Nav-Jeevan

Newsletter July 2019

Exams

It was again a successful year for Dr. T. S. Wilkinson memorial High school and Junior College. All exam candidates passed. Congratulations to all.

Graduated for class 12 Junior College Commerce

Anil Yadav (12 comm Eng)

Charulata Madankar (12 comm Eng)

Shubanghi Choudhar (12 comm Hin)

Saloni Dhurve (12 comm Hin)

Graduated for class 10 High School

Nitin Rabde (10 Hin)

Swati Khobragade, (10 Eng)

Ashish Kumar (10 Eng)

Deepak Martin (10 Eng)

Muskan Ansari (10 Hin)

Sagar Dongre (10 Hin)

Durgesh Kangle (10 Hin)

Aneeta Patel recently asked me to write an article for the school newspaper about my experiences with Nav-Jeevan. Because this gives a nice picture of the history of Nav-Jeevan, I would like to share this with you.

My experience with Nav-Jeevan, by Annelies van de Ven

My name is Annelies van de Ven. We have a son Paul (39) and two adopted daughters, Swatee (38) and Maya (37), from Nagpur. In1997 Tom and I, together with the children, made our first roots trip to India.

We travelled around the north of India and visited the orphanage of our daughters Shishu Sangopan Griha in Nagpur, which was not an orphanage anymore but a day care centre. We also met Iris Wilkinson and Aneeta Patel. Swatee and Maya were touched to be back on their birth ground. This is where our love for Nagpur started.

In 1998 we travelled again to India. We visited Orissa, Kerala and the south and of course in the end we travelled to Nagpur again. With the help of George Verghese, Nitin Totewar and Najib Khan from Siti Cable, we succeeded in finding Maya’s mother and five half-brothers. This was a very emotional moment. We still have a very good contact and visit them every year when we are in Nagpur.
In 1999 we came again to Nagpur hoping we could find Swatees birth-mother too, but up till now without success.

During my travels through India I saw the poverty. I couldn't forget the images and felt I had to do something. So the idea arose to start a project for the very poor in Nagpur.

In 2002 the owner of our company told that he intended to participate in a project. He wanted to double every euro his employees donated. I thought: “this is the chance to start a project in Nagpur”. So we travelled again to Nagpur to talk with some people and see if there were good ideas. Iris Wilkinson, who is a very inspiring woman, was the most enthusiastic and came with the idea to start a project for street children from the slums of Nagpur. In November 2002 the Dutch foundation Nav-Jeevan was born and in January 2003 Nav Jeevan Sanstha in Nagpur.
The idea was that the Dutch foundation would collect money and Nav Jeevan Sanstha would take care of the implementation of the project. This is how it started and how it is still working.

We started with about 10 children in a hired apartment. One cannot resist loving these children, may be ill-clad, lice-ridden hair, filthy hands but they are like all other children with the same likes and dislikes, hopes and ambitions.
They want to be loved and appreciated. They have a keen sense of independence and do not allow anyone, even us, encroach on their freedom. Boundaries of caste, culture, religion or even wealth do not prejudice their preferences.
They are truly nature's children, unfortunately where they live, no trace of nature, unless you take into account their shacks open to the skies and vagaries of elements.
To be with these children, one gets a deep sense of peace. The conflicts of life seem insignificant, their happiness, laughter and hope for a better life, is catching. They have had everything in life going against them, if anybody, they are the ones who need a chance in life.

But the number of children was growing fast. So we bought a piece of land and started too built a school and hostel. Unfortunately the hostel came too late for a few children like Bebe, Hemant and Mangal. They were used to chewing tobacco, stealing and begging for too long. I was very fond of these children. With pain in my heart we had to let them go.

Bebe was 6 years when he came to us, together with his brother Bantu. Always running, jumping or somersaulting. One of the social workers discovered he had a small wad of tobacco tucked in his chin, his badly stained teeth betrayed him. It seems quite a common habit among the Muslim children, they all know why tobacco is dangerous but still do it.

Mangal was 5 years when he came to us, together with his brother Sunny. They had no parents. Mangals head was infested with lice, his head had to be shaved but not too close otherwise the skin would peel off. When the skin healed then only anti-lice shampoo could be used.

After a marital fight the mother of Hemant (5) and his sister Renuka (8) and brother Rajkumar (11) was poured with kerosene and burnt to death. The father had a new wife with three sons. The stepmother and her sons beat Renuka. She and her little brother Hemant then fled to one of the neighbours. But Hemant stole something so he was driven out. He then slept in an old school building and along with Mangal and Sunny kept running around and begged when hungry.

On November the 13th 2005 was the inauguration of the new school and hostel for street children from the slums of Nagpur. The children practised for months their songs, dances and play lets. Parents, workers, volunteers, family and friends were present. It was a never to be forgotten day. We also purchased a school bus.

Over the years a lot has changed and we have had to face many problems.

In October 2013 the school was given recognition for high school (up till class 10). It was a process which took years to get this recognition.
In 2015 the school was given recognition for junior college (up to class 12).
I am looking back with great pleasure to the school trips and picnics we made with the children. They had so much joy and we loved to accompany them.

We are very attached to the children who have nobody to go during the holidays. We take them out when the others are going home. These six children are with us for such a long time. We love them and hope we can take the place of their parents in the short time we are in Nagpur every year.

In 2019 we have grown into a school with more than 500 students, 220 of them are staying in the hostel.

• In January 2003: accommodating 10 children
• November 2005: 40 children at school in the new building
• School year 2008 - 2009: 220 children at school, 60 of them in the hostel
• School year 2011 - 2012: 243 children at school, 121 of them in the hostel
• School year 2015 - 2016: 345 children at school, 250 of them in the hostel
• School year 2018 – 2019: 420 children at school, 220 of them in the hostel
• Start schoolyear 2019 more than 500 children, more than 200 of them in the hostel

Feeding so many mouths was not an easy job. It was a heavy burden that rested on my shoulders. So we were very happy when the tribal project started in 2015 and also Tech Mahindra started to sponsor. This meant NJS was no longer solely dependent on donations from the Netherlands.

We were very happy that so many came in October to the reunion. When we started in 2003 we would never believe that we would grow so much. We are proud to see how the children have grown into beautiful young adults. Most of them did junior college and a few even college. Others did a course and have nice jobs now. Some of the girls are married and have children.
And that is why we started this project. To create new chances through education. Chances to learn to read and write and grow into the persons they are now. Some of them were with us for only a short time but most of them were with us for many years.

We loved to see the change they have gone through and hope they have the same good memories off their time at Nav Jeevan as we have.

I would like to thank Iris, Aneeta, Vicky, Dhun, Manju, Noel, Reshim, the teachers, the librarian, the wardens, the kitchen staff, the servants, the cleaners, the clerk, the drivers and the security guards for their dedication to the work with the children. They together make Nav Jeevan a safe and pleasant place for the children to live.

We welcome Miriam en Hans van der Sloot as new active members for Nav-Jeevan. They will be involved in, among other things, the recruitment of schools and companies.

With the grow of the number of children the needs are also growing. Last month we realised the last project up to now, the purchase of a new school bus. The old bus, which was now 14 years old and transported groups of children several times a day, was completely used up.

We now have a shortage of classrooms. In addition, the Education Inspectorate requires that school and hostel be separated and a separate boys 'and girls' hostel is built. What needs to happen now is to find 2 plots of land near the school where we can build two hostels. We do not yet have an exact budget but it is clear that a lot of money will be needed for this. That is why we ask you to bring the project to the attention of your family, friends and acquaintances and to ask them to become donors.
You may also be able to approach your child's school or ask a company that you know to contribute.

If you know someone who will soon have an anniversary, ask him / her to ask for a donation to Nav Jeevan instead of gifts. Or maybe it's your birthday soon and you're thinking of doing the same. If you need a nice collection box for this occasion, with photos of Nav-Jeevan, please let me know and I will make sure that it comes your way.

If you make a donation that is specifically intended for the hostel, please state this separately.

On behalf of the 500 children and employees of Nav Jeevan, we thank you very much for your support.