Every year thousands of children are rendered homeless because of tiring and terrible situations.Many of them are either forsaken by their parents or guardians or the children run away because of hardships that force them to look for comfort outside of their homes. But the sad reality is that hardships become worse once these children find themselves on the streets.
In this post, we commend the many young artists who have brightened our Diwali. These artists are young boys who found renewed hope amidst a life of prior hardship working as rag pickers and pickpockets in railway stations. Lakshya is a Self Help Group that strives to help these children by rescuing them from a life of terrorizing hardship. Their attempt is to rescue these runaways from the streets and the railway junctions by providing them food, shelter, opportunities to attend school on a regular basis while also vocationally training them such as they become self sufficient over the years.
Lakshya was started in 2004 by Ramesh Gupta in 2004 in the village of Bhatola, Faridabad
because he wanted to help those kids who had undergone a similar nightmare as he had in his childhood. As a kid he was rescued from the streets; he was exceptionally lucky because he was picked up by the police but was later handed over to Salaam Baalak Trust where they provided him shelter and rehabilitated him by teaching him some vocational skills.
In terms of craft, Lakshya is an amazing initiative because this organization has an eco-friendly approach to the things they help create. Not merely that, they have even managed to provide support to over 100 children and over 150 women in the years they have become active. The SHG is mostly known for its bag and similar such products made from waste paper and cloth.
Umesh, a member of Lakshya and Ramesh Gupta’s brother, insists on the advantages of
recyclability. According to him, there’s an abounding work culture at the SHG because the work is linked to the greater cause of helping children who are in dire circumstances. He says that children aged 8 to 15 help in rolling out these products to be sold later on. They are usually taught how to make bags from recycled paper. The fact that these children understand that even this recycled paper should be used to avoid wastage is a commendable feat to Umesh.
Umesh tells us that the newspaper bags are usually made by the women who are of Bhatola village because it provides them a means of income. Meanwhile jute and patchwork bags are a specialty of the street boys. Around 25 boys come together, some of whom are now married but still working with the SHG to make the jute & patchwork bags which are then sold later.
Umesh rues the market conditions as we talk. He says business has suffered a bit because of weak markets. He worries because it affects the group in terms of the allocation of their funds. The money that they gather from their sales goes in the children’s education because they feel that education is the true empowering tool that these kids require. He also vehemently discourages the donation system and says that Lakshya has survived all these years because of the hard work that their children put in.
Umesh also excitedly tells us about Lakshya’s products that are being doled out in collaboration with The Color Caravan. He tells us about patchwork products such as belts, wallets, wall hangings, handmade diaries, lampshades and photo frames that are being made by about 15 boys from Lakshya. Patchwork is mostly done with stitching small patches of differently hued cloth together to form an interesting piece of cloth (in this case the cloth is usually a leftover piece). He tells us that this cloth is then cut and stitch in accordance to what the final product is supposed to be. The children are capable to getting at least 3 -5 big bags ready but the durations keep varying. Similarly, around 4 -5 wallets are done while 5 -6 belts are produced in a day.
He says that considering the SHG is situated near a village, it also becomes their duty to generate work opportunities for the village, and that is why much of the stitching and sewing work is handled by the womenfolk of the village. At the same time, children are sent out as small sentinels on the lookout for recycled paper and clothes from the streets.
By the end of the conversation, we was left in awe of the work ethic of the organization and therefore we sincerely wish that Lakshya brings a bright future to all the children who were seen as stowaways.
Lakshya's colorful products in patchwork are available on The Color Caravan. Check the collection here.
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