A year ago, driven by the will to shape the minds of young kids who begged on streets and give a direction to their life, a young girl in Mumbai launched Junoon Foundation.
The idea came to 22-year-old Haimanti when she saw kids hanging around near a railway station - begging and hanging around.
"I wanted to educate them and teach them basic discipline in life. That is when I took the matter into my own hands," she says.
Today the skywalk at Kandivli station in Mumbai has turned into a “pathshala for the underprivileged kids".
The Junoon Foundation has 8 board members and several other volunteers who have joined this good cause.
They channel the thoughts, emotions and actions of the kids to become more productive and lead a meaningful life.
The board members themselves contribute Rs 10,000 per month to pay for books, crayons, slates, snacks and water. For rest, they depend on donations.
To begin with, the parents of these kids were indifferent to their children being taught to read and write, but gradually they have realized the worthiness of this noble gesture.
"Some of the parents beat their kids if they did not go out to beg. They sprayed chilly powder in their eyes if they refused to beg. They look upon their children as income earners because people easily give alms to little kids. So, they tend to have more children in their family," says Haimanti.
It is not an easy task to run this foundation, Haimanti says.
One of the little girls who came to study was a little slow and had difficulties with her speech and comprehension. She had a scar on the right side of her abdomen, which baffled Haimanti.
"The parents said the child had fallen down over a glass bottle, but that was a story hard to swallow. I found out the child’s kidney had been sold for money," she says.
'The children are taught dancing on Sundays and some kids just never turned up on Sundays, because their parents insisted on bundling up their five children and forcing them to beg outside a church on a Sunday, where they get generous alms," she says.
Despite facing so many odds the Foundation has progressed well and the joy and trust that these children have in their teachers is the greatest reward, Haimanti believes.
"The kids trust their teachers more than their own parents," she says.
The Junoon Foundation has kindled hope and joy in the hearts of several underprivileged children.
Haimanti is delighted as she adds, “four of the kids will now be accepted in a regular school by June.”
