Our last site visit and meeting for this incredible trip was with the Salaam Baalak Trust, an NGO that provides education, shelter and social exposure to children who would otherwise be living on the street. The Trust operates within a street community in Delhi close to the local train station. Many young boys and girls escape their home lives in search of a better life and arrive in Delhi by train. However, many of these children arrive addicted to drugs for many reasons. The children sleep in the train tracks and the young girls are at an extremely high risk for trafficking. We were informed that only a few blocks from the Salaam Baalak Trust building we were in, was an area of Delhi that is home to thousands of trafficked child prostitutes, some as young as six, who are forced to entertain up to 25 customers per day. The Trust aims on locating children who are in this situation, as well as those who may simply be lost, and offering services to get the children on their feet and down a better path.
We were given a brief street life tour by one of the Trusts’ employees, who was once a street child himself. He told of his own personal story and how the program offered by the Trust had helped get him off of the street and eventually into the tour guide position he currently holds.
In contrast to PSI, who we met with a day earlier, Saalam Balaak Trust is operating truly at the community level, and they are seamlessly integrating both the not for profit model as well as social enterprise. When the Trust brings in a new child, they are using resources that come solely from donors or the government; however, once the children become a part of the organization and function as tour guides and in other roles they begin to generate income not only for themselves but also for the company. The model allows the Trust to bring in funds to support their programming, while also allowing for a specific target population to be served.
One of the most touching parts of my day with the Trust was when we were in the boys’ classroom and were shown an impromptu talent show. The boys, aged 6 to 21, were so excited to both share their own and witness other talents. It was truly inspiring. During the show, I couldn’t help but think about the pasts of these young boys. Where did they come from? Were their parents thinking about them? Were they abandoned? Are they lost? So many different questions ran through my head as I witnessed the display of unabashed pride and excitement of these boys sharing their talents. I couldn’t help but smile, not only at the talents, but at how these boys had overcome every disadvantage in those moments. It would be undeniably terrifying for me to get up in front of a group of my peers and do a dance or sing a song, yet these boys embrace the opportunity to showcase their talents and have the undivided attention of their peers.
The Salaam Baalak Trust provided an example of an organization that didn’t have a massive amount of funding, like the PSI’s of the world yet was providing an important service to the community while also generating revenue. And, certainly not the least important facet of this program, Salaam Baalak Trust provides hope and a potential future for the thousands of children who are a part of their programming.
This site visit was an inspiring end to our incredible journey in India. The grassroots efforts of the Trust, which incorporates so many different pieces of social entrepreneurship and non-profit work and comparing/contrasting this work to the other organizations large and small, provided a comprehensive look at different avenues of social change.
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