a billion people but the tragedy is that only one-third of them can read. According to a study, more than 30 per cent of educational funds are allocated towards higher education and primary education is neglected. Desire Foundation, a government registered trust, is committed to spreading awareness about the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. It started with a survey at the Damana slum where the people, especially parents, were asked about their knowledge of RTE and their plans of providing education to their children. Their responses were highly stimulating. The residents of the slum showed great eagerness to educate their children and overcome the obstacles to a prosperous and dignified life. The tiny tots were asked about their dreams, role models, the subjects they preferred to talk about and their general idea of education. The organisation distributed 120 copies among the slum children.”
“Child labour is a burning issue and thousands of kids across the country spend their childhood washing dishes at tea shops and hotels or working as daily labourers. They have every right to go to school and play with their friends. Our effort is to light up their lives. We donate T-shirts to kids as well as textbooks and study material to children deprived of formal education and hamstrung by financial problems. We visit schools for contacts of underprivileged students. The team is yet to come up with a full survey report because the survey is currently on and once it is complete we would arrange to distribute books among a large section of economically deprived students,” says Subham.
The organisation has recently taken up the rice bucket challenge in Bhubaneswar originally initiated in Hyderabad as part of which it donated 61 kg rice to 61 families living in slums.
Apart from celebrating festive occasions with slum dwellers, the group of students also distributed pizzas among slum children on world Hunger Day.
“Another unique project of ours involved illuminating households that lacked power connection. The concept had its origin in Brazil in 2002. We installed 40-60 watt electric bulbs that work up to five years without maintenance,” a member of the organisation and third-year B.Tech student Subham says.
Soumik Ghoshal, who founded the organisation in 2014, says: “We have taken up designing customised merchandise of various kinds, especially notebooks. The initiative titled ‘You write and let them write’ appeals to students to buy notebooks, and in the process, help underprivileged students who are not in a position to afford education. We ask students to buy copies and other merchandise from us and if required we customise these items according to their requirements. The profits made are invested in the education of poor students.”