Kolkata, India

OHFI’s work in Kolkata began in 2010 through the devel­op­ment of Open Home Foun­da­tion Mercy Min­istry Kolkata.

Home — Our Part­ners — Kolkata, India

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The living conditions for the families in these slums is extreme, and is at best subsistence. Most parents have insufficient money, knowledge and skills to provide the basic needs for their children. 

Gen­er­ally, these people are the poorest of the poor in India. As a result, the chil­dren are often abused and forced to work to earn money (e.g., by col­lect­ing bottles or papers for recy­cling), or forced to fetch water, watch over younger sib­lings and attend to sick members of their family. The chil­dren can become victims of child labour, do not receive edu­ca­tion, and often are forced into early mar­riage, or worse, are subject to sale by child traffickers.

OHFI’s work in Kolkata is run by Lun Misao (himself a grad­u­ate of PMA College in Manipur), his wife Ngaich­ing, and his team of six social workers and teach­ers. The work is focused on four slum com­mu­ni­ties of Kolkata: Sapui Para, Basanti, Dum Dum and Durgar Nargar Cantonment.

OHFI Kolkata supports: 

  • Tuition Centres where the chil­dren of impov­er­ished fam­i­lies can come and receive edu­ca­tion in a safe place.
  • Com­mu­nity empow­er­ment and sus­tain­abil­ity pro­grammes, includ­ing skills train­ing in adult lit­er­acy and tailoring.
  • Home visits and social work support.
  • Train­ing of com­mu­nity workers and leaders in com­mu­nity devel­op­ment and the care and pro­tec­tion of children.
  • Edu­ca­tional oppor­tu­ni­ties for children.
  • Adult edu­ca­tion in life and work skills.
  • Monthly medical clinics, preg­nancy, and under 5’s health care.
  • A basic tiffin meal for the chil­dren five days per week, at each of the tuition centres.
  • Pro­tec­tion of chil­dren from exploita­tion, child labour, traf­fick­ing and child marriages.
  • Covid-19 relief (food and hygiene packs).

Current Projects:

Sewing Skills Training

This train­ing pro­gramme helps the parents of chil­dren attend­ing the tuition centre to learn a new skill: sewing. This will reduce reliance on labour­ing or clean­ing — work which is often erratic and dan­ger­ous — and will facil­i­tate family self-sustainability.

Addi­tional sewing machines, fabric and other mate­ri­als, and payment for a tutor are all current needs. 

Tajin’s Story

Tajin is 9 months old, and lives with his family in the slums of Kolata. His father is a rick­shaw puller. Due to Covid-19, there is reduced call for father’s services .

Read Story

Women’s Microenterprise Development

This project will provide train­ing to small peer groups and support them through the process of devel­op­ing microen­ter­prises. Small busi­nesses such as these are vital for cre­at­ing ongoing sus­tain­able com­mu­ni­ties. They enable women to develop skills which they can in turn teach their chil­dren and wider com­mu­nity; and they allow com­mu­ni­ties the oppor­tu­nity for finan­cial inde­pen­dence, better health, and edu­ca­tional possibilities.

Ratna’s Story

All the parents were crying, and we heard that they would have to send some of us away to another place where there are jobs for children. 
Read Story

Give to OHFI work in Kolkata, India

Your dona­tion to OHFI’s work in Kolkata is deeply appre­ci­ated. Our work spans: Kolkata Sewing Train­ing, in which your dona­tion can help fund sewing machines, fabric, and a tutor, to provide vital voca­tional train­ing; and Kolkata Women’s Microen­ter­prise, in which your dona­tion can provide train­ing and support for new microen­ter­prise ventures.
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