EDUCATION PROJECTS

Project "Pick Up School"
“The Unforgotten” is undertaking Project “Pick Up School!” to educate                                                          
children whose families earn a living by sorting through trash, in                                                                      
Pune, India.  MEET OUR KIDS!

  • These children, in order to contribute to their family’s income,                                                         
    were previously unable to attend school, and instead helped                                                             
    their parents earn a living by picking up trash.  The aim of this                                                        
    project is to enable a few children to “pick up school” instead                                                                 
    of “picking up trash”.

  • In this project, an incentive stipend ($15 US per month) is being provided to (primary school age)
    children, so that their families do not experience a loss in income on account of sending their
    children to school.  

  • We are coordinating with Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat to identify students for this
    project (KKPKP is an organization of persons involved in collection and segregation of garbage
    that works to improve their living and working conditions).  

  • The children selected to participate in this project are less than 10 years                                              
    of age, and in danger of not completing primary school because of                                            
    financial pressure.  We are selecting students that are not in school                                                      
    because of one or more of the following reasons:

                - they have to work to contribute to their family’s income/livelihood
                - they have health issues
                - the distance between their home and school
                - they have to care for younger siblings
                - they cannot afford to buy school material

  • We are targeting those children that have a record of prolonged absences from school.  We are
    identifying students who exhibit a desire to learn in a formal school setting, but are unable to do
    so because of financial constraints or lack of family support for education.

  • The stipend that we provide each student is applied towards their specific needs.  The funds are
    used for educational material, extra tutoring, medical treatment, transportation, and expenses for
    special schooling (for those that are physically/mentally handicapped).

  • We are working with their parents and extended families to help them see the value of investing
    in their children’s education.  

  • We are also working closely with area public schools, to see that these children are given the
    attention they require.

  • This project contributes to the global effort towards realizing the UN’s Millennium Development
    Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015.

  • Because this project targets an extremely impoverished community, helping the children of this
    community will also contribute towards the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme
    poverty (halving by 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 per day).
Education
Projects

Special thanks to our Education Advisor,     
Dr. Anita Pandey.    
The UNForgotten Fund
Shobha Raju Sathe.  Ms. Sathe is one
of the wastepickers whose child we
are sponsoring.  She is at work here
in Bibwewadi.
Maitreyi Shankar (left) is our project
manager for "Project Pick Up School".  
Poornima Chikarmane (right) is head
of KKPKP Pune.
Ms. Sathe with her son Shubham at
their home in Chaitraban.  Shubham is
one of the children we are
sponsoring.  Amit Kapadia seated left.
Welcome at Maher, Vadu Budruk
(Shirur Taluka, just outside Pune
City).  Maher is a boarding school.
Sponsored children Sushant and
Shubham Lokhande at Maher
Welcome by Maher students.
Dining hall at Maharshi Karve Stree
Shikshan Sansthan, Hingane
Going to a meeting with wastepickers
in the slums of "Patil Estate"
Balaji (sponsored child), Bhama
bai and Pallavi, Balaji’s little sister.
Sushant and Shubham Lokhande at
Maher with social worker Tina.
Meeting with wastepickers in the
slums of "Patil Estate"
Boarding school: Maharshi Karve
Stree Shikshan Sansthan,
Hingane, Pune
Suman Lala Chavan, Sonali, Monica
and social worker Avinash at
Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan
Sansthan, Hingane.  The sponsored
sisters are enrolled here.