New year, new beginnings

Ashwini Charitable Trust that has been working with slum children after school hours has brought out an artful calendar for the year 2014

Spend some time helping these underprivileged children.

If you like to prop a pretty new calendar on your desk as the new year begins, and in the process contribute to children who live brave lives in the slums of Bangalore, you must hear of their story at ACT first.

The calendar contains paintings of 12 children who are aged 10 to 18, and who spend their after-school hours at the Ashwini Charitable Trust (ACT). Named after the first child they sponsored in 2000, the Trust has since then been working with children from urban slums in Bangalore, mainly from around the Ulsoor Lake area where the Trust is located. The Trust has tied up with semi-government and government-aided private schools who recommend needy and deserving children. “Most of their parents are housemaids, tailors, painters, vendors, some are single parents, some fathers alcoholic. Children are often pulled out of school to supplement the family income. We make sure the children complete their education, get into college, and support them till the point they land a job,” says Sujata Mukherjee co-founder of the Trust. The parents neither have time nor the awareness to attend to the children, specially after school hours.

The training

She gives various examples of young women who have made it in the finance, insurance, and accounting sectors with jobs in companies like Infosys, Standard Chartered Bank, Wipro, Axa and others. ITI training is the other option offered to some of these young girls. Many of them have been trained in graphic design and other such fields too.

While the Trust mainly supports girls, by default, the programme is extended to the siblings of the chosen candidate, so as many as 45 boys have also benefited from their programmes.

“We are volunteer-dependent,” stresses Sujata, thankful for the many corporate social responsibility programmes (CSR) that many companies run and help through. The Trust runs mainly on the strength of volunteers — people who can pitch in time to help the children with academics, with reading, mental mathematics, and help them prepare for board exams. Other volunteers teach them computer skills, dance, art, music, or better still, take them on a visit to Lal Bagh or Cubbon Park.

It was one such volunteer who walked into their lives that made the calendar possible. Smitha Kaushik, a third-year art student at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath saw an exhibition of photographs the kids had taken, displayed on her campus. She volunteered to teach the children art. Over a period of two months, she taught them the technique of using graphite on bond paper. “The children did such beautiful art work, thinking up ideas on their own, we decided to make a calendar for 2014 using their drawings. We want people to see the heights our children can scale if given an opportunity,” says Sujata. Each month features one drawing, along with a mug-shot of the child who created it.

By donating Rs. 200 to the Trust, you get a calendar, and your contribution will provide snacks for 20 children for one day. For details, and to volunteer, contact 9243198157 or 9243498157.