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Vashi2Panvel: Navi Mumbai: September13: Urban India is standing at the threshold of a modern and progressive society. But in its shadow lie its poor, uneducated and disease-ridden brethren who live in temporary shanties that line the roads of urban glitz. For a living, the members of this community try their hand at anything that would fetch them a little money and a few comforts. From working in construction sites to rag picking, bootlegging, boot-polishing or just begging. There are many God Samaritans out there who are trying to bring about a qualitative change in their lives. Navi Mumbai based non-governmental organization Aarambh is one. It works towards the empowerment of slum dwellers. This is their story.

History and Mission
Shobha Murthy laid the foundation of Aarambh in 1996 with the objective of providing education and psychological support to the less fortunate children residing in the city. It took off with one center consisting 70 children, which has gone up to more than 1200 children in ten community centers. “We have recognized illiteracy as the prime culprit for almost all the problems that crop up in slum areas. Therefore we are endeavoring to impart education among the slum inhabitants to eradicate illiteracy.” The mission of Aarambh is to “Catalyze social and economic change in urban slum communities with focus on the rights of underprivileged children and empowerment of women”

Activities
Keeping its mission in mind Aarambh is conducting numerous educational, social and cultural activities on regular basis. It organizes various programs related to the enrollment of children in school, who have dropped out of school for various reasons; it also encourages awareness camps in city’s slum zones to eliminate child labour.

Apart from this it is also conducting vocational skill training programs in screen-printing, paper products, computer courses along with generating sponsorships for needy students to pursue higher studies. It also conducts various events in order to inculcate leadership skills in children.

There are many people working with Aarambh in addition with staff workers. Forty-five year-old Kaushalya is one such volunteer, who is encouraging many women from the backward areas to attend literacy classes of Aarambh. She also teaches sewing, embroidery, and other skills to women at the Aarambh’s center to help them in earning a decent living.

Future Plans
Aarambh plans to expand its program including educational, vocational skills, health and social awareness events in the near future It also aims to enlarge its children support system, from few hundreds to 5000 children.

For more information contact Shobha Murthy- 9820616940.

Preeti Gupta