Annual Report:  2006-2007

Saathi’s Projects in Brief

 Saathi was registered under the Societies Registration Act in January, 1997.  Our vision is to work towards a Just and Equitable world with a specific focus on youths living on the street. A dedicated team is working towards this vision through several projects.  Saathi is a dynamic organisation continuously trying to learn and to share, and we actively attempt to build and participate in networks that bring together the development community and its various stakeholders.

The Youth Initiative Project works with the youth (14 to 24 years) among the homeless population of the city, who are trying to rebuild their lives. Considered the most difficult, they are often branded as antisocial, lazy and useless.  Most of them came to the city with dreams of a better future - in search of better opportunities just as many Mumbai-ites did. But with the daily wages they could earn, renting even a room in a slum turned out to be impossible forcing them on the streets. The project works on the issues of shelter, economic alternatives and creating a more positive identity for this section of society. It also addresses the issue of denial of rights, especially access to health services. The drop in centre in Mumai Central at Kamthipura Municipal School serves as the focal point and also a space that provides psycho-social support and a range of facilities like physical (food & washrooms), occupational (non-formal education and vocational training as well as sponsorship for formal education and vocational training offered by others), social (camaraderie and interaction with their peers in a non-threatening environment) and emotional (counseling, therapy). The project has been running experimental alternative shelters called Group Homes for youth living on the streets.

The Girls Project center is located in central Mumbai at a Municipal School and works with runaway and homeless girls and young women, aged 16-24. Shelter (day and night), nutrition and medical assistance are provided to ensure protection along with several programs and activities, including non-formal education, counseling, recreation, and vocational training towards programs emphasizing holistic development.  Participants who wish to return home are offered assistance in the form of travel sponsorship, a responsible escort, family counseling, and follow-up. The project works at several levels including protection of the girl just arriving in Mumbai, providing space for her to determine her next step, assisting her return to family, and providing a nurturing, rehabilitative environment for those who choose to work towards independent living.

The Home Placement Project reaches out to children reaching the railway terminuses having run away from homes or in search of better opportunities. The overall effort is to create a safe environment for the children reaching the city and protect them from falling into the trap of abuse and exploitation. It assists girls and boys of all ages who have left home for various reasons, to be restored in their families.  Intensive efforts are made to prepare the child or adolescent, escort him or her home and intervene to work with the family to address the issues responsible for the child leaving.  The aim of the project is to offer the runaway or abandoned child a viable means to return to a supportive home environment and forestall the possibility that they get so socialized to life on the streets that a more stable environment becomes both unwelcome and unattainable.

Aasmaan is a project conducted in partnership with the organisation Committed Communities Development Trust and works with a pavement community taking non-formal education to the children, vocational training and health information to the women, and building social support groups within the community.

Other initiaves

Quality Institutional Care and Alternatives for Children (QIC&AC) is a nationwide state-supported initiative with which Saathi is involved in Maharashtra. This initiative aims to ensure minimum standards for children in state-run institutions and explore positive alternatives to institutionalization within the community.

 Kria is a program that complements the organization’s field-level projects. It began recognizing that in working with youth, a primary area of concern was economic independence. Kria provides a daily stipend for hands on work, allowing the individual to earn while considering where he or she wants to go in life and exploring career options. Through this Income Generation Program, dignity is restored by removing absolute dependence on charity and assistance is lent in designing options, career counseling, and time for personal reflection.  Because marketable products are created, namely paper bags and glass mosaic home décor items, the potential to identify with a business model was recognized. Through the presentation of professional concepts, a full fledged vocational training program emerged with emphasis on workplace etiquette and business management (bookkeeping, inventory control, costing, etc) introduced to participants. The positive environment, constructive use of time, and vocational aspect has proven to be a very effective component in the holistic approach taken in conjunction with the referring project (ie, Youth Initiative and Girls Projects).

Outbound Vocational Training is a Saathi-held program training youth to become technical facilitators for outbound activities, adventure sports and camps. The training encompasses basic equipment use to advanced topics such as Wilderness First Aid and ecological impact of activities. Several OVT participants have gone on to receive certification through the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (Uttarkashi) and are making careers as Outbound Professionals.

Individuals from around the world have come to intern with Saathi through the International Internship Program. Hosted within a particular project, the intern is immersed in the organization’s work as well as the country and city culture.  Acting as a full-fledged member of the team, interns take up responsibilities which create opportunities for their personal and professional growth while completing tasks and projects which are meaningful to Saathi’s work. Activities have been as varied as organizational structure analysis to creating a guidebook to using the Juvenile Justice Act (2000).

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