Implemented by our Valued Partner Organisations across the World
Biswajit Banik (Hope Foundation, Kolkata)
From an early age Biswajit Banik lived on the platform of Howrah Railway Station, in Kolkata, East India. His day began at 3:00 am in the morning as most of the express trains arrived at Howrah station at late night or early morning. He earned his livelihood by collecting plastic bottles each day from the platforms and selling them for Rs.400. However, he was not in the habit of saving money.
He never attended any formal school at all but he knew to write his name. He became a beneficiary of a number of NGOs who also tried to put him in their Homes or Night Shelters. But Biswajit could not stay in any Home or shelter for a long period and became a substance user.
On 8th July 2012, he became a CDK member and started saving some money in his account. His CDK passbook became his identity. Though at a personal level he could not save much money nevertheless he proactively started raising awareness on the saving habit among his friends and making them open their accounts in CDK. He even used his own money to open accounts of some of his friends. Hope Foundation supported him in reducing his substance abuse. Meanwhile, he learnt about his native village and started sending some money to his mother. He was convinced by the field staff to rejoin his family. After regular counselling he got reintegrated with his mother and today he is living with her and is also going to be enrolled into school.
Puja Mali (OLS, Odisha)
Puja Mali, aged 12 years is a student of 6th standard in Odisha, East India. Both her parents are daily wage labourers and earn around Rs. 2000 per month. She got associated with CDK when a new CDK branch was opened in W.W Road area in December 2014. Supported by her parents she was initially able to save Rs. 1,300. When a fire broke out in her area, her house got burned. She applied and received a welfare advance of Rs 1,000 for repairing her house. Through this advance she provided the much needed support to her family in a time of crisis. Today, Puja is an active CDK member of W.W Road Branch and a role model for other children in her area.
Bhabani Barik (OLS, Odisha)
Bhabani Barik, aged 13 years, is a student of class 9 and lives in Balikunda Puri, Odisha, East India. Her father and mother are daily wage laborers and earn around Rs 2,500 per month. She became a member of CDK in the month of December 2011 and started saving in her CDK account with her small pocket money. Gradually, her balance increased and became Rs 1,722 by the end of March 2015 which increased her confidence. She had also been participating in sports in her school and was good in boxing. In the month of March 2015, she got an opportunity to participate in a National Level Boxing Championship in Goa. However, her low economic status this time was not a barrier and she withdrew Rs. 500 from her CDK account and participated in the event. At present, in order to help her family Bhabani is also doing a part time job in a book store and earns around Rs 3,000 per month. She has also motivated her younger brother and sister to become CDK members.
Nirmalya Patra (Unnayan,Odisha) -Learning Business Skills through CDK
Nirmalya Patra is a student of class 10 and also a member of the local CDK branch. He is a resident of village Kasafalia of Mayurbhanj District, Odisha. His parents work as share croppers and daily wage labourers.
Last year, Nirmalya purchased two chicks and after sometime sold them for Rs. 750. From this earning he spent Rs. 500 towards medicines for his mother and rest to purchase test papers for his study. His first income gave him a lot of confidence and happiness.
His mother remains ill but in spite of his mother’s illness he is continuing his studies. The local CDK branch is a great source of hope for him. He is planning to take an advance of Rs. 2000 to pay his tuition fees and purchase test papers. He is confident of repaying the advance from his side business of rearing chicks and making earthen idols of deities and selling them during the time of religious festivals.
Rajani Kumari (Butterflies Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
CDK plays an important role in the development of poor and marginalized children by providing opportunities to exercise decisions in areas which affects their development. Through the savings and advance facilities in CDK several children are able to follow their dreams and hobbies which otherwise would not have been possible. Rajani Kumari is one such child.
Rajani, aged 14 years belongs to a poor Ranchi community family living in Farm Tikrey village and studying in class 9. She has been associated with CDK for many years and regularly saves her pocket money in her CDK accounts. Apart from her studies she is also good in sports and dreams to become a sports champion someday. She performed very well in sports and was also selected to participate in the Inter Island Sports Competition for which she needed a sports kit. She decided to take a welfare advance from CDK and purchased a sports kit. She participated in the sports event, performed very well and won many prizes. This achievement boosted her confidence and she claims that CDK has played a key role in her achievement, “CDK encouraged and supported me a lot in achieving my dream. Now, I feel motivated to go ahead in the field of sports. Thanks a lot CDK”, says an elated Rajani.
She was well applauded by her parents, teachers, friends and community members who saw her photo in the newspaper with the champion’s trophy. Now, she is motivating everybody to open an account and save their money in CDK.
Permanova Nilufar (MUNIS, Tajikistan)
Permanova Nilufar, 16 years old, was born in a big family in Gissar district of Tajikistan. Apart from her, she has her father, mother and five brothers in her family. Her father Nilufar Hussein sometimes migrates to Russia in search of livelihood as he does not have any permanent job in Tajikistan.
However, for a long time her father was not sending money to his family. Her mother was sick and not in a position to work as she needs constant medical care and medicines. One of her brothers works as a porter in the market and another is a car washer. All brothers and sisters do some work in all seasons in order to support the family. All their work are low wage work and they are not able to find time or money to attend school.
Permanova has studied till fifth grade. However, due to her family conditions she was compelled to work at a very early age. An awareness programme on CDK brought her in contact with the programme. After initial hesitation she decided to become a member of CDK and started saving her earning. She soon became an active member and started participating in all CDK activities.
In one of the CDK workshops she shared her dream of becoming a seamstress so that she can earn a decent amount of money for her family so that her brother can go to school and she can buy shoes and food for her family. Therefore, when MUNIS CDK initiated the advance facility she was among the first to apply for an advance. MUNIS supported her in developing a business plan and in purchasing a sewing machine.
After purchasing a sewing machine, she started to work as an apprentice for a master seamstress. She quickly acquired the skills from her master and within a month learned to sew national dresses, pants, shirts and other things. With each passing day her earnings are growing. Now, she wants to expand her business and buy another sewing and overlock machine through which she can do several operations like embroidery and lace stitching. She has taken up her work very seriously with her mother also looking for a shop to sell dresses. In future she plans to develop her business as a family business.
Now, Nilufar wants to go to school to obtain a high school diploma and later on enroll in a technical college to learn design. She has planned to work in the day time and study in an evening school which MUNIS is facilitating. Like all Tajik girls, she also dreams of getting married to a decent boy who would understand and love her the way she is and start a family and have children. For her wedding she wishes to sew a beautiful wedding dress on her own.
Nilufar is thankful towards the CDK programme for changing her life. She says, “I am very grateful to СDK which our Indian friends have introduced and offered to the children of Tajikistan. I thank them for that, I thank them for everything! Thank you from our family! This project has helped me and my family. I heard that it operates in several countries in the world. I’m sure it will help millions of vulnerable children and their families which will bring happiness to them and live without problems and needs. I pray to God that all the children of the world become happy and that they do not face discrimination and work as child labourers. Children should study and become lawyers, doctors, teachers and help everyone.”
Ramratan Sharma, Hamara Foundation, Mumbai-Giving Life to Dreams of Marginalized Children
Ramratan Sharma, 14 years old, studies in a Municipal School in Mumbai Central and lives with his father and younger brother. He came to Mumbai at the age of eight when his father came here from Bihar in search of livelihood. He also works part-time as a Newspaper vendor at Tulshiwadi, Mumbai Central. Since his father goes for work very early in the morning and returns late in night he also has to take care of his younger brother including preparation of meals for himself and his brother.
He is an active member of CDK Mumbai Central Branch and saves all his money in his CDK account. He was also elected as Child Volunteer Manager of this branch and served for six months in this position. Ramratan’s father wanted his son to study and get a good job. However, Ramratan had his own dream of becoming a cricketer and wanted to join the National Cricket Club (NCC), Mumbai. However, he could never talk about this to his father. His participation in Khazana and support of other members gave him courage to put his view before his father. He somehow persuaded his father to allow him to take admission in NCC but both father and son were worried about its fees. He discussed this issue in one of the meetings of CDK where he was able to find a solution. He took an advance of Rs. 4270 from CDK and got admission in NCC. He is very happy about his admission in NCC and says “ I just want to play cricket”. He has also started repaying his advance.
Tarannum, MDC, Bihar
Tarannum is a 12 year old girl, a resident of Immam Ganj slum area of Muzzafarpur, Bihar, India. She had to discontinue her studies due to the poor economic condition of her family and started to work as a domestic help along with her mother.
She got curious about CDK when she saw some children from her colony depositing their savings in the Khazana. She visited the branch and enquired further about CDK from the Child Volunteer Manger of the Branch. One day she came along with her and opened her account in CDK. She started depositing savings from her earnings in her CDK account. MDC facilitated her enrolment in a local school. She now goes to school and also does part time work. Today, she has a good balance in her account which has further boosted her confidence. She now wishes to become a teacher so that she can help to educate children from poor backgrounds.
Priyanshu Kumari, Pratigya, Ranchi
CDK has been playing a key role in developing the confidence of children from vulnerable sections of the society and giving them hope for the future. Participation opportunities provided by CDK act as catalysts to rebuild their self-confidence and self-image. The story of Priyanshu Kumari from Pratigya NGO in Bihar, India is one of such stories.
Priyanshu is currently a student of class IX in Y.M.C.A Public School. Earlier, she used to study in Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya, Jagannathpur. Her father is a daily wage carpenter and only earning member in the family. Priyanshu was an introvert child. She even hesitated in sharing her feelings or thoughts with anyone, not even with her family members. She was also not doing well in her studies. In her last academic year she scored very poor marks which led her to depression.
She joined CDK nine months back. Gradually, she started participating in all CDK activities. During the last CDK election held in April 2015 she applied for the post of CVM. She carried out an impressive campaign and delivered an enthusiastic speech to persuade members to vote for her. Although she didn’t win the election, but all these participation opportunities helped her in improving her confidence level.
Meanwhile, her savings in CDK also kept on growing and she became the highest saving member in her CDK branch. At the beginning of the new academic session when her father expressed his difficulty in paying the high fees of the private school, she confidently informed her parents that she has a savings of Rs 2000 which can reduce the financial burden of the family. She is continuing her studies in the private school. Her association with CDK has transformed her and she has also become good in her studies. Her confidence level has improved significantly and now she has no hesitation in speaking before the public.
Sahmat (Butterflies, Delhi)
Sahmat, a 15 year old, worked as a rag picker near the Old Delhi railway station area and slept on the street. Although his family lived in a neighbouring state he did not go home regularly. He used to spend all his money earned through rag picking as at night it was not safe to keep money with him while sleeping on the street. Simultaneously due to peer pressure, he also got addicted to substance abuse. However, a CDK meeting at Butterflies contact point motivated him to open an account and save money regularly at the contact point. Through CDK he began to come regularly to the Butterflies contact point and participate in it activities. Gradually he was also enrolled into the National Institute of Open Schooling. His CDK account has also motivated him to give up the habit of substance abuse as now he can save his money in his own CDK account rather than spending it on unnecessary & harmful things.
Prashant Patel (Butterflies, Delhi)
Prashant is a 12 year old boy studying in class 8 and living in the slums near Okhla Vegetable Market , Delhi. His family consists of his father, mother and 3 sisters. Prashant, a regular saver in his CDK account enjoyed spending time at the Butterflies contact point learning new things. However, one day due to a government ruling his father suddenly lost his livelihood, his electric rickshaw thus plunging the whole family into a survival crisis. Prashant with significant savings in his CDK account helped his family tide over the unexpected crisis by withdrawing & using his savings to buy necessary items for the family’s survival until his father managed to get another job as a security guard. Later, his sister suffered a serious injury while playing at home and had to be operated upon immediately in a hospital in order to save her. Prashant took an advance from his CDK account and used it for his sister’s successful operation . Expressing happiness on being able to help his family so many times with his CDK account, a confident Prashant now dreams to become a real doctor one day.
Fighting Adversities: Omar – Aschiana, Afghanistan
“I want to make it big”, “I want to restore Kabul to its past beauty”- Words of a confident, independent, forward-looking 13-year old Omar from Kabul, Afghanistan.
Omar was born and brought up in Kabul, a city with half constructed, dilapidated, bullet-ridden buildings comprising a poverty-stricken population with few basic amenities. In this city, Omar lives with his family of six sisters and four brothers. His father owns a grocery store and his mother is a housewife.
Five years ago, Omar and his family members were going through a turbulent phase. Living a fearful life defined by extreme poverty, Omar had no option but to work on the streets at an early age. He was hardly 8 years old when he and his siblings started selling plastic bags and earning 50 Afghanis ($1) a day, while his father worked at a grocery store. He gave his earnings to his parents, retaining only a nominal amount (5 Afghani). Omar lived a life characterized by absence of school and surrendering his desires, hopes and wishes for the financial and emotional welfare of his family.
In 2003, Omar joined Aschiana, an Afghan non-government organization that provides services, support and programs for street and working children and their families in Kabul. He initially joined the education and painting program but grew actively involved in running and campaigning for the Children’s Development Khazana (CDK), opened by Butterflies in 2004. Omar opened his account in June 2004 with 5 Afghani and within a year he had 1,800 Afghani in his account. It is with his money saved in the CDK that Omar’s father opened his own grocery store in Kabul. The family was also able to pay the monthly house rent (1,000 Afghanis), which saved them from being evicted.
Omar and his siblings no longer work on the streets; they now go to a reputed school in Kabul. Currently Omar is the Khazana manager and earns 1,000 Afghanis per month. Out of his pay, he gives 800 Afghani to his parents and keeps the remaining 200 to himself to cover school supplies and clothes for his family. Omar feels proud of his contribution to his family’s expenses and savings.
Omar considers the Children’s Development Khazana as a lifeline for children like him, who with the help of the Khazana can live a respectable lifestyle. He believes that the Khazana has made him independent, self-reliant and has also been a means for him to learn financial management skills. Aiming to be a Banker, Omar is working hard and with his conviction and sincerity, the sky is the limit.
…and many more.
