Sushmita Das, (Kolkata)

Sushmita Das is a 5 year old child staying in the Chinamandir community with her family. Her father, Sri. Samar das is a mason and the only earning member in the family. Her mother, Smt. Sati Das is a housewife. Sushmita has another 2 sisters in the family and she is the second among the siblings.

The family has been staying in the Chinamandir community for past 5 years after being evicted from another slum of Kolkata. After eviction, they have till date not been allotted any quarter by the government and so the family has been staying in a kutcha house in the camp area of the community. The condition of the house is very bad as the income of Rs. 3500/- is not sufficient to meet even the basic needs of the family. It is also quiet difficult for the child’s mother to work outside as her youngest daughter is only 1 year old.

Sushmita’s mother was very happy to know about GIDF’s Early Childhood Development Programme. She was quite satisfied during the discussion with the educator that Sushmita could become one of the beneficiaries. She was explained the objective of the programme and Sushmita finally got enrolled on 3rd January’2011 in the ECD programme of Chinamandir. Sushmita’s mother expressed that she wanted her child to get enrolled in the formal school in 2012 and so requested the educator to prepare her for that.

The child was one of the regular children in the centre. Everyday her mother used to drop her in the centre and frequently took feedback about her child’s behavior and performance. Sushmita was a very quiet girl. She would talk only when she was asked about something. She used to speak very softly and in a musical tone. She had an unusual way of speaking which was liked by the all.

Gradually, she started to socialize and made friendship with the other children in the centre. She was also very focused in lesson learning sessions. While attending the GIDF programme regularly showed improvement and showed satisfactory improvements towards the objective of formal school enrollment.

Till the month of August’11, Sushmita remained very regular but after that, she suddenly fell ill and her mother reported that she would not be able to attend the programme for few days. She turned up for the quarterly health check up once as she was shifted to her native village for her illness. Her parents were also not able to bear the expenses of her treatment.

The educator could not get any details of her sickness as her parents could not show any prescription or medical reports. In the meantime, her mother requested the educator to keep her name in the attendance register as she was soon going to join back.

In the month of December’11, Sushmita came to the centre again. But after staying in the centre for sometime, she would complain of sickness and was sent back home with her mother or caregiver. Sometimes, she became so sick that she would start vomiting. Sushmita became irregular again.

The educator spoke to her mother to defer the mainstreaming plans as the child was not doing well. But her mother insisted for her enrollment as it would be difficult for them to arrange the admission fees in 2013.

Sushmita has been mainstreamed in the Adarsha Nagar Vidyalaya in Std. – I in the month of January’12. It is still uncertain if Sushmita will be a regular student in the school. We wish her all the best for her future and hope to continue our support for the child. We also wish that she recovers soon and leads a normal life like the other children.