Direct work with the children at the grass root level

Aasara has a unique strategy of rehabilitating a child from anywhere and in any situation with the help of its various projects and programmes. The main focus of AASARA has always been to integrate the
marginalised street child into mainstream society. This is done
through enhancing the children`s capacity to solve their own
problems. Models of intervention have been developed to suit each
child`s need at various levels. These levels are the Outreach
Programme, Day Care Educational Centres, Day & Night Shelter.
However, according to the needs of each individual child, he/she can
be repatriated from any of these stages.

Outreach

Outreach is a process by which the AASARA Workers go out to the
streets and Railway Stations, from kurla to Thane and Dombivli to Badlapur on the Karjat line and to Titwala on the Kasara line, to meet the children at their place of work and residence. Through outreach, the AASRA workers are able to see and understand the child in his/her current natural environment and are able to anticipate and address to his immediate problems and needs. Seeing the workers coming to meet them on the streets and platforms increases the trust of the child/youth towards the worker, thereby facilitating counselling and
problem solving. Aasara has a unique strategy of rehabilitating a child from anywhere and in any situation with the help of its various projects and programmes

Such contact is made on the streets, pavements, railway platforms,
bus depots, places of tourist or religious interest, market places,
theatres or any such place that street children can be found The
worker might motivate the child to go back to his home, encourage
him to visit the contact centres or refer him to the shelter,
depending on the unique circumstances of each case.

The centre staff builds a rapport with the local community, such as
the family of the child, shop and hotel owners and co-workers. The
outreach and centre programmes for the child and youth problems have
encouraged local communities to approach the staff and provide
information about children and youth in distress in their respective
areas.

Aasara's Day Care Centres :

This programme is conducted in a room and Aasara has three of such Centres - for boys & girls from 4 to 15 years at Thane (Thane Municipal Area), Kurla (Mumbai Municipal area) and Kalyan (Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal area). As the name denotes, the Centres run only in the day from 10.00 AM to 6.00 PM and has basic activities like non-formal education, health & nutrition, medical aid, recreation, art & craft and basic counselling.

A child visiting the Centre is slowly guided and takes part in all these activities over a period of time. Children are even prepared for School and in some cases attend formal schools. By trying to involve the child to visit the Centre regularly and partake in the activities of the Centre thereby taking him away from the streets and the anti-social environment for that much of time. This programme also paves the way for the child to leave the streets for good and acts as a seed of rehabilitation.

24 Hour shelter for street children

The shelter for street Children is placed amidst a peaceful
community of Bindu Madhav Nagar, Digha, Navi Mumbai. It acts as a
half way home for children who have run away due to oppressive home
environment or unable to garner feelings of trust towards authority
or have had threatening relationship with adults.

The Shelter attempts to integrate street children into mainstream
society through education, exposure to the wider world and providing
them with various vocational training to equip them for future
living. They are referred from different Aasara Contact Centres as
well as from 'Childline' Scheme.

Children at the shelter are in the age group of 6-16 years and have
made a conscious decision to give up their lives on the streets and
pursue their educational or vocational training. Full and free
boarding lodging including personal lockers. Mattresses, blankets,
washing and storing of clothes are provided. A 24-hour supervision
is made possible. Love & care is given like home, where freedom is
their right. Recreation in the form of indoor and outdoor games is
made available including a television. Children who have never seen
a school have been given the taste of it at the Navi Mumbai Municipal schools (Marathi/hindi medium) in Digha and Thane Municpal school (
Marathi/Kannad medium) at Thane.

Night shelter for Youth

The Aasara Night Shelter for youth is situated at Vithalwadi-West.
This is the final phase in the integration of street children into
mainstream society. This Night Shelter acts as a stop-gap
arrangement, while youth build up their savings, take vocational
training and procure employment. These youth are referred from
Aasara contact centres and the Shelter unit only after they have
consciously deliberated on their future plans and have the means to
achieve the goals they have set.

The youth at the Night Shelter are in the age group of 16-25 years
and are allowed to stay thee for a maximum period of 2 years. In
this time they are expected to consolidate their future plans and
move out into group homes or with their families. The mandatory
savings programme for these youth is often channelised towards the
youth taking up in a group home. The group home system involves two
or three youth living together in a rented premises in the heart of
a colony or a basti which forms a crucial, if not, final phase in
the integration into mainstream society.



Childline Scheme

Happy Moments

AASARA believes that there is no place like a home for a child.
Repatriating a child back to his/ her is one of the main objectives
of the organisation. A child being repatriated home and still
keeping in touch through letters is another happiest moment for
AASARA.

Kurla, Vidyavihar, Thane and Kalyan : This is the state government education scheme for children out of school. Various groups of pavement and ‘Below the Poverty Line' slum children have been formed and non-formal education is being imparted to them. 15-20 children within the age group of 6 to 14 years are provided with this service in a total of 6 groups. As part of the incentive rice and mid-day meals are being given. These children will be prepared and admitted to formal schools.

NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR PROJECT

A Central government scheme of imparting education and vocational training, known as Special Schools, to children engaged in child labour thus slowly eradicating child labour. Aasara is being given the charge of 4 such schools, of 50 children each, in Kalva and Ulhasnagar. Presently, elementary education, nutrition and recreation are being conducted for 4 hours daily. Vocational skills training will slowly be introduced and a small stipend will be given which will be an added incentive to the working children.

ADVOCACY & ADDRESSING ISSUES

Aasara has made a conscious effort to address issues whilst providing service to the children. These efforts have taken place from April 2005 by partaking in the rescue operation of child labourers at Govandi, Madanpura and Zaveri Bazar in Mumbai and in the Thane District at Mumbra region. A total of about 950 child labourers were rescued.

Children themselves also addressed Child labour issues by making a presentation to the D.M. of Thane and the Dy. Labour Commissioner, staging a street play in Govandi, Mumbai and Thane, setting up a stall at the Railway Station and distributing awareness materials to the general public with posters and placards.

Children were also provided a platform in the ‘Child Participation Meet' conducted by the Aasara Kalyan Childline, voicing their issues and concerns to the Police, education, Child Welfare Committee members and other civic departments.

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