Mobile Creches

This is another blog that is best said through a lot of pictures.  So, I will use the pictures to tell this story.  Some of them may be sad, so use that as a warning.

These buildings hold apartments that sell for about $750,000.  Do you ever wonder where the construction workers who build these live?

In India the workers and their families live close to the site in camps that the construction companies provide.

 These camps are often near standing water.  The hot humid conditions make these the perfect breeding grounds for malaria carrying mosquitoes.

They can also be near untreated sewage drainage such as this.

A surprising number of women work construction.  This could be because the family needs a second income, or because her husband is an alcoholic and can't function at his job.  If the whole family lives in these camps, and the parents have to work, what do the children do?  Do they go to school?

The answers is no, unless someone steps in.  Mobile Creches is an organization that has stepped in to provide care for children ages 0-14 (with a focus on 0-6).  They first and foremost try to get the often malnourished back to good health, but also provide education for the children that are able to attend.

Mobile Creches begin by working with the construction company and asking for a space in or near the camp to set up a facility.  These conditions aren't ideal.

This is the space of the mobile creche we visited.  It is in a partially dilapidated building, no running water, no electricity, and very little furnishings.

The children attending come from very poor families.  They often can't afford proper clothes.

They are also often malnourished.  The light color in this girl's hair is evidence that she is not getting adequate nutrients.

  At the school, there is no way to control the insects.  This one year old naps with flies crawling all over his face, even blocking is nostrils. 

Even in these conditions, there is learning...

laughter...

and love.

Mobile creches has a vision:  A just and caring world for young children of marginalized and mobile populations to enable them to develop into competent and confident individuals. 

Mobile Creches had reached out to approximately 700,000 construction children.  However, that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.  There is an estimated 60 million construction children who currently have no where to go while their parents work.

It only costs around $16,000 to fully run a center for 50 children for one year.  Many construction jobs only last that length of time.  This covers nutrition, medicine, check-ups, and education.  I wish every American company with construction/development ties in India that sets aside funds for corporate social responsibility would sponsor a center.

As individuals, we can also help.  Visit http://mobilecreches.org/ to learn how.