Urja (Energy)
The primary aim of the urja project is to empower socio
Background
Every day in Nagpur, children find themselves without a family to support and care for them. The reasons are many and varied. Extreme poverty means that some parents cannot afford to feed their children let alone educate them.
Child abuse can be one of the consequences of alcohol or drug addiction and poverty. Neglected and physically and mentally abused children try to fend for themselves by begging, pick pocketing or working in menial jobs. They sometimes make their home on the platform of railway stations.
In a country with no welfare system, orphaned children and those with parents in jail or who are suffering from serious illnesses such as HIV/AIDS often end up homeless.
The Juva Jyothi Centre was established in 2006 by Fr. Herald D’Souza. Since 2007, supporters from Australia who later formed Dare2Dream have been providing assistance to Yuva Jyothi.
What is it?
Yuva Jyothi Care and Support Centre, located at Martin Nagar, Jaripatka, is a home away from home for the children on the street. The centre provides basic facilities and mainstreams them through constant care, acceptance and special supportive environment.
The centre is unique in its nature as it is located in a community which enables the children to interact with their peers as well as the elders in the community and be positively influenced.
A team comprising animators and volunteers make regular visits to the railway station and other sites where street children are found and establish rapport with them and encourage them to access the facilities available at the center.
Over 500 children have accessed facilities till date. Presently 44 children are at the centre, 41 of whom are going to regular school and 3 of them are doing vocational training.
The project is supported through the Dare2Dream Child Sponsorship Program and through provision of funding for staff and physical amenities at the centre.
A summary of 2015