At these crèches, kids of domestic helps feel at home

BENGALURU: In a tiny hutment of a slum in Jayaraj Nagar, Ulsoor, a young child weeps as he struggles to break free of the rope that binds his wrist to the window grill. With his mother is at work in a nearby house, the leash is the only way for the family to ensure he doesn’t run away.

The ordeal of boys like him has prompted

Navajeevan Mahila Pragati Kendra

to open crèches across the city to cater to the children of women employed as domestic helps or daily-wage workers. The initiative, supported by Rotary Bangalore Lakeside, has now been scaled up and turned into a mass campaign on Fuel A Dream, a crowdfunding platform.

The vedike has already set up seven crèches, and Rs 1.62 lakh (of the targeted Rs 1.92 lakh) has been raised for the eighth facility at

Iblur

through crowdfunding.

The first crèche was set up in 2001. Each facility hosts up to 59 children in the age group of 3-5 and two teachers who take care of every child’s meals, teach them languages like

Kannada

and English and counsel parents on developmental issues.

“We started by spending from our own pocket, after which we received help from groups like Rotary. It’s heartening to see how women have become empowered to talk to parents about health, diseases and more topics,” said Sr

Ellis

Mary, founder, Mahila Pragati Kendra.

The daily routine at the crèches includes various activities planned by the coordinator and staff to mould the kids. The collaboration between the coordinator, staff and parents has contributed to the children’s success. “Many women who work as domestic helps can’t take their children along with them. The crèches have helped maintain harmony in their families, enabling them to go out and work and support their husbands financially,” said Jayanta, member of Rotary Bangalore Lakeside.

Health benefits for kids

Even on the health front, the crèches have proved to be effective. A number of underweight children have showed positive signs of growth, which has also had a bearing on their hygiene. “At first, the children would cry when they’d come to the crèche but within a month, they would get accustomed to the place and consider it like home,” Sr Ellis added.

Empowering women

Knowing that her children are safe at the facility, Rita, who worked as a domestic help in three houses, could devote some time to a spoken English course. After the course was completed in six months, she began applying for in-store sales/helper jobs in neighbourhood malls.

Employed with a store today, Rita earns a lot more than earlier. The job has not only improved the family’s standard of living but has also made her more confident. Rita wants other women like her to tread the same path.

Fundamental need

This campaign is worthy of crowdfunding as it caters to a very basic need of people who toil as breadwinners. A crèche is a fundamental need and the campaign just goes to show that good causes attract funding very easily

Ranganath Thota, CEO and founder, Fuel A Dream