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Rajbeer Singh teenage boy born to a deprived family. He came to Delhi and took to washing cars in return of food and shelter. He very well knew that education would always be a luxury for a boy like him though he would often dream about going to school watching his employer’s children during school time. Rajbeer’s kind hearted employer helped him initially before one of Smile projects in Delhi identified him. He was enrolled into Smile Twin e-Learning Projects (STeP) and in December 2007 Westside store recruited him from the Smile project. Now he earns his livelihood with dignity.
Rajbeer bagged the ‘Employee of the Week’ award twice within just two months of joining the company because of his hard work and honesty, beating his colleagues from relatively well off background.
Every day hundreds of starry eyed poor people from villages of India, oblivious of the perils that they may have to face in city of their dreams, land up in big cities along with their families in search of greener pastures. Majority of them however end up doing menial jobs ranging from daily wage labour to domestic servant to selling newspapers on the pavements. Some unfortunate ones even end up begging on the streets. Paucity of money due to lack of suitable employment then forces these poor people to push their children into work where these innocent little ones end up being sexually exploited, employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work. Many run away and find a life on the streets. Approximately 17 million children in India are employed as child labour as a result. Some courageous ones however have it in them to swim against the tide and change the course of their destiny. Smile Foundation a national level development organisation working with grassroots initiatives for the education and health of underprivileged children in 21 states of India has always encouraged and provided support to such individuals through its various projects. Rajbeer Singh is one such adolescent who was eking out a meagre existence by washing and cleaning in lieu of food and stay. His longing for education made his kind hearted employer to put him in a government run school. Rajbeer would clean up his employers house in the morning, go to school in the afternoon, wash utensils and clothes in the evening after coming back from the school and burn midnight oil at night for studying. He followed this tough schedule for 12 long years and managed to pass 12th class examination. Having taken a big leap, the next obvious step for young Rajveer now was to change the course of his life for better. As luck would have it, Rajbeer came to know about Smile Twin e-Learning Projects (STeP) aimed to provide marketable skills to unemployed underprivileged youth across the country. He promptly got enrolled in one of the STeP centres run by Smile Foundation in Delhi. His never say die attitude and a strong desire to excel got him instant recognition by the faculty of the centre. Rajbeer toiled hard to learn English, computer skills, personality development, retails etc. The faculty at the STeP centre also worked diligently on his personality to groom him into a presentable young man. Rajbeer after the completion of training got placed in one of the leading retail store called Westside Stores. Rajbeer in less than two months of service at Westside stores has bagged ‘Employee of the Week’ award twice. We thank Rajbeer to set an example and reciprocating
to Smile’s efforts in transforming lives of needy children and
youth; and thus playing a role in nation building! |
Rajbeer : A Story of
Education leading to Living with Dignity
