Street Smart
Street Smart works with slum and street children who rag pick and beg for a living. The original focus of this project was art therapy and basic literacy.
The scope and depth of this project has increased many folds since the beginning of the program. Currently, approximately 649 children attend Street Smart programme across eight learning centers in Dehradun. Our aim is to bring children into literacy and mainstream them into schools. 1021 children have been mainstreamed in the past few years.
Learning centers
| S.No. | Name of the Project | No. of children | Areas Impacted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Street Smart – Haven | 115 | Govind Garh, Kanwali Road & Sastri Nagar – Khala |
| 2. | Street Smart – ISBT | 135 | Near ISBT area (Kabadi Bazar, Dholok Basti & Azad Colony) |
| 3. | Street Smart – Early Learning Centre | 90 | Govind Garh & Kanwali Road |
| 4. | Street Smart – RPMV | 80 | Bindal Slum |
| 5. | Street Smart – New Haven | 88 | Bindal Slum |
| 6. | Mobile Learning Centre – Education Carts | 75 | Darshan lal Chowk & Premnagar |
| 7. | Mobile Learning Centre – ISBT | 40 | Kabadi Bazar near ISBT |
| 8. | Mobile Learning Centre – Chuna Bhatta | 26 | Chuna Bhatta,Raipur Road, Sahastradhara Road |
| Total: | 649 |
For the older children, Street Smart is running a Vocational Training Program to discourage begging and encourage learning a skill, how to run a business, self reliance and independence. The focus is to remove young people from the dangers associated with street life.
We are working with a designer of ethnic products, to train our children in various crafts. The designer is currently training the older children the art of block printing on paper and textiles and work with a master for sewing technique. The intention is to create a business into which these children can grow and be part of society and not remain marginalized.
Street Smart provides:
- Bus transportation to and from slums to our centers
- Basic literacy, bridge course for mainstreaming
- Computer education
- Music classes
- Clothing
- Nutrition ranging from meals to fruit & milk
- Medical attention
- Vocational Training
- Counselling
Extensive teacher training has been done in order engage these children and bring them into education.
