A Cricket World Cup for Street Children

The first Cricket World Cup for street-connected children will take place ahead of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.

The Street Child Cricket World Cup will unite street children from around the world to play in their own international cricket tournament to raise awareness and tackle the widespread stigma and negative treatment they face.

On the pitch, 10 national teams, both girls and boys, will represent their countries. Off the pitch the amazing young people selected to participate will have a unique opportunity to build their confidence, teamwork and leadership skills and, most importantly, will be given a voice for street children worldwide.

The Hope Foundation and our partners Save The Children have been invited to bring a team of street connected children to represent Team India North.

Meet The Team

ANJALI PASWAN

14 years old

The Hope Foundation

Batsman

Anjali's Story - Age 14

Family Background

Anjali was born on 13/08/2004 in Bihar. She lived with her father, mother, grandmother and two older brothers. When Anjali was 5 years old her father passed away as the result of an accident, after which the family migrated to Kolkata and lived on the streets. One brother is working as a driver now and the other is studying in class 11 at Future Hope school.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child

Anjali’s mother is the sole income earner for the family. She is now working as a domestic helper and earns Rs 3000 per month (approx. £33); this income is not sufficient for the entire family. Because of this financial hardship, her mother is not able to take proper care of Anjali and her younger brother. At present Anjali is studying in class 9 at La Maternelle High School. She has remarkable leadership qualities, is very creative and has a passion for playing cricket. Unfortunately, because of her financial crisis, her mother cannot fulfill her wishes.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

Anjali is a bright child but due to her family’s financial condition she could not express her creativity freely. HOPE’s intervention helped her a lot. She now attends school regularly and participates in every activity, including sports. With HOPE’s support, Anjali will have the opportunity to play at the Street Children Cricket World Cup in London.

How has Hope Kolkata Foundation contributed to the betterment of the child?

Before coming in to HOPE’s care, Anjali was in a very vulnerable and dangerous situation. She was living on the streets of Kolkata, where the conditions are extremely unsafe, particularly for a girl. She had no protection and no proper nutrition. HOPE provided Anjali with a loving home, nutritious meals and a formal education. Now Anjali is a healthy child, she attends school regularly and participates in every extracurricular activity. Hope Kolkata Foundation helped Anjali to rediscover her enthusiasm for sports, which ultimately resulted in her being selected to take part in the Street Children World Cup.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future?

Anjali wants to become a nurse or air hostess and, if given an opportunity, she would aspire to become a cricketer.

MILLIE SINGH

16 years old

The Hope Foundation

Batsman

Millie's Story - Age 16

Family Background

Millie was born on 10/12/2002. When she was two years old her parents left her in the care of Sabera Foundation (a former NGO) and they never met her after that. Now she stays at Ashar Alo Protection Home.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child.

After Sabera Foundation was closed their staff brought Millie to the Child Welfare Committee, who placed her in Girl2B home (partner NGO) in 2014. While there, Millie was enrolled in Modern Public School and completed class VII. When Girl2B was closed, Millie was placed in Ashar Alo Girls Home by the Child Welfare Committee in 2017. At Ashar Alo Millie receives special education support, proper nutrition, counselling support and medical support.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

Because her parents abandoned her when she was just 2 years old, Millie had difficulties with building relationships and creating attachments. Despite her vulnerable childhood history, she coped well with help and guidance from HOPE. Millie overcame her shyness, became very vocal and began taking part in activities at the protection home. She now attends school regularly and helps to organise sporting activities in the community.

How has Hope Kolkata Foundation contributed to the betterment of the child?

HOPE’s intervention has brought many changes in her life. Millie has become more confident and articulate in expressing her views and talking about what is happening around her. Millie has displayed exceptional potential at every opportunity she has been presented with.

What are the child’s thoughts about her future?

Her outstanding enthusiasm for sports made the selecting committee for the SCCWC choose her to be a member of Team India North. Millie dreams about a career in sports.

JABIR ALI

15 years old

The Hope Foundation

Batsman

Jabir's Story - Age 15

Family Background

Jabir lived with his mother, father, four brothers and three sisters on the street pavement in the Gariahat area of Kolkata. His father was unemployed and addicted to drugs and was a source of violence within the family. Jabir was physically and mentally abused by his father, who later died from tuberculosis. His mother is a daily labourer. Being the sole income earner for the family, it became very difficult for her to support her large family and to provide their basic needs. Jabir faced extreme poverty in his childhood, which forced him to be a child labourer.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child.

Jabir attended the Nabo Asha Centre in Gariahat, an education centre run by Hope Kolkata Foundation. During this time he also began selling incense sticks to supplement the family income. Jabir was deprived of his basic needs.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

After family intervention and assessing his situation, the social worker for the Nabo Asha Centre brought Jabir before the Child Welfare Committee. Subsequently, he was placed in Ashirbad Boys Home. In the home, Jabir receives the love, care and affection that every child deserves and all the other supports required for his holistic development. His other brothers and sisters were also taken into care and sponsored through a boarding school. He feels safe and secure in the protection home with all the other children. After being placed in Ashirbad Boys Home, Jabir started formal schooling and he attends class regularly. He enjoys taking part in extracurricular activities.

How has Hope Kolkata Foundation contributed to the betterment of the child?

Jabir received protection, education, nutrition and all the other supports essential for his holistic development when placed in Ashirbad Boys Home. He is bright, intelligent and eager to pursue his education. Jabir also loves to play outdoor games like cricket and football.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future?

Jabir regularly attends cricket coaching classes and wants to become an all-rounder in bowling and fielding. Cricket is his dream. He wants to pursue cricket as his career.

TARAK SARDAR

15 years old

The Hope Foundation

Batsman

Tarak's Story - Age 15

Family Background

Tarak lived on the street in the Gariahat area of Kolkata with his mother. His father took little interest in taking care of his child and eventually left the family. His mother took a job at Gariahat market but her meagre earnings meant she was unable to provide for Tarak’s basic needs.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child.

Tarak’s mother had to go out to work every day so he used to wander around the streets, without any family members to look after him and without any food to eat. There was no one to take care of him while his mother was working. He was found lying sick on the street. The local police and a social worker placed Tarak before the Child Welfare Committee. They ordered that he be placed in Ashirbad Boys Home under Hope Kolkata Foundation.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

Tarak did not attend school prior to his placement in Ashirbad Boys Home. He was given private tuition to bridge the gap in his education and then mainstreamed to formal school after assessment of his improvement and capabilities. His learning level has improved and presently he is studying in class VI at A.K. Ghosh Memorial School.

How has Hope Kolkata Foundation contributed to the betterment of the child?

Tarak received protection, education, nutrition and all the other supports essential for his holistic development when placed in Ashirbad Boys Home. After counselling support and plenty of love and care, Tarak can now mix very well with the other children in the home.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future?

Tarak is passionate about sports and regularly takes part in the school’s sporting activities. He regularly attends cricket coaching classes and loves to play as a batsman. His favourite cricketer is Virat Kohli. Tarak loves Kohli’s aggressive style in the field and he tries to imitate that style in his practice sessions. Kohli is his inspiration.

SONI KHATOON

13 years old

Save The Children

Batsman

Soni's Story - Age 13

Family Background
Father’s Name: Md. Aslam
Occupation: Driving
Mother: Fatma Bibi
Occupation: Housewife
Sibling: 1 elder brother (Santoshi Dhanuk), Student of Class-X
She and her family live in a slum in the EJC Durgapur Dock Junction area of Kolkata. This area is primarily like a garage for trucks and the workers have made settlements alongside the same. She has an elder brother.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child

Soni’s parents admitted their elder son in English medium school but denied Soni to provide quality education, admitted her in a hindi medium school which Soni did not like and opposes. Her parents cited the reason of financial crunching but Soni still persisted to her wishes. She ended up dropping out of school. Soni has grown up in an urban slum of the metropolitan city of Kolkata where electricity and clean and safe drinking water was always an issue. Due to the unavailability of clean water it caused hindrances in not only going for school or tuitions but also to sustain a healthy life.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

After joining the mobile learning centre initiative by Save the Children, she started going to school again and became sincere with her studies. She is currently in class 9. Along with that she took the responsibility of imparting her knowledge about child rights to other children in her locality. After the intervention in the community Soni was identified as an encouraging child who came forward to be a member of the children gropu in EJC dock Junction area. She was undergone several trainings on Child Rights.

On 12th April, 2016, when the MLA had come to visit their area, she refused to accept the chocolates that the MLA was distributing for pleasing the children and demanding for the improvement of the conditions of her locality with utmost confidence. When no action was taken, she along with her friends from their children’s group submitted an application to the MLA reminding him of the work that was promised and has not been done. They did so without the help of any adult. Solely because of the efforts made by Soni and her friends, roads were built, electricity and clean water supply was provided to her locality. She has also decided to visit or write an application to the MLA every month t remind him of his responsibility till all repairs have been made in her area.

How has Save the Children contributed to the betterment of the child?

Save the Children motivated her to continue her studies and enrolled her into a school again. With the Mobile Learning Centre initiative, Save the Children has been able to help Soni with her studies and personality growth. Today she is an outspoken and confident yet humble girl. Save the Children also enlightened her about the Child Rights Act and encouraged her to spread the knowledge of the same. In her own words Soni had said that Save the Children has showed her the correct path of life and equipped her to follow it and now it is her own responsibility to diligently follow it.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future

She wants to train children, especially girls in Karate for their own safety. She also wants to use her knowledge to teach children. When she grows up she wants to become a social worker like Mother Teresa. She got this motivation from Anoyara Khatoon. She says she has realised that even to become a social worker, one needs some experience. Hence, her first aim is to become a politician. This would give her direct contact to the masses and then she will work for their betterment.

AYUSHMAN CHOUDHARY

14 years old

Save The Children

Batsman

Ayushman's Story - Age 14

Family Background

Ayushman was born on 11th of November 2014 in a family where he was the youngest of two sisters and one brother. His father Raman Sing, President of EJC Durgapur Basti Committee and mother Lachi Devi is housewife. His elder sister got married couple of years back and other sister and elder brother work in a private firm.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child

His father came to Kolkata in the year 1979. He worked in a Tea producing company for about 25 years which got locked out in 1995. Currently he is serving as a president of EJC Ever since his family plunged into deep financial crisis. His elder siblings though contribute to the family financially and taking care of his education expenses. Apart from study he has a great zeal for sports that requires support as well. His cricket frenzy won him many accolades and wishes for pursuing a career in it. But needs do not match up the means.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

Despite living in a slum tugged in the out skirt of Kolkata, his childhood started off with obstacles. Save the children identified him in the year 2011. Our intervention changed him a lot. His shackles of shyness got broken, he became very vocal and took many initiative being part of child group working in the locality. Our intervention made him regular in school and he did the same to decrease the drop outs of his peers, He helped in organizing many sports activates within the community as well.

How has Save the Children contributed to the betterment of the child?

He was identified by Education Project team member (under Mobile Learning Centre (MLC) in 2011. Facilitators working with the children have been able to bring many changes in his life. He became more eloquent in expressing his views happening in and around him. He now dares to dream about his sporting career. He showed exceptional potential in every opportunity he provided with.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future

Despite every odd he aspires to be a sportsman. His outstanding knock in games made the selecting members of SC to choose him for the trail and audition of street children world cup to be held in England early in May 2019.

LUSI SHARMA

14 years old

Save The Children

Bowler

Lusi's Story - Age 13

Family Background

Lusi Sharma belongs to a very poor family. Her father is a carpenter and mother is a homemaker. Lusi has four sisters and one brother. One of her sisters stays at their maternal grandmother’s house because of poverty. All the children go to school.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child

Lusi and her family are facing financial issues. Lusi’s elder sister adds to the family income by providing tuition classes. The family lives in a very densely populated slum in an unhygienic environment. If her family’s financial situation doesn’t improve, Lusi may have to drop out of school. Lusi and her sisters do all the household works like cooking and collecting water from the KMC tank because their slum has no tap water supply. They use the common toilet and that increases the risk of infection especially for adolescent girls. Their locality has no separate toilets for girls and boys and that leads to lack of privacy especially during the night.

Lusi understands importance of hygienic practices, cleanliness and she motivated her family and other slum dwellers to maintain the habit of cleanliness.
She joined different training programs on DRR.
Lusi took training on Early Warning System to warn members of the locality about dealing with hazards.
Lusi motivates 10 households to keep buckets filled with sands for quick response to fire.
Now Lusi has taken the initiative part to educate children with the help of a local club.
She also attended the training for Child Champions on 26th and 27th May, 2017 at Seva Kendra, Kolkata.

How has Save the Children contributed to the betterment of the child?

Save the children has encouraged and supported Lusi to participate in the different trainings jointly organised DRCSC. She also participated in different program where she raised her voice for resilience and child protection.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future

Lusi wants to take the lead in empowering more Child Rights Champions to be the voice for equal rights and opportunities for all children.

MOHAMMAD WARIS

12 years old

Save The Children

All Rounder

Waris' Story - Age 12

Family Background

Mohammad Waris was born in Ward Street into an economically resource poor family. His parents are from Kolkata. In the slums of 64 Broad street they ( Waris along with his mother, father, one younger and one older sister, his other two elder sisters are married) live in a one room rented accomodation which serves as their living room cum bedroom cum kitchen. Battling poverty and hardship, his father drives a van riskshaw (to carry goods) and his mother works as a domestic worker in people’s houses. Waris works in a cap manufacturing factory where his hands moves at lightning speed with the scissor cutting the outer bands for summer caps. He cuts an average of 300 pieces daily during high order season.

Core challenges and hardships faced by the child

Waris’ hands move at lightning speed with the scissor cutting the outer bands for summer caps. He cuts an average of 300 pieces daily during high order season earning a meagre weekly income of Rs 300/-. To supplement the meager family income, Waris had to drop out of school and start earning at an early age. After seven years in this job he is almost a master cutter, talking to us and cutting at the same time like any seasoned adult worker.
In the year 2016, a Community Child Health and Hygiene club was formed in 64 Broad street as part of the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative where he was one of the members. Since then Save the Children has been engaged with him through varied means ranging from working together to make his surrounding community open defecation free through ODF tool kit, organising theatre workshops with children on issues of safe drinking water, presenting the play”Jalkatha” to the audiences during the observation of World Water Day in March 2016 or performing skit on Girls safety ” Akhir Kyun”at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta as part of the change maker series. Waris has been in an active member in all these engagements.
Waris used to listen into the discussions in the mothers group meeting of DAS. His mother was a member of this group. It was through these meetings that he got to know about DAS and their work in the community. He also got an opportunity to attend the Save the Children CRC programme at MohorKunj in 2016in Kolkata. It was in this meeting that he developed an interest in theatre. During the CRC programme a play was presented by children where one of the participants was Waris’s sister’s friend. Waris and his sister had attended the programme. It was after watching the play that Waris realised that he liked the play and the acting by the children. So when he got to know that DAS was putting together a children’s group for training them on theatre, he voluntarily enrolled into the effort.

What has the child achieved despite the challenges and how?

‘Hum teen baje se khade rehete hain aur chaar baje ke baad pani milta hain’ (‘I wait from 3 o clock but I get water only after 4 o clock’). This is the one dialogue that Waris has to speak as part of his role in the play. He feels that this dialogue epitomises the entire water shortage problem in his community. Theatre has helped him with gaining new information and knowledge related to understanding water related problems in his area – lack of public hygiene, problem of sewage, lack of clean drinking water, diseases such as diaorrhea and dengue. He feels that the message of the play that community will take ownership about keeping their area clean.
One of the major challenges for the theatre group is ensuring that children attend practice regularly. For Waris and many others like him who work during the day, it is challenging to be regular for practice since he gets very little time off from work. Despite this, Waris tries to attend the practice sessions since he likes acting.

How has Save the Children contributed to the betterment of the child?

Save the Children’s effort through DAS in bringing children together and engaging them in meaningful ways such as theatre to raise awareness on social issues is a novel effort. The theatre group is new and currently in practice and has not conducted any public performance. Therefore their current experience is of teambuilding, understanding acting and its various aspects.
In addition Waris’s experience clearly shows that long term engagement with mothers does have a positive impact on children who are exposed to various community issues at an early. Waris was knowledgeable about NGOs (DAS) presence and their work at an early age since he used to attend the mothers group meeting with his mother.

What are the child’s thoughts about his/her future

‘When I am older, I will leave this job and get a better paying job. Later I will start my own business and save more and take care of my parents’.
Waris is hopeful that his life will change for the better in the future and his economic situation will improve in future. He is confident that he will be able to do something on his own economically for himself and his family.

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Street Child Cricket World Cup

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We need your help to bring the HOPE cricket team and their carers from Kolkata to participate in the Street Child Cricket World Cup and to make their dreams come true.

Please donate what you can using the buttons below. If your employer or company would like to become a Team HOPE sponsor than please get in touch by phone on 020 8133 0863 or email chloe@thehopefoundation.org.uk.

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