Rescuing Himanshu: A Tale of Child Labor and the Power of Education
Mohan and Samita Devi lived in a small village, situated in the dense forest of Ramnagar in Bihar. They have three sons, and they relied on daily wage labor to make ends meet. During the season, Mohan would migrate to other states for work, while Samita worked as an agricultural laborer in the village. The two elder sons also followed in their father’s footsteps and went to work in other states.
Their youngest son, Himanshu, was only 14 years old and had completed his eighth grade and then he was forced to migrate to Gujarat to work with a local contractor in a rolling mill. It wasn’t until his health deteriorated, and his mother was notified. Upon hearing about Himanshu, the project team worker, took the matter into his own hands and contacted the contractor to discuss the situation.
After much deliberation and discussion about the negative effects of child labor and the importance of education, the parents agreed to call Himanshu back home. Eventually, with the help of a co-worker, the child was able to communicate with his parents, and they convinced him to return home.
The contractor was then asked to pay the child his wages and ensure his safe return. The following day, Himanshu arrived back home, safe and sound. He was immediately enrolled in school and started attending the CARC daily to catch up on his studies. Although the experience had been harrowing, Himanshu was determined to make up for lost time and work hard to build a brighter future.
Education in Ramnagar lags behind with an average literacy rate of 55.43%, lower than the district and national averages. Inadequate teachers, poor quality of teaching, huge gaps in RTE Act infrastructure compliances are the compelling factors of children dropping out. Access to higher education and poor interest of the parents on higher education are the compounding factors for a large number of children who are out of school and working.
CRY America project DEEP helps bring these resources, such as Anganwadis, primary schools and secondary schools to the villages in West Champaran that need support. The project ensures children in the community are enrolled in these institutions, receive their services, and that these resources have the capacity to function and properly manage themselves. The key activities of the project are identification of vulnerable children, implementation of preventive programs for reduction of child labor and exploring different methods for sustaining the education support.
7170
children of 6-18 years of age enrolled in schools
32
adolescent collectives were informed and sensitized on education and child protection issues
386
children cleared the 10th grade exam
19
villages are now child marriage free
58
child marriages stopped
183
children removed from labor & mainstreamed in formal education
181
families were linked with social protection programs
● Organize 22 SMC meeting in all schools ensuring participation of 220 members
● Track the academic progress of 5363 children in 6-14 years
● Continuing the coaching center in 3 villages for 120 girls in grade IX & X
● Ensuring enrolment of 280 children of 3-6 years age group in ICDS centers
● Capacity building of 480 collective members on life skill, education, child protection issues and existing programs
● Organizing 48 village level meeting on issues like child labor, unsafe migration & early marriages in 24 villages
● Formation of 1 Sports club and promotion of girl’s teams for the sports
● Awareness meeting with the Village Child Protection Committee members on child marriage in 5 villages
2023 Grant Disbursed $19,169
