Raja was abandoned by his parents in Mumbai, India when he was a young child. Other children who suffer this fate normally wind up as a child laborer and have to spend the rest of their life on the brink of poverty. Raja was lucky enough to come in contact with the social workers of Sahaara and was taken into the Mahima Home.

Raja now receives English medium schooling in one of the top schools in the locality, quality accommodation and wholesome nutrition within a loving family environment afforded by dedicated  houseparents. Within this nourishing environment, Raja has emerged a confident and talented singer who is learning to play the drums as well! He is a good student in school and, overall, Raja has blossomed into a very cheerful and vivacious person who spreads joy with his smile and personality.

Your generous donations will enable Sahaara to provide three fresh and nutritious meals to Raja for three months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in his studies.

Thank you all so much for supporting Raja!

Rajesh is a 13 year-old boy who was left destitute in Mumbai. His life would have been one of abuse and acute poverty if he had not been rescued by Sahaara, and taken under their care at the Mahima Home.

At the Mahima Home, Rajesh has flourished. He receives English medium schooling in one of the top schools in the locality and benefits from a loving family environment afforded by dedicated houseparents. Rajesh is a talented boy who enjoys painting, drawing and singing activities. He does not pass up the opportunity to participate school plays and enjoys them greatly! He prefers indoor activities to the outdoors and loves to play computer games and read comics. He is learning to play the guitar as well!

Rajesh is a good student in school and has blossomed into a secure child that is confident in himself and his bright future!

Your generous donations will enable Sahaara to provide three fresh and nutritious meals to Rajesh for six months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in his studies.

Thank you all so much for coming together in support of Rajesh!

Three-year-old Aman hails from Gorai, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai, India. His father, Babu, works as a carpenter and his mother, Rita, is a housewife. He has one sister as well. His parents work tirelessly but do not earn enough to support the family’s expenses.

Children from Mumbai slums like Aman face educational deprivation in terms of generational illiteracy, physical access to education and quality of education as well. Though Aman hails such from a disadvantaged background, he can dream of a stable future with a good education because he studies at the Gorai Study Center run by Sahaara. Located close to Aman’s house, the balwadi (a non-formal pre-primary school) is a potent vehicle for transforming his future through quality education.

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 (colors, animals, flowers, personal hygiene etc), coloring, and games and activities such as counting and recognition.

Aman loves to attend the balwadi as, apart from studies, there are several playtime activities to engage the children. Aman is a live wire who is energetic and lively in class! He enjoys writing exercises and loves to play with his toys. He is very sociable and shares his toys with other children.

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 Aman a start that will help him break out of the poverty cycle and fulfill his dream of a stable future.

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

Thank you so all much for your gift to Aman!

Six year old Sadhna’s mother is a victim of the sex trade and used to work in a red light area in Mumbai. When her mother passed away, Sadhna was brought to Anandalay,­ a shelter home run by Sahaara for daughters of trafficked women. These children are brought up by house-parents in a loving and conducive family environment in the home.

Initially, Sadhna communicated through sign language as she did not know Hindi and the house parents did not know Bengali. She also struggled to cope in school as her foundational skills were poor. With encouragement and guidance from her houseparents and tutor, Sadhna worked hard. Being studious, diligent and intelligent by nature, she enjoyed completing her homework and obtained excellent results in the examination. Sadhna is now very talkative and has become very fluent in hindi. She comfortably understands English as well and manages to communicate well.

Sadhna has now emerged confident in various other skills like reading and writing. She particularly enjoys reading English story books. She has been selected to be a part of the school hockey and football team. Sadhna was also chosen to be a part of the carol singing group.

Your generous donations will enable Sahaara to provide fresh and nutritious meals to Sadhna, thereby ensuring that she remains healthy and continues doing well in her studies.

Three year old Harika hails from Gorai, one of the innumerable poverty-stricken slum pockets in Mumbai, India. Her father, Monik, works as a manual labourer and her mother, Laxmi, is a seamstress. Harika has two sisters as well. The family is poor and struggles to make ends meet, and they find it very difficult to cope with medical emergencies.

Harika studies at the Gorai study center run by Sahaara. She is a keen student who has always been eager to attend the study center. Harika is a live wire who is energetic and lively in class! She is very sociable and loves playing with other children.

Sahaara’s study center 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; and games and activities such as counting and recognition.

Sahaara Charitable Society believes that every person has a dream, and their work revolves around ensuring that marginalized persons are able to work towards achieving these dreams. Sahaara’s early childhood education program gives children like Harika a strong foundation that will help them break out of the poverty cycle.

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

Thank you so much for gifting a dream to this energetic child!

The 2.8 million sex workers’ population in India is highly marginalised, vulnerable and unreached due to the burden of severe stigma, the commoditisation of personhood, forced poverty and debt bondage. Being doubly disadvantaged, the children residing in red light areas face worse consequences. They face physical danger, vulnerability to violence and sexual exploitation. Many of these children are kept drugged under the very beds upon which the trade is carried out. Also, as the mothers work 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.

Three-and-a-half year-old Satish hails from the Turbhe red light area, one of the innumerable poverty stricken red light pockets in Mumbai. His father sells waste materials, and his mother is a housewife. He has one brother and one sister. Both his parents are not educated and the family income is barely enough to make ends meet.

Children like Satish who reside in red light areas 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. This further compounds the present and future challenges of these youth. Though Satish hails from such a disadvantaged background, he can dream of a stable future with a good education because he studies at the Turbhe study center, run by Sahaara.  The foundational pre-primary teaching provided at Sahaara’s balwadis enables Satish to step into a bright future.

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; and games and activities, such as counting and recognition.

Satish has good recall skills and enjoys taking part in dance programs. He knows his alphabets and numbers. He enjoys drawing and painting exercises and loves singing nursery rhymes and action songs. He is sociable and enjoys sharing his toys with the other children.

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 Satish a firm educational base that will help them 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 Satish.

Thank you so much for your gift to Satish!

Nikhil, an 11 year-old boy from Mumbai, India, is an orphan. He and his sister stayed at a relative’s place but Nikhil was placed in an observation home when he ran away. Nikhil was unwilling to continue his studies as a result of the trauma and the embarrassment caused by his stay in the observation home. However, after counsel to Nikhil and after proper explanation was given to the school authorities, he was admitted into a local school in Thane. He is continuing his studies in the fifth standard and looks forward to attending school and meeting his friends everyday.

Sahaara believes that every person has a dream, and our work centers around ensuring that marginalized persons are able to articulate their dreams and work towards fulfilling them. Children in observation homes are one of the most marginalized populations in Mumbai. Sahaara works to help these children get a start that will help them break out of the poverty cycle and fulfill their dreams of a stable future.

Your generous donation will enable Sahaara to provide the educational expenses necessary for Nikhil to continue with his education!

Thank you so much for your gift to Nikhil!

Thank you for providing three months of nutrition to Timmy.

Timmy is a resident of Mahima Home, a home for orphans/ semi-orphans who previously lived in poverty and squalor with terminally ill parents in Mumbai, India. Unschooled, neglected and employed in child labor, the children lived in dire circumstances. Through the rich environment of Mahima Home, the boys have emerged as school leaders, award-winners, sportsmen, musicians and public speakers!

Within the Mahima Home, Timmy receives English medium schooling, excellent accommodations, and wholesome nutrition in a loving family environment. This support has helped Timmy grow in countless ways. He has emerged a confident and talented singer and dancer, and is learning to play the keyboard as well! He does not miss an opportunity for a good game of chess with the houseparents and the other boys. He is a good student in school and overall, Timmy has blossomed into a very friendly person who spreads joy and cheer with his smile and bubbly personality.

Your generous donation, Susan, Manuela, Megan, and Stephanie, will enable Sahaara to provide three fresh and nutritious meals to Timmy for three months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in his studies.

Thank you for supporting Timmy!

Yabesh is an orphaned child in Mumbai, India who has been staying at the Mahima Home run by Sahaara Charitable Society. At the Home, Yabesh receives English schooling in one of the top schools in the locality, quality accommodations, and wholesome nutrition within a loving family environment.

Yabesh is an energetic, physically fit and active thirteen year old boy. He is a very good soccer player and is part of the school’s Under 12 team. He has represented the school in inter-school competitions as well! Yabesh loves to sing and, to add to his basket of talents, Yabesh is also learning to play the drums. He is a good student in school and, overall, Yabesh has blossomed into a secure child who is confident in himself. Yabesh has a bright future ahead of him!

Your generous donations, Dyon and Lesley, will enable Sahaara to provide three nutritious meals to Yabesh for three months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in his studies.

Thank you all, for coming together in support of Yabesh!

Thank you for providing three months of nutrition to Jeevan.

Jeevan, the sixteen year old teenager, is impressively versatile: An excellent football player who plays for his school team as a defender. A talented musician  skilled at playing the piano. A treasure trove of  artistic potential as a skilled painter. A passionate singer. An energetic runner. A hardworking student who does well in school.

At first glance, his versatility would belie the background from which he hails. Jeevan is one of the boys whose life has been changed through  Mahima Home.

Mahima Children’s Home, run by Sahaara Charitable Society, cares for homeless and desolate street and slum children. Started in July 1999 with just two boys, the home today is a haven for 13 boys between 6 and 18 years of age, all either parentless children or children with terminally ill parents or children of trafficked women unable to care for them.

Mahima provides these children with more than just their basic needs: Educated at English medium schools, the energetic and talented boys actively participate and shine in sports and other extra-curricular activities.

Here, Jeevan receives English medium schooling in one of the top schools in the locality,  quality accommodation and wholesome nutrition within a loving family environment afforded by dedicated  houseparents.

Jeevan has blossomed into a secure child, confident in himself and looking forward to a bright future!

Your generous donations, will enable Sahaara to provide three fresh and nutritious meals to Jeevan for three months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in his studies.

Thank you for  coming together in support of  Jeevan!