Imran loves to play with colours!

Thank you for coming together to support Imran.

Four year old Imran hails from Ghatkopar red light area, one of the innumerable poverty stricken red light pockets in Mumbai. His father, Fayaz, is a mason by profession and his mother, Shahana, is a trafficked woman working in Ghatkopar red light area. Both his parents are not educated. The family income is barely enough to make both ends meet

Many of the children of trafficked women are kept drugged under the very beds upon which the trade is carried out. Also as the mothers are working through the night, they wake up late in the afternoon and the children invariably miss their meals. This leads to malnourishment of the children. Perishing in hunger, neglect, illiteracy and hopelessness, these children long for the day their childhood would be theirs again.

Children like Imran also face educational deprivation in terms of generational illiteracy, physical access to education and quality of education. Due to social stigma and poverty associated with red light areas, the children are not put in school and this missing out on education further compounds the present and future challenges of children like Imran. Though Imran hails from such a disadvantaged background he can dream of a stable future with a good education because he studies at the Ghatkopar study center, run by Sahaara. The foundational pre-primary teaching provided at Sahaara’s balwadis enables Imran to step into a bright future through enrolment in a good school.

Sahaara’s balwadi has a systematic curriculum wherein children are equipped in the following subjects over the period of a year: English and Hindi: alphabets and poems, writing skills, general knowledge (colours, animals, flowers, personal hygiene etc), colouring, games and activities such as counting and recognition.

Imran is a smart student who has good grasping and recall skills. He knows numbers 1-10 and the alphabets as well. He is a live wire who is energetic and lively in class! He is sociable and enjoys sharing his toys and things with other children. He loves listening to stories and enjoys colouring and drawing.

Sahaara Charitable Society believes that every person has a dream, and their work centers around ensuring that marginalized persons are able to articulate and work towards achieving their dream. Sahaara’s early childhood education program gives children like Imran, get a start and a firm educational base, which will help him break out of the vulnerable existence in the red light area and step into a safe and secure future.

Your generous donation will enable Sahaara to provide a year of pre-primary education to Imran. Thank you.