How often do you hear of do-gooders who migrate cities to start a business, ending up educating slum children?
Around 35 years ago, Mahesh Desai travelled from his native Talegaon in Maharashtra, to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, after his father’s death to start a business with some of his relatives. But once he reached Ahmedabad, he could not stop himself from visiting Adarsh Nagar, the city’s biggest slum by the banks of the Sabarmati river.
According to Better India, Desai learnt Gujarati and attempted to communicate with the people in the slums from 5 pm to 9 pm every evening after work, to understand their woes. This is when he realised that the prime solution to most problems plaguing the slums stemmed from illiteracy.
In 1990, Desai embarked on a systematic journey of recording his conversations and producing reports for seven years – culminating into seven comprehensive reports. Meanwhile, he also did sufficient research to identify the various NGOs in the city working towards the betterment of people.
He noticed that there were NGOs working towards different causes – some with women and children, some with people with mental disabilities.
He identified that while changing the lifestyle of adults might be a difficult task, the next generation could be saved, if a holistic approach via education was taken.
At the beginning of the mission, Desai approached some tea vendors at CG road in Vastrapur to teach the children who worked for them. After two years, Desai realised that this system wouldn’t work. In the meantime, he had registered his NGO and by 2000, Helpline Education Trust was established to keep track of donations.
He then took his classes inside the slums, where he would sit in an abandoned hut, waiting for children to turn up so he could teach them. Despite several counselling sessions with parents and children, days turned into months and yet no one showed up.
But then a little girl came to me one day and said, ‘I want to study’. I just hugged her and started teaching her right away. She was 6-year-old Indu Mavi. She is married now and had come to me some time back to tell me how education has helped herMahesh Desai to Better India
Soon after, the strength of the classroom grew to accommodate the 40 students who now study in the slum, some of them coming in from other slums. Meanwhile, Desai converted a shed into the Helpline Education Home, where students from Class I to X are taught.
Since all the students are housed in a single-room school, the students are taught in an unconventional manner.
I don’t stand near the board and teach like a traditional classroom. I sit with each child and teach them. While some solve the given sum or read the assigned chapter, I sit beside the others who need my help.Gayatri Joshi, Teacher at Helpline Education Home, to Better India
The trust has also opened a hostel for 10 outstation students who have been enrolled into private schools under the RTE Act.
Desai now devotes all his time to the school and the trust, having quit work five years ago. The classes commence with a prayer at 8 am and include activities like dance and music, apart from studies.
You see the school timings are from 8 am to 5 pm, in which we take a holistic approach for their overall development. By the time they reach home, they are already tired. This helps them keep away from the notorious culture of the slums. My vision is to take each and every kid to Class X and get them admitted in the Diploma/Degree courses as per their skills and interest. After graduation, our motto will be to help them find employment and thereby a respectful life ahead.Desai to Better India
Despite there being a few loyal donors, money remains a problem for the Helpline Trust. Desai pays off his teachers and utility bills on priority, while operating on credit with the local shopkeepers for supplies, whom he pays as soon as he receives a donation.
(This article was originally published in The Better India)
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