Nav-Jeevan

Annual Report 2024

2024 has been a year in which we struggled to keep our heads above water. We had to deal with rising prices and falling revenues and had to be creative in cost savings. Nevertheless, we have managed to provide a roof over the heads of the children in Nagpur and good education.

We have been around for 22 years now and have achieved a lot in that time. We expected that the dependence on Dutch donations would decrease over time. That is still not working sufficiently.

We have had extensive discussions with our Indian colleagues about what to do about this. We came up with the solution of renting out the school in the evenings. A suitable option for this is currently being sought.

We are also investigating whether it is possible to join a large school that is recognized by the CBSE as an annex. We think we have a lot to offer such a school: students, buildings, infrastructure, teachers, more than 20 years of experience, network, etc.

The application for the Junior College was rejected because we are classified as part of the rural area and no longer belong to the municipality. There are additional requirements for this area. We do not meet one of these requirements, namely that we must have 1 acre of playing ground. This costs at least 100,000 euros. This amount is not affordable.

We also discussed admitting a number of paying children. Although this is not our preference, we think that we will not get away from it in the long run.

ZEENAT
It's hard to believe that Nav-Jeevan Sanstha has been around for 22 years now. We have grown up, but unfortunately we are still not standing on our own two feet - this is because we have remained true to our founding ideals over the years - helping the children of the poorest without it costing them anything! In fact, we wouldn't be here today without the generous support and donations of the Nav-Jeevan Foundation, Netherlands.

Over the years we have seen many children pass by us, some successful and some less successful. Pramila Parteki is an example of the latter. She was a student at our school from 2003 to 2008 when she unexpectedly dropped out. This is probably because she became pregnant. She and her mother lived under a fabric shelter that stood against a wall opposite the governor's imposing mansion.

She became charmed with a fruit vendor named Ajju Sheikh who ran a stall near her home. Presumably she married him and changed her name to Parveen. She had a son named Aftab Sheikh on 22/06/2015. Unfortunately, she couldn't take care of her baby and left her baby with her mother.

However, she soon parted ways with Aiju Sheikh due to disputes with his first wife and returned to her mother. But then another man came into her life - Salman Khan - another fruit seller near her cabin and she gave birth to Zeenat on 26/11/2018. She also left the care of this baby to her mother. But Salman lost his fruit stand and would torture her, so Pramila had to leave him and go back to her mother.

Her last meeting, as we know it, was with Yogesh Thakur, a bettor whose daily bet yielded Rs.300 (= 3.40 euros) per day. But he only worked 10 to 15 days a month. To increase the family income, she started working as a cleaner and earned Rs.2000 – (= 23 euros per month). She gave birth to Pratap Singh Thakur on 26/06/2023.

We know exactly what the birth dates of all three children are because her now elderly mother, who could not financially support Pramila's three children, brought them to us to take care of them. By this time, Nav-Jeevan had opened a hostel, so we could allow the older two children into the hostel, while Pratap commuted to the school daily on our school bus.

This was one of the many reasons that we as an organization wanted to start a hostel so badly. The idea behind this was that unless you took the child out of the slum and showed them that there was another way of life, you would never succeed in removing the slum from them. This is why we probably lost Pramila in the first place.

Pratap is now in class 2, Zeenat is in class KG1 and Pratap is in the Pre-Primary. All three are pretty good at their studies, but Zeenat is exceptional. She had no trouble adjusting to her new environment and quickly became friends with her classmates and others. She is truly an exceptional child - very polite and obedient. This reminds me (eerily) a lot of Pramila when she was with us. The grandmother is now too old and too weak and visits them intermittently. There is no trace of their mother and they stay with us all year round – including holidays. We try to make them feel wanted and important as much as possible.

I often think that, perhaps because we were able to save these three children in time enough, they will have a chance in the future that has nothing to do with the slums, unlike their mother.

Ruzal Kasare is another child we recently rescued. Ruzal was born on 16/02/2017 and was just 6 years old when she came to us. Her story is equally sad. She lost her mother a few years ago. Her father became severely mentally depressed after the loss of his wife. Due to the heavy physical work, he became paralyzed and could no longer work. He gave his daughter to his sister who took care of her for about a year. But with the burden of caring for her family of 6 or 7 members and for her paralyzed brother, she was unable to take on the added responsibility of caring for her niece. She brought the child to us and we have been taking care of the little girl ever since. Today she studies in class 2 and is a good student.

When we first started, the folks at Nav-Jeevan Sanstha and Dr.T.S. Wilkinson High School said to us, "Why are you taking on this huge financial responsibility?" They suggested that we just take a room in slums and just give our lessons there. But we knew that if we didn't get these kids out of the slums, we would constantly have cases like Pramila – a smart girl who couldn't ignore the temptations of the slums.

Aftab Sheikh

Zeenat Khan

Pratap Thakur

Aftab Sheikh

Ruzal Kasare

Zeenath Khan

Today, we struggle with the ever-rising cost of living, but we are proud of what we have achieved. We had three girls go to nursing school - all orphans. All three now have prestigious jobs in leading hospitals. Another is following her second year at nursing school.

Simran Shrivas won an award as the hospital's best nurse last year.

One of our guys who has been with us since he was four years old works in the HR department of a large manufacturing company in Nagpur. We have placed many others in leading colleges that will one day take their place in the workforce far away from the seedy slums of India.

We were delighted to welcome 4 children of our former students Tina and Aarti Kathote this year. They, like their mothers, come from the Raj Nagar slum. Aarti and Tina lived in the hostel from 2004 to 2015. They were both good students. Unfortunately, they left school shortly before their high school exams. We hope that their children will obtain the diploma.

All of Raj Nagar's 4 students listed below were mischievous, undisciplined, and weak in their studies, when they came to school in the month of July. Under the guidance of the teachers, they have shown improvement in their behavior and studies. They now understand what teachers teach, they finish their classwork and also do their homework and now come to school properly. Parents regularly ask about their children's performance with the teachers and attend parent-teacher meetings and are very happy with the efforts of the teachers and the improvement of their children's performance.

Yash Sachin Gawande
Class 1
Date of Birth - 04/12/2017
Mother - Tina Sachin Gawande (huisvrouw)
Father - Sachin Gawande (arbeider)

Piyush Sachin Gawande
Class 1
Date of Birth - 13/10/2016
Mother - Tina Sachin Gawande (huisvrouw)
Father - Sachin Gawande (arbeider)

Ananya Gautam Gawande
Class 1
Date of Birth - 30/05/2017
Mother - Arti Gautam Gawande (huishoudelijke hulp)
Father - Gautam Gawande (arbeider)

Siddhant Gautam Gawande
Class 2
Date of Birth - 14/04/2016
Mother - Arti Gautam Gawande (huishoudelijke hulp)
Father - Gautam Gawande (arbeider)

Arti Kathote in 2006

Tina Kathote in 2006

Financial Statement stichting Nav-Jeevan 2024 (in euro)

On behalf of the children and staff of Nav Jeevan Sanstha, we would like to thank you and in particular the above foundations, companies and funds for their contributions to the child-related costs in 2024.

We hope that 2025 will be as successful as 2024.