As a part of Sharana, I got the opportunity to visit a slum of Pondicherry. Vandana, our coordinator for Sharana, thought it was important for us to see where the children come from. After a 45 minute drive on East Coast Road on the back of a motorcycle we reached, the slum Vandana and others decided what would be the best slum for us to visit. One of the excellent ideals of Sharana is they care so deeply about the people they work with, and how all their interactions, including ours, would affect beneficiaries. Because of this they hand picked this slum for us to visit because of their long standing relationship with the community and the trust they had build. Previously, they have had an experience of volunteers coming in, and taking pictures without the community’s consent. Because of that there has been a distrust formed between the community and organizations, with the though that organizations are profiting off the community’s poverty. Not only did Sharana talk to the community that they had been involved in for 18 years they also had us sign their own media and child protection forms, so we were aware of their policies.
The program that we were going to see was an outreach section of their Street and Slum Children program. Social workers go into slums and villages at 4:30 every week and play a game, or have an art therapy session, or have a mobil library class. They then give the children a traditional snack. When we got there, we had been running behind. The social workers said that usually there would be a crowd of children will be out waiting where the dirt road ends and the homes begin. Instead we got to go around and collect the children from house to house. Generations of families came out to see the social workers and then were surprised by the appearances of Gabe and I. Children began following us, saying hello, asking our names, our mother, father, and siblings names, as well as presenting us with a sleepy puppy. Abbu, the social worker told us that they recently built a play ground for the children, and that they used to have to play in a small space that was scattered with garbage and animals. After a short walk we got to a literal definition of a play ground. It was a cleared lot, safe for the kids. Within 20 minutes the kids were laughing and panting. It was surprising that children age 3-15 were playing the same game and enjoying it together. After the game, that consisted of a modified ‘red light green light’, the sun was setting. The children then got in a circle around the steamed chickpeas. After they were all fed, we were asked to take a couple more ‘selfies’ for the children. They offered us their chickpeas, with the upmost hospitality and asked us more questions about our personal lives. When I asked their questions back, they would just giggle and run away. After a couple farewells, we got back on the bikes and drove back to Pondi.
Sharana is unique in its ability to care for children in all aspects of their life. Not only do they have an education aspect to their programming, but they was to form a relationship and become part of the family. The outreach program is a part of this time, the social workers are allowed to check up on the children and see that they are happy, healthy, and thriving the best they can. They want to form personal connections to build a trust with individuals and the community. Sharana’s motto is that there is a fundamental belief that all human beings are equal in rights and dignity, and everyone is entitled to food, clothing, and shelter. They want to enable the community so that they are able to provide for themselves, and create a future through children. In doing that they hit many of the SDG’s. They for social equality, sustainable business, and quality education.