Sans aid, this student group teaches 300 slum children in UP

  • | Tuesday | 19th September, 2017

They prefer to make their children work as a rag-picker, or at tea shops as it helps them to run their households. Even if a family agrees to send its children to the class, it is the latter who want to shun education. "TTF organises two big programmes in a year in which it tries to make its children feel special. A year later, he, along with three friends, was standing at a tea stall when they saw a group of young rag-pickers fighting over a plastic bottle. "However, we have found out many gems out of these slums, claims Dwivedi, now a Masters student at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Noida.

NOIDA: When he started his first class with just three students in a slum in the cantonment area of Varanasi in 2013, he might not have thought one day he would teach around 300 slum children across five cities of Uttar Pradesh.Yajat Dwivedi, then a student of Bachelors of Mass Communication at Kashi Vidyapeeth, had seen a girl reading something, her clothes torn and dirty, on Varanasi railway station. On enquiry, Yajat found that the girl was the daughter of a beggar, "which moved me and I decided to educate those children who want to study, but couldn't have access to the (education) system," he says."I groomed the girl who later enrolled in a private school in the city, thanks to her indefatigable zeal towards cracking the test, which had seemed tough," says Yajat.That was the beginning of a long and arduous journey for Yajat. A year later, he, along with three friends, was standing at a tea stall when they saw a group of young rag-pickers fighting over a plastic bottle. "The heart-touching scene moved them enough to accompany me in my plan," he recounts.Today, they are working under the umbrella of Try to Fight (TTF) foundation - their NGO which had been registered in 2015 - the number of the members having gone from four to 50, and all of them covering 11 slums in five cities of Uttar Pradesh."Working among the slums is not easy. There are challenges at several levels," says the 24-year-old. "Convincing the parents of the children is difficult. They prefer to make their children work as a rag-picker, or at tea shops as it helps them to run their households. Even if a family agrees to send its children to the class, it is the latter who want to shun education."However, we have found out many gems out of these slums, claims Dwivedi, now a Masters student at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Noida."As we teach children in their respective slums, we are admitting most of them in our classes," claims Vaibhaw Mishra, a Masters student in Social Works at Varanasi's Kashi Vidyapeeth.On being asked about the financial structure of their NGO, Ankit Shrivastava, another founding member, said, "We don't raise funds from public. Instead we take it from our classmates and friends. We have fixed a monthly amount for our contributors."Shrivastava, a choreographer who also teaches dance, said, "Only academics is not our focus. Besides six days for academic classes, we have reserved one day for sports, singing and dance."TTF organises two big programmes in a year in which it tries to make its children feel special. "During the programme, we take them for a drive as they hardly have been in cars, and we also arrange good food, toys and clothes. At least one motivational session is also organised for the children so that they could get a better idea about their career, future and world," said Ranjeet Ranjan, a civil services aspirant over phone.

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