Street and slum children in Jaipur

Since 2009, the NGO "Tabaar" runs a tuition centre in a slum area of Jaipur for children who don't attend public school because their parents can't afford. The children get free education every day for 3 hours. There are also activities in the afternoon such as arts, handcrafts, music and dance. Around 30 children attend the centre every day.

Further, Tabaar is running a repatriation project. The 14 members of Tabaar find children who live at the railway tracks, bus stops, under bridges etc. These children are either orphans or children who have been dismissed from their families or who escaped from them due to difficult life conditions. Some children have been kidnapped by criminal gangs to do child labour or prostitution. Many of them consume narcotics.

For these children, there is the "Bal Basera" centre where they get shelter, food, counseling and education. It is located on a plot together with the central police station near the main train station of Jaipur. The plot also hosts a small garden with playground. 20 children are living there at the moment. Due to the mistrust that many of the children have towards adults, it is often difficult for the social workers to convince the children to get support from Tabaar. Due to their hardship, the children are typically much more mature than other children of their age, but they are often of fragile personality.

It is the goal of Taabar to repatriate these children to their families. Typically the children don't stay for a long time with Tabaar, but return to their families with the intervention of social workers. If this is not possible, they can stay at the centre until they reach 18 years, and get vocational training at other social institutions in Jaipur.

Volunteers/interns can teach at the slum school and at the centre for street children - English, arts, dance, henna painting and personality development. Personality development includes aspects such as having a positive attitude towards life, self-esteem, manners, speaking and behaving in public etc. This activity is suitable for participants of the subject area of education, social work and psychology.

Info box:

Location: Jaipur, India

Duration: min. 3 weeks

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