CONTENTS:
A. About SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
- Introduction
- Vision
- Mission
- Governance
B. Project Home Placement
C. Project Scope
D. Project Objectives
E. Project Justification
F. Project Beneficiaries and Coverage
G. Management and Monitoring
H. Action Plan
I. Documentation
J. Indicators to Evaluate the Project
K. Current situation: Evaluation of One Year, Achievements
L. Future Plans
M. Budget
A. About sambhav foundation
INTRODUCTION:
SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is a social organization registered under Society Registration Act, 1860 and Trust under the Mumbai Public Trust Act, 1950. It is a non-profit social organization undertaking the process to deliver contemporary and cutting edge strategies and services for the underprivileged people.
SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is formed by the people from different professions like Professional Social Worker, Doctors, Psychiatrists, Paraprofessionals, Businessmen, Volunteers and Medical Professionals. All of them have rich working experiences in the field of social work. Having same goals and intention to provide assistance to poor and needy by highlighting their problems, making the society aware and help them to get their rights and social justice and thus to bring back them in a social flow, all them have came together and form a platform named SAMBHAV FOUNDATION with the confidence to make possible of Welfare Society.
VISION:
SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is working for social justice and empowerment of the weaker section of the society.
It is dedicated to assist the needy and underprivileged people to get their fundamental needs and enjoy human rights equally with five principles i.e.
1. Gender Equality
2. Social Justice
3. Secularism
4. Environmental Justice
5. Responsibility towards Society
MISSION:
- Transform and empower the oppressed and marginalized by facilitating development process ensuring the fulfillment of their human rights to live in security, peace and dignity.
- Work with children focusing street children, youth and other marginalized groups.
- Emphasis on promotion, protection and restoration of human rights at the individual and collective level.
GOVERENANCE:
|
SAMBHAV FOUNDATION has organized structure of its board members. The governance body has been designed by all the board members with respect to certain rolls and tasks.
The organization consist of group of people from different background, different fields like Professional Social Workers, Business, Medical Professional, Media etc. having working experience in social field. |
LEGAL STATUS:
· SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is registered as a Trust under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, (Reg. No. F-28317 (Mumbai)
· SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is registered as a Society under Society Registration Act 1860, (Reg. No. 2348 / G.B.B.S.D. 2004 (Mumbai) |
|
Vijay Pawar
President, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Mr. Pawar is a professional social worker from Nirmala Niketan, The College of Social Work, Mumbai University. He has done the Human Resource Management from Welingakar Institute. He has working experiences on coordination and management level with various organizations like YUVA, Red Crescent Society of India, Samarthan, Childline, MDTCS, TB project UCITC, Management in Urban DOTS Project and holds the position in Maharashtra State Anti TB Association.
Yashoda Padbidri
Vice President, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Mrs. Padbidri is a Human Psychologist. She has working experience with Human Rights Association, NACCO (AIDS control) and Support. She is currently coordinating the street girl’s project in YUVA.
Balu Jadhav
Gen. Secretary, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Mr. Jadhav is professional social worker. He has coordination and management level experiences with organizations like YUVA. |
Dilip Desai
Secretary, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Mr. Dilip Desai was working in YUVA in its media and publication department. He is now working independently in press media and publication work.
Rajiv Chaudhari
Treasurer, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Mr. Rajiv Chaudhari is businessman. He is also a LIC consultant. He is involved in various social activities like Mohalla Committee, Volunteer for India Foundation, INDO-PAK Youth Forum, Marg and many other organizations.
Dr. Smita Paithankar
Board Member, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Dr. Paithankar is medical professional and she has working experience of administration and management in Mumbai District Tuberculosis Control Society. Currently she is administering at the Seefi Hospital.
Sameer Deshpande
Board Member, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION
Mr. Deshpande is a social worker. He has working experience with Spark. Currently he is working as Community Development Officer (CDO) in Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) Project. |
B. Project ‘Home Placement’
The project Home Placement is the major activity that SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is running with the collaboration of SATHI, Raichur, Karnataka with limited funding. The detail of the project is as follows…
The project is for the repatriation of the fresh children keeps coming at the railway stations, counseling the children living on the platform and the street for long time; motivate them to go back to their home.
The children which don’t have any family member can be institutionalized.
The objectives of the Home Placement Project can be listed as…
- To return the runaway children to their home by proper counseling and managing family problems.
- To provide required and necessary assistance to the children.
- To relief the children from addiction.
- To change the behavior and attitude of the children of street life. This change can be made in parents and people so as to bring the change in their perception about the street children.
The general perception of the government, public and other institutions is that children on railway stations are either orphans, or from families engaged in begging or involved in criminal activities. By implementing the Project Home Placement with the above objectives, SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is trying to change this existing perception about runaway children.
STREET CHILDREN – THE GROWING ISSUE:
It is estimated that there are 314,700 street children in Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Kanpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad combined and about 100,000 in Delhi. The number of street children is growing rapidly. According to one research study, nearly 2 lacks children are on the street of Mumbai and suburbs.
They are victims of the problems that our society faces. They do not choose to live on the street, but the situation, such as deprived household, family strives, and the intense rural – urban migration force them to live on the street. Factors which have given rise to the increase in number of street children in India include poverty, family break-ups, armed conflicts, natural and man-made disasters, lack of employment opportunities and the attraction of cities.
Thus, not only in terms of poverty and basic needs, but also in terms of the manifold social, physical and sexual abuse they face in their daily lives, the street children remain the most vulnerable group and serious challenge to the country’s development.
Firstly, some street children have continuous contact with their families, they do not sleep on the streets, but live with their parents in family homes in slum areas, and spend eight to ten hours of the day on the streets, where they are engaged in various ‘marginal’ activities. Secondly, there are children, often from rural areas, who spend most of their time on the streets but return home for a short period to see their families. Finally, there are the children who have no contact with their families, either because they have been abandoned or because they were forced on to the street as orphans.
The research study conducted by the SAMBHAV FOUNDATION shows that the street children face a number of challenges on a daily basis. A major issue is the constant risk of police harassment, as children are easy targets for corrupt policemen who need to book a certain number of cases, or who simply confiscate any money they find in the child’s possession. If arrested, the child is likely to end up in a remand home, from which it is very difficult to find a way out if they have no contact with adults. In addition, mafia groups frequently force children to ‘work’ for them as street criminals, especially as drug dealers, activities that obviously increase the risk of police harassment and arrest.
This highlights another serious problem among street children; the prevalence of substance abuse. Children as young as seven or eight years old may become alcoholics, drug addicts, and most commonly solvent abusers. Solvents are used to cope with the trauma of physical and sexual abuse, to dull hunger pangs, and to get through the indignities and challenges of the day and sleep through the night. Peer pressure and the accessibility of these substances on the streets obviously intensify the problem.
Street children lose their rights to emotional, physical and social development, to survival, health and education, to play, cultural activities and recreation, to protection from cruelty and exploitation, to participation, freedom of expression, access to information, and to a role in public life and personal decisions. Returning these rights, through providing shelter, health, education and training for these children, is the focus of an increasing number of programs being run by NGOs throughout India.
SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is concern about the same issue and having a goal to empowering the street children by fulfilling their not all but at least some necessary needs like education and survival needs. SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is going to undertake the process that is going to organize as a non-profit social organization to deliver contemporary and cutting edge strategies and services for the chosen target group i.e. street children.
There is total negligence by the society about this issue while we say that the children are future of our country. We need to change this attitude of the society so that these children will get their rights. This change will be by both ways i.e. Awareness in he people and children as well. Everybody should know what child rights are and what they can do to preserve those. SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is going to make this awareness in the society, so to make Child Friendly Society.
SAMBHAV FOUNDATION is actively involved in rehabilitation of children found working in railway platforms. These children would have run away or left their homes for a variety of reasons ranging from sheer poverty at home, ill treatment by step parents or other relatives, fights, quarrels or problems at school, or other similar trivial reasons. There are also a few who have been attracted by the novelty factor associated with larger cities.
Once these children hit the platform circuit and gang up with other children, they tend to fall into a vicious circle of adverse circumstances. They are hounded by the police, roughed up and otherwise abused by older kids and other unseemly characters, risk starvation, bad food, exposure to various diseases, become addicted to different drugs, start begging, eating leftovers from rubbish bins, and develop criminal and anti social tendencies. The attitude of the general public toward such children is of mistrust; that these children are criminals, orphans or destitute; and the children are largely ignored in the bustle of daily life. When left to fend for themselves in such adverse circumstances, the future of these children turns out to be bleak.
The numbers involved are quite alarming. An informal survey done by the NGO SATHI in the year 2000-2001showed that around 4000 children landed up in Mumbai Central railway station alone. There are many, many more; in other big cities; living in bus terminals, railway platforms and the like. The heartening part is that there are numerous organizations working toward helping these children. In Mumbai for e.g. there are 13 NGOs, in Bangalore around 25 NGOs, and in Pune there are 2 NGO’s that are putting in their efforts towards helping these children to create a better life for themselves.
However, most of the organizations working with such children underplay the importance of relocating the children back to their parents. One reason for this could be the fact that there are children who cannot be relocated home if their interests were taken into consideration, because they would be exploited again once they went back. So there is a need for institutions that provide shelter, education and skill training for such children.
It was also seen that majority of the children feared going back home as they were afraid of their parents wrath. They would have left on an impulse or over some trivial issue; but once they are on the platform; the longer the duration they are away from home, the more is their fear of returning back home. They would have developed strong bonds with their peer group on the platforms and would also have a favorable attitude regarding the life they were leading on the platform. These factors further prevent them from making the move to return home by themselves.
It is regrettable that very few of the organizations regard home placement as top priority. They provide shelter, food, education, skill training but neglect contacting the families and replacing the child back home. More often than other, the rationale is that the child left home due to some difficulties and placing the child back to a same situation would only make the child run away again. This thinking is in contrast with the figures that show that an overwhelmingly large percentage of the children are welcomed back home.
Principles of Home Placement Project:
The Project Home Placement has developed from certain beliefs and principles that SAMBHAV FOUNDATION holds.
- Family is the best place for the child. The family atmosphere is important for the child’s development. Poverty may be one of the reasons for leaving home; or it could be the influence of peers, or the ill treatment meted out to the child. In most of the cases, it is lack of understanding and lack of guidance from the parents, probably due to their ignorance rather than lack of caring or cruelty, which has created the problem at home.
- Most of the time children would have left home over trivial reasons and remained away (or feared to go back) because they anticipated parent’s anger. They need to be helped to overcome this block.
- The children would have picked up certain habits and addictions that also stand against their immediate relocation. SAMBHAV FOUNDATION believes that the children can be weaned off these habits and attitudes in a gradual manner.
- A child is a child. A child will respond to affections of the family. Children will respond to relations they develop with other members of the family. A child needs it's own family to relate to.
F. Project Beneficiaries and Coverage
As per the research and observation of various organizations working on the street children, the children keeps coming from various states of India and even the countries like Nepal, Bhutan etc. to Mumbai.
Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Dadar Station, Bandra Terminus and Kurla Station are the places in Mumbai where majority of the children gets down firs in Mumbai. Out of these Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Dadar Station can be more focused as the research states that large number of children comes daily at these platforms and later on they spread in all over Mumbai.
Therefore all four stations will be covered in this project. The main focus will be Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Dadar Station.
The project coverage: 4 Main Stations in Mumbai.
CST and DADAR station will be more focused.
G. Management and Monitoring
Project Management and Monitoring Organization
Sambhav Foundation President |
Sambhav Foundation Committee Members |
(Supportive rolls)
One Full Time Project Coordinator
(Professional Social Worker)
Four Full Time Project Officers
(Para professional / experienced social workers)
The project will have altogether five paid activists. Out of these one will be Project Coordinator and four will be Field Officers will be working in three shifts.
Project Coordinator will be Professional Social Worker will be holding Social Science Degree.
Field Officers will be Paraprofessionals or experienced social workers.
The detail rolls and task list is given further.
METHODOLOGY:
- All three project officers will remain present at the selected station in three different shifts. They will be provided necessary training for the project work. They will be identifying the children and do the further procedures depend on the case. They will accompany the children to send back to their houses.
- The project coordinator will be supervising the staff and all other supporting rolls. He will be doing all necessary work like reporting, documentation, corresponds, networking, helping the project officer, accounting etc. He will be supporting the committee members and report to the president.
- The president and the committee members will supervise and develop the plans to sustain the project.
TASKS
The activities in this project mainly focused on the Home Placement Project where more and more run away children will be return to their houses by proper counseling. Every month 30 children can be sent back to their home.
The “sending children back to their home”, will not be the only goal for the project but to total rehabilitation of the child so that he can not come out of the home again. The action plan has the task to think strategically so as to serve the children as their problems and do the total rehabilitation of the children.
Apart from this major task there are supporting rolls to play for the organization so that this project will be run on sustained base. So this planning we divided in two categories; one is Common Task and another is Supporting Tasks.
COMMON TASKS:
The tasks included in this category will be performed in all the months. These are the tasks which are common and compulsory and will be performed in each month. These are as follows
- Identification of new child in selected station.
- Getting information of the child.
- Providing primary assistance to the child.
- Temporary putting them into the shelter or in children homes.
- Counseling
- Home placement of children.
- All other Repatriation related tasks like correspondence, documentation etc.
- Meetings: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly
SUPPORTING TASKS:
The supporting tasks will be performed in certain period or in particular months. These are as follows.
I. Set up of Working System:
1. Basic Working Orientation for the staff,
2. Base line data collection of Working Area like Platforms, Canteens, Station Master Office, Police station (At the station, Out of the station), Ticket windows, Children pockets, Toilets and other facilities
3. Identification of the places on the station where the children can be found.
II. Rapport Building: With existed children, Station Officials like Station Master, RPF etc., Shelter and other NGOs etc.
III. Identification of new children. With the help of existed children, Police, Station staff, Hamals etc. and by searching on the platforms, we can find the new runaway children and after communicating with them try to repatriate.
IV. Group Building: We can build a group of the existed children on the platform. By communicating with them we will slowly get them involve into our counseling camp. Build the self help group through activities like medical camp, get together etc.
V. Counseling camp: can be organized for motivation of the children especially who are living on the platform from long time to go to their home.
VI. Evaluation of the project: In this we will analyze and evaluate the outcomes of the year. The report will be generated and future planning can be done.