Street Education Programme
Cooperative Learning
Butterflies with its unique non- institutional approach endeavors to empower street and working children in various situations in the city of Delhi. The street program interventions are rooted in places like bus terminals, railway stations, market places, parks and so on, where the children live and work. Butterflies works in 8 contact points in Delhi (Chandni Chowk, Haathi Park, Kashmiri Gate, INA Market, Sadar Bazar, Jama Masjid, Nizamuddin Dargah, Okhla) and reaches out to more than 1,000 children on a daily basis.
The Street Programme of Butterflies has a team of qualified educators designated as Education Programme Officers who are placed in the contact points either in the morning, afternoon or evening.
Check out our YouTube Channel and view some inspiring videos on this programme and several other initiative
Dimensions
Education
Our endeavour is to provide quality education even if it has to be on the street. So, we follow the formal/ national syllabus but an informal and interesting methodology. We are also accredited to the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with several NGOs registered with us as part of NIOS. Life skills education is a vital part of the education programme. Sports and cultural activities are also used as a tool to educate the children.
Engaging Children in Programmes
Those children who live and work on the street and fend for themselves and support their families become the prime focus of Butterflies programmes and the challenge of the educators is to engage the children in the programme activities. The major task is to ensure that the children become part of the education programme and also participate in activities viz. Child Health & Sports Cooperative, Children’s Development Khazana, Children’s Media {comprising radio, video, newspaper and theatre}, sports and cultural events.
Engaging with Community & Others
It becomes very important for the educators to establish a good relation with employers, parents of children (if applicable), market association people, religious leaders, security guards, municipal authorities, hospitals and the police. The main purpose is to create a protective environment for the children and then to garner support so that the children are able to participate in the activities.
Children’s Participation
Children’s participation is a core value of Butterflies. We ensure that children are consulted and their views taken seriously while developing programmes.
Bal Sabha (Children’s Council) – The objective is to provide a platform for children to meet, discuss, and decide on issues concerning them. Small Bal Sabha’s are conducted in all contact points at least once a month. And we have a Big Bal Sabha every month in which child representatives from all the contact points come together to discuss and resolves issues. In fact we consider the Bal Sabha to be the soul of Butterflies. The Bal Sabha gives us directions to introspect, make adjustments or take decisions in the interest of children.
Dealing with Crisis
Street and working children are vulnerable to police beatings, abuse by authorities, employers and others. There are umpteen numbers of cases of beatings by law enforcement agencies, employers not paying wages to the children, older boys beating the young ones, accidents or medical emergencies. On a daily basis we are dealing with cases of child rights violation and ensuring child protection.
Night Outreach
Recognizing vulnerability of children to exploitation and abuse in the night and the need to access children who are otherwise unreached during the day, Butterflies conducts night outreaches every fortnight. Small teams of trained Butterflies staff reach out to vulnerable children while exploring areas of the contact points, handle emergency situations, interact with employers and parents of children and identify areas for intervention.
