Our journey started when we encountered a few children begging on the streets and some going with parents on the construction sites, sugarcane farm and bricks making sites. These children belong from the family who migrates from one place to another for work for their bread and butter. It was evident that they lacked safety, hygiene, and access to proper healthcare. With a burning desire to help, we embarked on a mission to transform their lives. Our initial focus was to provide them with nourishment and motivation through healthy, home-cooked meals. As we consistently provided these children with nutritious meals, we gradually earned their trust. We understood that trust was the foundation upon which we could truly make a lasting impact. Over time, our efforts paid off, and we gained the trust of all more than 150 kids from the community. Many of these children had lost one parent or parents are migrants , and some of them are from criminal background, making our role even more crucial in their lives.
We Created a Safe Haven With the trust of the community secured, we were able to take the children to our home for children where more than 150 Children are tanking benefits of our Shelter home. This safe haven provided them with the security and stability they had been missing in their lives. We ensured that they had access to clean surroundings, proper sanitation facilities, and a nurturing environment where they could thrive.
At Caring Hands, we believe that every child deserves equal opportunities for growth and development. We worked tirelessly to bridge the gap caused by their previous lack of access to education. Our dedicated team of volunteers provided them with quality education, focusing on both academic and life skills.The migration of labourers into Maharashtra for various kinds of jobs is a huge and dynamic movement. Currently, we are working with the children of construction workers, sugarcane cutters, and labourers, and with families who sell articles and beg at traffic stops, and those who live under bridges and on pavements in metro cities.
About 5 million people from these communities are living in Maharashtra. Our area of work is focused in the districts of Ahmednagar, Pune, and Thane. The challenges faced by our focus communities are immense. The families live in acute poverty and suffer from severely high rates of illiteracy and unemployment, lack of nutrition and healthcare, and the social stigma of belonging to a “criminal” community. They are prone to superstition, and thus tend to engage in rituals that are physically and emotionally harmful.
