Our little ones never fail to amaze! Around 16 schools and over 60 children participated at the JAVATE 2020 event held on February 1, 2020 at Lady Andal Higher Secondary School, Harrington Road, Chennai.

Eighteen of our children participated in the Art competition and group dance events, winning several prizes. Sheela won 3rd prize for beginner level in the art competition, and Vishal and Siva won 3rd prize at junior and senior levels respectively. Our children bagged three prizes for the group dance category with the boys winning the 1st prize and girls winning the 3rd prize at junior level, and the bigger girls winning the 2nd prize at senior level. We are incredibly proud of the way they put heart and soul into everything they do, managing to steal hearts wherever they go!

Happy to report that our young tailors appear really suited for the job :) 10 youngsters – 5 girls and 5 boys – run Prayatna’s tailoring unit under able guidance from two tailoring instructors. This program aims at providing our youngsters an opportunity to develop skills that have high employability potential in the market today. Having thrown themselves wholeheartedly into this activity since October 2019, they have developed many beautiful products, which are sold out as fast as they make them! The activity is providing them quick and gainful employment in a sheltered environment, which is exactly what they need, given their particular circumstances. We also see tremendous improvement in their social skills and self-esteem.

The youngsters have learnt to make various types of shopping bags, kalamkari sling bags, and mugurtha bags. Around 650 bags in all shapes and sizes were sold out at venues across the city, such as MMM Hospital, Novas, Amazon, L&T, Drivestream, Taj Hotel, Pratibimb, CSI School, Presidency College and Hotel Savera, to name a few. We are grateful to Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) Pvt. Ltd., for helping us kick-start this project through their sponsorship.

Banu was just 3½ years old when she was abandoned together with 1½ year old baby sister, Fatima, at a railway station in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. The sisters were rescued by the Railway police.

When traced, their parents refused to accept them, and thus began their journey from home to home until they came to us via a CWC order in July 2017, when they were 13 and 11 respectively.

Banu’s IQ was documented as being below average. She was restless, moody, aggressive, and showed signs of extreme stress. Banu had a lot of behavioural issues. She was also emotionally unstable with a poor sense of identity.

Banu is 15 today, and the rehabilitation therapies that were customized for her are now beginning to show results. Receiving a nutritious diet, special education, and psychological/psychiatric care, Banu has shown immense all-round improvement. She appears healthy and vibrant (as you can see in her picture). She is beginning to find her identity and sense of worth, which could probably be a key reason for her radical change into a fairly happy and motivated person.

Placed in our vocational tailoring program, Banu has learnt to sew and embroider clothing. She can stitch blouses and shopping bags independently. She is a promising seamstress. When she reaches 18, we plan to provide her local community-based employment opportunities under supervision, until she becomes independent.