Navjeevan Center and Smile Foundation have come together to provide Education and Vocational Training to destitute children in rural Maharashtra. The beneficiaries, boys and girls between 3 to 18 years, are mostly children of commercial sex workers (CSW).

The project is established at Navjoythi School & Vocational Training Centre at ‘Navjeevan Village’ in Khapri, Murbad Taluka (about 56 km from Kalyan) in Thane district of Maharashtra. Navjeevan Village is in fact a residential rehabilitation home for underprivileged children and destitute women.

The initiative aims to bring life skills and dignity to the most deserving children, which has also received appreciation from the local communities.

About the Project

The project caters to the most needy children with the defined criteria from the nearby villages and mostly from the Kamattipura red light area.

The project is based in ‘Navjeevan Village’ that provides residential facilities to the boys and girls from the deserving section of the society. The school was established in June 2002 to provide formal education to children of Navjeevan Village (they are children of commercial sexual workers) and for children in nearby villages. The school has classes from 1st to 10th std. Presently there are 300 children studying in this school.

The total of 275 beneficiaries comprises of 165 identified children directly from ‘Navjeevan Village’ and 100 children from nearby villages.

Vocational Training

It is a training centre to train the school going children as well as adolescents from nearby villages in job oriented skills. Children studying in the school are provided with training as an additional subject. Children having completed their 10th class will be given full time training in job oriented skills. Vocational training is offered, as an additional subject for students studying in class VI – IX, at Navjoythi School. These children have to opt for 1 or 2 skill areas as part of their academic requirement. The students, who complete studies till 10th and are not interested in continuing their formal education further, are given a full time intensive training in the trade of their interest. The project also aims to motivate and counsel the commercial sex workers to take up skill training too.

These vocational skills training include subjects like Carpentry, Plumbing, Electrical work, Leather work, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Mechanic, Beautician course, Tailoring & Embroidery and Baking.

The beneficiaries of the project include boys and girls between 3 to 18 years of Navjoythi School and the Vocational Training Centre. These children are from nearby villages of the project area and are related to commercial sexual workers, staying in Navjeevan Village.

About Partner

Navjeevan Center is a venture of Mar Thoma Church (a Christian denomination from Kerala) founded in 1994 by few committed volunteers. The Trust was initiated with the aim of reaching out to the CSWs, to motivate and support them to give up their demeaning occupation and work towards integrating them with the mainstream society.

Navjeevan Center, mainly works for human dignity, equal opportunity and social justice with an intention to promote the causes to ensure a dignified life for the underprivileged people.

Navjeevan Center is presently undertaking various programmes:

Special Focus of the Initiative