Family 6 (2021/22)

This is a family of 5 children, i.e. 3 boys aged 17, 16 and 3, and 2 girls aged 12 and 6. They live with both their parents. The father (41) is the sole breadwinner and earns a meagre income through daily wage work. They are living in a small house made by themselves with old sarees and very neatly maintained by the mother (35). In fact, it was their self-made house – which in fact would have passed as an ‘eco lodge’ in a different context – that impressed us and prompted us to select this family for the current project. Because we saw in them as well as the children some latent talents that can be harnessed, and the potential to grow.

The eldest child who is now 18 is working at a shop as a sales assistant while the other children (except the youngest) are schooling. Their educational performance is average and they lack interest in schooling due to a lack of exposure, hope and aspiration. In other words, attending school is just another ‘task’ that contains no meaning for them in an environment that gives them no inspiration or motivation. However, detecting some creative capacities in the children as well as the parents, we are making an attempt to help them engage in a livelihood activity utilizing these talents, for an extra income.