Dharshika’s Journey From Adversity to Hope
Dharshika, an eight-year-old girl from Maruthanthoppu village in Tamil Nadu, faced numerous challenges. Her family, palm sap tappers and daily wage laborers, struggled with poverty and the burden of transportation, as schools were far from their village. After her mother’s death and her father’s abandonment, Dharshika and her elder brother Akash were cared for by their elderly grandparents.
After her uncle, who supported her schooling, died in a tragic accident, the family was left in turmoil. With no other financial support, Dharshika dropped out of school during her 3^rd^ grade, joining her brothers and cousins who had also left education to work.
CRY America project RWDS, identified Dharshika’s situation through home visits and community engagement. The project team counseled her grandparents, emphasizing the importance of continuing her education and gradually managed to get her re-enrolled in school. Though her transport costs were partially covered by the local workers’ union, the financial strain persisted. In April 2024, her grandparents, overwhelmed and financially strained, sought alternative solutions for Dharshika’s education.
The project team approached the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) for assistance, who recommended enrolling Dharshika in the same hostel where Akash, her brother was also enrolled. With the team’s support, Dharshika was admitted to the hostel. Both siblings thrived in their new environment, supported by caring staff and a nurturing community.
Through diligent tracking, community involvement, and effective intervention, Dharshika was not only back to studies but also found a stable, supportive educational environment, ensuring her continued progress and well-being.
One of the key problems of Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu is the high number of child laborers. The reasons being, lack of livelihood opportunities, indebtedness, door pick up for child laborers working in salt pans and seafood processing units, no access to schools, increasing private schools, etc. In addition to it, high cost for transport adds on to the severity of the problem that children and communities face.
CRY America’s Project RWDS works towards focusing engagement in ensuring increased retention of school going children from 70% to 80% and ensuring physical access to schools, infrastructure & quality within schools & ICDS centers, increasing child participation. The key activities under the project are supporting groups formed in all 52 villages comprising community volunteers, AWW, local youth and panchayat members, ensuring regular administration of immunization, initiating supplementary classes in 5 villages.
1187
children transitioned to the next grade
11
dropouts re-enrolled in school
41
children attended Supplementary classes
7
Child Labor removed from labor and re-enrolled
78
Adolescent Girls Collective meetings held where 566 participated
28
Adolescent Boys Collective meetings held where 173 participated
252
children cleared their 10th grade exams
215
children cleared their 12th grade exams
● Ensuring 10th and 12th grade students to re-appear for exams this year and pass
● Enrolling 14 dropout children in their respective classes
● Removing 20 Children from labor and mainstreaming them in formal education
● Conducting Stakeholder Training for Village Child Protection Committee & School Management Committee members
● Rolling out of Year 3 Life Skills Modules across all the children and adolescent collectives.
● Implementing Parents Modules among at least 100 parents
● Ensuring Gram Panchayat sanctioned infrastructure like separate toilets for girls, school compound, anganwadi renovation etc. in 10 schools
