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Learning to dream
Arriving alone in Mumbai, fifteen-year-old Benjamin was met from the Delhi train by a man who had promised to put him in school and provide him with work. For the next year, Benjamin was not allowed to leave the house, and there was no sign of the promised education.
Slave labour
Benjamin is from Orissa state, east India, and his father sent him to Delhi so he could get a good education. In Delhi he stayed in a hostel. The hostel owner was friends with the man in Mumbai and arranged for Benjamin to go and work for him – thinking that he would get a good job and a good education.
In Mumbai, Benjamin was made to cook and clean. He was scared of the man who was an alcoholic, and the wife used to beat him. He says the man used to claim, ‘even if I kill you, nobody will know.’
Scared and miserable, he knew he would never be allowed to leave or visit his family, so he ran away. He contacted the Childline India Foundation who found him a space in a night shelter, where he still stays. The night shelter put him in touch with Oasis India’s training centre in Mumbai.
A good place
‘At first I wanted to run away (from the training centre), because I didn’t know anything about it. After three weeks I realized this is a good place and I should stay. Everything is good here.’ Before finding the training centre, Benjamin had been contemplating suicide, in front of one of the fast mail trains.
He spent a year learning tailoring and is now working in the Jabobs Well workshop, where he is able to earn some money. ‘I enjoy sewing on the machines and stitching the kurtas. The hardest thing is cutting.’ He is also learning English conversation and life skills. When he leaves the centre, he wants to get a job as a tailor.
He is finally receiving the education and training his father had hoped for him. He has lost contact with his family but wants to try and visit them. He says his step mother is very good and his dad only sent him away so he could study. The Oasis India reintegration team can help Benjamin find his family and will go with him the first time he goes to visit them.
Time to talk
Spending time getting to know the students is an important part of the centre’s ethos. ‘We build strong relationships and offer good quality training,’ says Liz Joseph, who oversees education, healthcare and counseling at the centre. ‘These people are coming from abused and disturbed backgrounds, so here we create a safe and happy environment.’
After completing the training the students can get work experience in the workshop, before getting a job in the production unit. Screen printing is on offer for the boys who don’t want to learn tailoring. We also have Jacobs Well training courses in Bangalore and Chennai, two production units in Bangalore and a workshop in Chennai.
Students often have had no other opportunity to learn a trade, coming from slum communities, station platforms and hostels. They get their breakfast and lunch at the centre and there is counseling on offer. All of the students can take English classes and do the life skills course where they learn about relationships, health, money management and interview techniques.
Many have not been able to finish their education for reasons such as lack of money or lack of confidence, so they are encouraged to study and sit their exams through distance learning with the National Institute of Open Schooling.
Unlocking potential
Liz says the most rewarding thing about her job is being able to motivate people who had dropped out of school to go back to their studies. ‘I can’t even dream of leaving the training centre, because my heart is with the children. It is a big achievement that someone who had nothing is able to achieve something.'
‘I get great satisfaction from letting the students know we are there for them. Some people were never able to write and now they can sign their names. People who did not dream of doing anything with their life start looking forward because they are able to achieve things in training. They come to know their capabilities and their potential,’ says Liz. Sewing teacher Smita, herself trained at the centre, agrees, saying ‘they have hope after they come here.’
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