From Child Labor to Future Scientist
Many children in India are still deprived of their right to education because of a host of reasons. Lack of nearby schools, gender discrimination, early marriage, child labor etc. to name a few. However, we have seen children dream big and overcome insurmountable social and economic obstacles through sheer courage and determination to change the world they live in. This is one such story of a boy named Naveen Kumar who won a national award for his invention. Life had snatched away a lot from Naveen who hailed from a small village called Madanpalli in Andhra Pradesh. But that did not deter him from achieving the best.
Naveen tells us, “When I was in the 4th grade I had to drop out of school, and work at a tea stall to support my father and to add to the family income. My father did not support my education. The team at PORD tried to convince my parents to send me back to school, but they did not agree. After a lot of discussions with the Sarpanch in my village, my parents allowed me to re-enroll in school with my younger brother who had to drop out as well. Through school activities, I participated in the child collective meetings and became a part of the cultural team. This gave me the opportunity to explore my interests. I saw that the method used for cooking mid-day meals in the school caused pollution and was not favorable for the environment. Hence, I wanted to find a way by which this pollution could be minimized. I started working on this project. With the help of my school, Eswaramma Colony UP School and the PORD team, I participated in an exhibition conducted by the District Educational department. I wanted to invent an eco-friendly mechanism to cook food, which was cost-effective and pollution-free. I used raw materials like toasted coconut shells, cellulose, lime powder and arg cryst powder to prepare it. My invention was one among 70 other projects which were selected for the state level competition. I qualified for the national level competition conducted at Delhi, and was one among the five winners who won the national award from the Ministry of Science and Technology for my project.” Naveen’s invention is now being used in many schools, including his own, to prepare mid-day meals.
Naveen Kumar's life changed from a child laborer to an award winning student scientist due to the education & healthcare opportunities provided to him by Project PORD & CRY America. Today, he’s climbing to even greater heights– he is a student at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, studying for a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. “This would have been a distant dream, if PORD hadn’t helped me re-enroll in school after I dropped out in Grade 5,” Naveen says. When asked what his goal for the future is he says, “I want to become an engineer and help poor children improve their skills.”
About People’s Organization for Rural Development (PORD)
Project PORD operates in Chitoor district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The people in these areas are very poor and are unable to meet their basic needs. The families that live here are landless, therefore lacking access to quality education, health-care and nutritious food. With child labor being on the rise among the members of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST), drop-out rates in schools have increased. Child marriage is another major problem that affects this area. Dowry system, social customs, poor economic conditions of the family, lack of access to schools and lack of enforcement of the law are some of the reasons that contribute to it. PORD has been efficiently working to promote child rights in the rural and urban areas. During the year, the team has achieved the following:
● 5,818 children impacted
● 4,746 children between 6-18 years enrolled in school
● 46 drop out children between 6 – 18 years re-enrolled into school
● 31 villages/slums child labor free
