Blog Details
Thanks to Turnstone, I now have a dream to become a teacher and help the children who are in vulnerable condition, just as I was.”
My family is poor, so when my mother became sick my father had to work for extra money for her operation in Kolkata. I was left responsible to care for my mother and younger brother. I slept outside the hospital for a month and a half to look after then when I was only ten years old.
Street life is not easy. In fact every day is a struggle. I dropped out of school when we moved from the village to Kolkata. I wanted to keep studying but my father said I needed to work to support my family. I was given a small basked which I sold fruits and vegetables from. I would get abused by adults and the police, but I had no choice as I had to make money. All I could do was bear the abuse and exploitation every day.
I first met Turnstone staff in 2016 who told me all about the wonderful contact point they were running as part of a programme to support Street and Working Children in there nonformal school. It took the dedicated staff speaking to my parents and me daily for a month before they could allow me to go. The contact point gave me access to education and the chance to play and be a child again.
“I would have slipped into substance abuse as many of my peers used to encourage me to try the substances stating that it would make me forget all the troubles I had in life. But I always remember what I was being taught at the contact point so it kept me away from abusing any form of substances.”
You can also support turnstoneglobal to help some more kids like Surojeet by donating them .
*Please note we have changed Surojeet’s name and photo to protect his identity.
