About 25 years ago, when he was a boy, Makeshwar served food at a roadside hotel in the Jamui District of Bihar, India. He was a child labourer, and so was his friend Rajesh, who worked as a kitchen helper. One day, two staff members from ChildFund`s local partner Parivar Sevar walked in, and Makeshwar and Rajesh’s lives changed forever. Once connected with ChildFund, the boys became sponsored, enrolled in school and eventually obtained good jobs. Nonetheless, Makeshwar and Rajesh never forgot where they came from.
Constantly reminded of their past, the young men showed a keen interest in the poverty stricken areas of their district. With continuous visits and research, they concluded that lack of education and an absence of community engagement were the major contributing factors to the conditions of the underdevelopment. Together with two other friends – who were also sponsored by ChildFund as children, they began to organise community meetings and left their own jobs in order to pursue their passion of making a change.
In 1999, the four friends opened a not-for-profit called Samagra Seva, loosely translating to ‘complete service’. Dedicated to helping children and families in their local district, the organisation has since focused on health and education to make a change to the lives of thousands of children. Samagra Seva has developed alliances with several NGOs such as the National Foundation for India and UNICEF, and had their work promoting children`s rights recognised nationally and internationally.
Last month, Makeshwar and his organisation collaborated with ChildFund for the launch of their second phase of the Books, My Friends program €“ to improve the literacy rates of children throughout India. In the first phase, ChildFund donated books and tote bags to thousands of children to encourage them to practice reading for pleasure; the second phase is focused on removing existing barriers to education, commencing with the distribution of solar lanterns to children and families in rural areas without electricity.
Makeshwar and his organisation have already donated 30 solar lanterns to adolescent girls from the Dalit and tribal communities of Juami. They have also made a commitment to provide solar lanterns to 50 more girls in the area.
“Without help, we all would have ended up as daily wage labourers. We will always remain indebted to ChildFund and our sponsors. We have taken a vow, and we will continue to serve underprivileged children and help them live with dignity,” Makeshwar says.
In India, an estimated 47 percent of girls are married before the age of 18; putting their physical, emotional and mental health at risk. Although it is illegal in India for girls under 18 and boys under 21 to marry, the tradition remains entrenched.
ChildFund India has been working with three partner organisations in the state of Madhya Pradesh, which has one of the highest rates of child marriage in India, to help children gain the confidence they need to stand against early marriage.
Village monitoring committees have been formed, made up of community elders and youth club members. These committees act as watchdogs in the community to prevent early marriages. Additionally, ChildFund India recently launched Anmol Jeevan, a 100 day awareness-raising campaign, that occurred across 75 villages.
At the inaugural event of the campaign, youth members who had been active in the fight against child marriage were recognised before local government officials and thousands of community members who were there to support the cause.
One of the youth members recognised at the event was 17-year-old Sonam, who received an award for actively addressing the issue of early marriage and for also standing up against her own marriage.
“ChildFund has changed my life €” it came in as a ray of hope and has given me the courage to dream about my future,” she said while accepting the award.
When her parents decided that she was ready to be married, Sonam and her youth club came together to speak to her parents. Sonam shared that she did not want to get married before reaching the legal age of marriage and also wanted to study longer to achieve her dreams. After a lot of persuasion, they were able to convince Sonam`s parents. Now, with their support, she is preparing for her exams, with plans to become an engineer and help her village.
Sonam has been involved with ChildFund India since day one of the project. She has actively participated in several of ChildFund`s programs, including awareness camps and meetings on early marriage. She also encourages mothers to get their children immunized and provide nutritious food. She has also been actively promoting literacy in her village by doing door-to-door counselling, visiting schools and getting children of her village enrolled in local schools.
“If convinced properly, parents will support their daughters` wishes to study instead of getting them married at an early age,” says Sonam.
And when they do, these girls will be able to make enormous contributions within their own communities, just as Sonam has.
