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Daring to Dream, Santosh - Delhi,
India
Santosh, a 10 year old boy, came to Delhi in November 2003, with lots
of apprehensions about this big city, but also dreams in his eyes to
make it big and support his family living in extreme poverty in
Darbhanga district of Bihar. His parents asked him to move out of his
home and explore the world outside to make a living and support the
family.
He reached Delhi, the capital of India, about which he had read, while
studying in a government school in his village. Contrary to his
expectations, the city life was very difficult and intimidating.
Pushed to survive by himself, he found himself a job in a dhaba (a
wayside restaurant) in Shakninagar, where he served food to the
customers and cleaned dishes, making around Rs 20-30 per day. This was
not a place that he liked, being scolded regularly by the employees,
receiving a meager amount and that too not very regularly. Four months
later he just left the place and moved on to look for a better life
elsewhere.
 He reached the Old Delhi Railway station and started to live on a
platform along with other children, looking for work. The only work he
knew was serving food in a dhaba (a roadside eating joint), and that
is what he started doing again. In this struggle to make a living for
himself and support his existence, he lost touch with his family. How
could he send them some money when he himself did not have enough to
eat? All he had was a space on the platform to sleep, a municipal
corporation tap to bathe and a community toilet. He could easily give
up hope, had it not been for other children around him who were living
the same life as him. Looking at them he did not feel alone.
One day, a boy working on the station told him about the Butterflies
programme and the services it provides for the street and working
children. He got interested and went to the Fatehpuri shelter for the
street and working children, being run and managed by Butterflies.
This was a new world for him as he saw many children like him
accessing interesting and useful services being provided by
Butterflies. He decided to sleep there and got interested in the
alternate education programme. He had always wanted to study but was
pushed out of school due to his circumstances. He found this as an
opportunity to continue education and also gain knowledge which he
could use in his daily life. Simultaneously, he got attracted by other
programmes which Butterflies was running for street and working
children and became an active participant in theatre, dance, sports,
and cultural activities. Alongside, now he had access to health
services as well. Concentrating in his education programme, he showed
the capability of moving fast ahead and was admitted to a formal
school located at Lal Quila in the 4th standard. Meanwhile, he got
attracted by the computer education offered to other children in the
shelter. He showed his keenness to enroll in the programme and soon
picked up not only the basics but also got involved in designing on
computer.
Money had always been a significant issue for him and soon he realized
how he could save money for his future in the children’s development
bank, a bank run by street and working children for children. He
became the member of Children’s Development Bank and started saving
regularly, with a dream that one day he will be able to take an
advance from CDB and start a business enterprise. Not only was he
accessing the bank membership but he also became interested in the
bank work and volunteered to be the CDB child volunteer. The general
body of children nominated him as the volunteer manager to look after
the CDB in Fatehpuri for a period of six months. Soon after he got
trained in CDB concepts by the CDB team and happened to visit Chennai
where he met other children from the South Asian countries and other
parts of India, where Butterflies is anchoring the CDB banks. He met
children from Afghanistan, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Srilanka, Chennai, Leh,
Andaman and Nicobar, Mujaffarpur and Kolkata and made good friends
with children from Pokhara. Particularly inspired by many of these
children who are now able to access advance from their CDB and start a
business enterprise, Santosh is now sure what he will do in
future-have a computer shop for typing and designing works.
Today, Santosh is attending his classes in the 5th standard and is
also regular for the computer classes. The computer teacher feels that
provided the opportunity, Santosh could emerge as a professional or
wonderful designer. If one talks to Santosh, one could feel his
passion for visual arts. Santosh gets animated every time he sits on
the computer…As he says, “maybe one day my dreams will be realized”.
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