A happy childhood

Impact Story from India: Education

Khushi and Manisha have real prospects for the future. The help alliance project in New Delhi gives them a school education and the chance for a better life.

Laughing, playing and just being a child – this childhood, which is normal to many, was once unimaginable for Khushi. Growing up in a shack without running water in one of New Delhi’s 700 slums, the 13-year-old lives in extreme poverty. She is like many children here, who suffer from malnutrition and diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Many are also the victims of violence or abuse. In India, children need a registered residence to attend school. Without education, they have no chance of getting a job, and ultimately can never escape a life of poverty. Begging is often the only way they can contribute to their family’s income. Even 18-year-old Manisha knows what it means to have no future. Although the legal age of marriage in India is 18, girls are often married off younger than that and considered inferior in many social classes. One day, Manisha heard about the Sunshine Project – schooling and a happy childhood for slum children. The Sunshine Project enrolls children in school and provides them with the necessities: clothing, school supplies and tutoring. In addition to counseling, they 2425also receive food and medical care. Khushi is proud to be a Sunshine child.“If I didn’t have the support, I would have to work as a garbage collector, shoe shiner or beggar to support my family, like many my age.”

A self-determined and independent life

For more than 15 years, Kuku the tailor and his wife Priti have been taking care of 267 children and young adults between the ages of 6 and 22. The couple registered the project’s address as many of these children’s residence, so that they could attend school. The children come to the project every day before or after school to study. It is like one large family for all of them. In the evening, they all gather for dinner. The older ones help the younger ones. Since many children do not know their birthdays, they all celebrate one big birthday together every year on August 24. help alliance is the most important partner of the Sunshine Project. The financial support it provides is used to buy the necessary school supplies and finance sports activities and excursions for the children.“It’s great. I can go to school like the other kids and play with my friends,” Khushi says. For project coordinator and former Lufthansa flight attendant Julia Hillebrecht, the Sunshine Project is a matter close to her heart. She receives active support from Lufthansa flight attendant Anke Walther.“We want to give needy children a happy childhood and offer them a real chance in life through education.” The project has proven to be a massive success: Some former students have successfully graduated from university, for example. The project also takes a sustainable approach – those who finish the project subsequently look after and support two younger disadvantaged children. Manisha, too, now sees a future for herself:“With the help of the Sunshine Project, I can complete my high school diploma and thus lead a self-determined, as well as independent, life.”

Then came Corona

Then, when the coronavirus pandemic reached India in 2020 and endangered the support of the children, the project quickly responded to the new situation. At first, the Indian authorities closed the project for sev-eral months, during which the children could not use the premises. At that time, project officials provided the children and their families with the essentials: food, clean drinking water, soap, disinfectants and medicine. In the dead of night, Kuku sewed hundreds of cloth masks for the children. Sometime later, they remodeled the space, dividing tables and adding Plexiglas panels to make individual seating possible so that the children could return. “The Sunshine Project has helped us a lot in lockdown. They gave me a notebook so that I could continue to attend classes online,” Khushi reports. While everyone is affected by the Corona crisis, the poorest of the poor are certainly affected the most. Manisha recounts the impact on her situation: “The Corona pandemic was very hard on me and my family; my father lost his job. Thanks to the Sunshine Project, I was able to continue attending school with a tablet. I am very happy to be able to keep learning.” Despite 2020 being the most difficult year for the Sunshine Project since its founding, Julia Hillebrecht is relieved that the measures worked and not a single child fell ill with Corona. Khushi and Manisha’s developments give her strength: “Watching the children escape from misery through education and love makes me proud and is a daily incentive.” Khushi is happy. Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, she can continue to pursue her education and thus has the chance of a good job and a better life.