Sangamam
Case study
Born in 1987 into a nuclear family, B grew up in C.G Colony of North Chennai. Father being the sole breadwinner, times were tight and economic stability was not a luxury they possessed. Her father had studied up to Standard X and her mother had not made it past the III standard. B has three brothers, two younger to her and the other a year older. Initially, she was afforded a convent education and till standard IV she and her brothers knew no hardship. But soon, since times were hard and the sole earning member was unable to sustain his family of 5, B and her younger brother were sent to work. Only the oldest son was educated during the year that B and her brother worked as child labourers.
For a year, she worked as a fish cleaner and earned approximately Rs. 20/day. Sangamam started community level grass root work at Kasimode from 1994 and B stood out in the view of the caseworkers' as a girl who wanted to study but was unable to do so because of her family's economic inability. During the year that B and her brother discontinued their education, her father had enrolled in a course to become an electrician. Till then he had worked doing accounts on a boat. Since the remuneration was inadequate, he sought to gain advanced skills to better provide for his family.
It was around this time that B, at the age of 10 years was approached by Ms Kasthuri, a Sangamam Transit School teacher (Awarded ‘Best Teacher' in Chennai, in 1998 by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board) to study at the local transit school. Sangamam, an extension project of Stella Maris College has been working in Royapuram (Kasimode) since its inception in 1994. Sangamam's motto is, ‘to be with...to feel with and work with the community for better quality of life'. True to its mission and motto, Sangamam has sustained its work with the Kasimode fishing community in several areas, breaching barriers and forging alliances.
 One such alliance is with the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) of the Tamil Nadu government. TNSCB is committed to the elimination of child labour and Sangamam has championed this cause in the community. The Kasimode fishing community has several opportunities for child labourers to be employed and it is the mission of the TNSCB and Sangamam to create awareness in the community about the importance of education and creating far-sighted thought in this area against allowing a social ill like child labour to continue for alleviation of economic stress. Utilising a grant of Rs. 1 Crore from the Tamil Nadu Government, TNSCB has been implementing the programme to eliminate child labour in slum areas since 1996. The aim of the project is to eliminate child labour in a phased manner in Chennai City and restore the Rights of Children in co-ordination with Non Governmental and Community Based Organisations. TNSCB has programmed to impart training to children in the age group of 8-14 by withdrawing them from their work place and admitting them in transit schools for a period of one year. As a collaborated effort, the International and National funding agencies like UNICEF and CRY have also extended their support for training and development and child development programmes. The thrust of the programme is to make Tamil Nadu a child labour free state by 2007.
The concept of a transit school is to give a child who has lost several years of education, the drive and confidence to get back into mainstream education. It also stresses on having a child acquire skills that are basic for smooth transition into the mainstream education system. Due to large gaps of missing school, many children have lost the motivation to study further, are often born into families that do not stress on education, have to fight peer pressure in the community for wanting to go to school, are unable to further their education due to economic stressors. This list is endless so the child labour elimination programme does not stress on the problems but on the solutions to problems of diverse origins. The origins have to nevertheless be addressed and the multi task approach of this programme tries to combat that as well. Awareness campaigns to the public is the main strategy used to educate the public on the need to eliminate child labour and the need to educate children for a knowledge-rich brighter and better future.
One transit school exists in Royapuram (Singara Vellar Pallam) where B began her transit school experience. It fostered in her a keen interest in pursuing her education and a confidence to fight and overcome challenges placed in the path of her education. She became a critical thinker because of her environment and the consequences she had faced very early in life. She valiantly sought support from different members of the community, the Sangamam staff, were prime motivators in her life from outside her family. Principles of casework were put to practice and using motivation-building methods, B was given assertiveness training; her self-confidence and self-esteem levels were boosted. B was made to understand that the premise of doing Social Work is to help the client help her/himself. Guidance and lateral thinking are the pillars that casework stands on and B was able to understand that pointers did not mean solutions or commands. The caseworkers worked constantly to prod B to seek and dream bigger for herself and in turn for her community.
Her mother and father though not always supportive, not comprehending her dogged determination at all times, offered her support and guidance on an intermittent basis. After a year at the transit school, she joined a local government school and felt the transition in several ways. Though unwavered in her determination to study further, many obstacles were in the way of completing her education. She moved from the government school, to Northwick School in Royapuram, where she completed the crucial school years –IX – XII. The entire education till then had been in the vernacular and she was still not fully ready to start studying in a college where the only medium of instruction would be English.
 Due to her knowledge of Stella Maris College's Bridge course program, she approached the Sangamam staff in helping her secure admission at Stella Maris College. Since her marks, though not indicative of her proficiency, aptitude and perseverance, were good and she had secured over 60% in her board exams, she was admitted into the bridge course. The College offers a one-year Preparatory Bridge Course designed primarily for students who have completed school and who need a little preparation before they can join College. The Course offers intensive training in the English language and Communication skills and also allows students to attend classes in the disciplines they may want to choose in the following year.
As a result of the bridge course and having undergone extensive counselling sessions in choice of career, B opted to work towards becoming a social worker. She knows and has been impacted to a large extent by social workers from a very young age and it is commendable to see that at this age, she is thinking of giving back to the community she grew up in. Her dream is to complete her college education in the area of social work and then work towards studying for the Indian Services exams and ultimately become an IAS officer. That would place her in a position of power and authority to wield changes in the area of education and awareness in the lives of the urban poor.
B is currently studying in the I year of the Bachelor of Social Work programme at Stella Maris College and is well on the way to exercising change in a positive way in the minds of other youngsters in her community and is serving as a noteworthy example of disproving the adage ‘who you are is pre-determined''. And if today she is where she is, it is only because of caseworkers and their mindless devotion to community development, the governments' fight towards child labour elimination, support from family and the society she is part of which helps by motivating and throwing brickbats her way and her single minded motivation to dream big and achieve in life.
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