Stories of transformational change

“At the project, they help me with my homework, give us food and share with us. Now I feel very good - I'm happy. Now I can read and write.”

“I've made positive connections with my classmates and teachers.”

“Now I can express myself more easily with family and friends”

“My favourite place is the park, I like it when my mummy takes us there.”

“I realised that education could give me a purpose.”

“I felt like I should be in school, and it made me sad to see other children going.”

“My dream of the future is to move forward by helping my mother and studying.”

“I no longer have to worry about where my next meal will come from.”

“There is a lot of danger in the street- we have been taught that by our teachers.”

“I want to be a scientist”

“I used to play the whole day and roam around and was not learning anything.”

“I used to watch other children going to school and often wondered if I would ever have the chance to do the same.”

“My favourite thing about coming to the Mobile School is learning and playing with the different panels with my friends.”

“I want to become a good teacher.”

“I’m lucky – I’ve been coming to the project for so long that I don’t remember how different life was before.”

“Period education is something we really need to discuss with every girl, to break the silence.”

“With my parents working and out a lot, when I’m at the house, I’m alone most of the time. I cook my own food, like rice, eggs and sausages.”

“I go to school and I love it because I can learn more things that I already know.”

“I started ragpicking when my dad became too ill to work.”

“When we arrived from our village, we had nowhere to live so we had to live on the railway tracks.”

“For as long as I can remember, all my family have always all gone out to work, leaving me at home on my own. I used to get so lonely.”

“I don’t have admission to school yet because of the unavailability of official documents and my Aadhar (ID) card.”

“Once, my mother pushed me from the stairs of a public waterspout, and I was badly hurt. I know she was probably just drunk though.”

“The market is not a safe place for children most of the time - many violent incidents have happened over the years I’d been here.”

“I used to feel that my future would be in darkness.”

“I used to roam around the streets and trouble my mother a lot - I was unable to think or feel about anything.”

“Now I can learn and support my family.”

“Now that I’ve got the uniform, I feel happy.”

“If I could change one thing right now, it would be for coronavirus to go away, to have enough food and money, and to be able to continue my education so I can stand on my own.”

“My life has changed a lot since attending the project. I thought I would never be able to continue my education and that I would have to be on the street my entire life to earn a living.”

“I pay a lot of attention to my studies and now speak with confidence to everyone. I love encouraging the rest of the children to study at the education club — I feel very happy when I help others and when I see children playing and studying instead of working.”

“I’m very happy, after joining the learning centre I understood the importance of study and I have started thinking about my future.”