Man with a Mission

www.samaritanhelpmission.org

The News Coverage of NDTV India's renowned News Channel on samritan Help Mission

Visit from Jai Dee Children's Fund

In February, Shawn Phelps, the executive director of Jai Dee (Good Heart) Children's Fund, based in Toronto, Canada, came to visit us for two weeks to help create fundraising ideas for SHM's schools and also to donate some basic resources, in the amount of around US$1,000 (Rs. 42,500). With this money she purchased many books, pencils, mats, chairs, tube lights and all-important emergency lights, which are necessary since the power keeps going out in our district and it gets dark here early. She was very impressed after meeting our children (over 400 of them!) and checking out our formal teaching programs, vocational training projects, computer literacy program and kindergarten. She was especially impressed with the dedication and hard work of the volunteers. I was also impressed with Shawn and her dedication to her work, and also her great love of children. During her time here, she taught me many things, such as how to create this blog you're reading right now!

While Shawn was visiting, she met an international artist and photographer from Mexico, Jose T. Moguel, at a local cafe and invited him to visit Samaritan Help Mission. Consequently, Jose spent three days visiting our projects and became very inspired by what he saw. He took many photographs, which may become part of his future exibitions and raise awareness of our beautiful children here who just need a little help. He also has some friends who make documentaries, so maybe in the future they will come and tell our story to the world!

You can see myself, Shawn and Jose in the Picture. I am very grateful that Shawn & Jose have now become ambassadors of SHM overseas, spreading awarness of our work. I am especially grateful to Shawn for all of her help, and of course for the financial support from Jai Dee Children's Fund.

While Shawn was here, I took her to visit our newest project, Bankra (see photo), which is 6 km away from Tikiapara, where our main projects are located. She was moved and encouraged by my plan to start a school for the children there. Currently there is no school there, and the children all work making various types of paper binding used at the centre of thread rolls/spindles. Their washing water is full of sewage. Without a school there is a little hope for a decent future. This is why I'm committed to building a school in this area and helping to create some hope and a better future for these children.

Shawn left us on Feb 16 to return to Toronto, with a promise to visit again. Thanks Shawn, the children and teachers of SHM all look forward to your next visit!

National Integeration Award

You will be happy to read that I was given the National Integration Award on 26th Jan-2007 at Ahmednagar (Maharastra). This award was for promoting communal harmony among youths of all religions. I try to teach them to dedicate their time and work to the progress of India by building a bridge of universal brotherhood and tolerance, and by working for the most neglected people in society on the basis of HELP PEOPLE ON NEED NOT ON CREED.

At the awards ceremony I delivered a speech to an audience of youth about the importance of caring for their own parents, because I believe that unless we love our own mother, we cannot love our motherland. I believe that the trophies gather dust and the sound of the clap fades away, but the real award is the feeling that comes from serving humanity from the lap of the mother till the death bed.

Welcome to My World: Our Story

My name is Mamoon Akhtar. I grew up, and still reside, in a slum in India called Tikiapara. It's in Howrah, across the river Hooghly from Kolkata. I love this place, and the people in it, and I'm trying to do what I can to help the people here, especially the children.

My real involvement began in 1999, when I was 29 years old. A little boy came to my house asking for help. A druglord was beating his mother because she refused to sell drugs for him. My friends and I were able to get him to stop, then I asked the boy what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to learn how to read. So I invited him to come over to my house where I would teach him to read. When he showed up he brought five other children with him. And that was how it all began. With a lot of help from my good friends in the community and people like you, we have made a real difference, but what drives me on is that there is still so much we can do.

Samaritan Help Mission: Summary

Right now we have three small schools teaching over 450 students in the Tikiapara slums of Howrah District (near Kolkata), West Bengal, India. We are in the process of starting another school in a very poor district called Bankra, where the children all work making the paper rolls that thread is wrapped around. They don't attend school at all, because there are no schools there. All of the children we help live in dangerous areas where there are drug peddlars and other criminal activities. Adults are rickshaw drivers, labourers, house workers and factory workers. Many children work in dirty, dangerous conditions with harmful chemicals and so on. Without education they have no future, or at least a very bleak future.

As the years went by, I began to realize that to help children you can't just adopt the child, you must adopt the whole family. Recently, we started some programs for the local women, who would otherwise be forced to work in menial jobs, . We teach dressmaking, embroidery, fabric painting and cosmetology. We also teach computer skills (with donated computers) to girls and young women. All of our teachers are volunteers--students from local high schools and colleges, who are paid only for their expenses (though we hope to change this someday soon).

Teaching Religious Tolerance: Helping Each Other

One of the things that is very important to me at the schools is to teach children of all backgrounds and faiths to work together and support each other, and to help all of the women in the community equally. Our motto is to "help people on need, not on creed." I am happy to say that, just recently, our school was recognized for its leadership with integration with an important award. The population of the community is 80% Muslim and 20% Non-Muslim (my background is also Muslim, though I support the great teachings of all faiths. At the core of all great teachings is compassion and caring for others.). In fact, we have had to face some resistance from the extreme side of the religious community. Not everyone supports secular teaching. Fortunately there are also many community members who do support our work. Education is important, because in the vacuum created by a lack of education, Muslim children are easy targets for religious fanatics. We want all children to join their neighbours, regardless of background, to build a better and more prosperous India together.

Why I Care: I Was Forced to Leave School at Age 14

One of the reasons why it's so important to me to help children is because, when I was 14, I was forced to leave school. My father had lost his job so I couldn't pay the fees. A year later my father died. I had to work in a shoe factory then an iron factory to support my family. And none of this was easy because I had polio when I was 12 and it damaged the function of my left hand. While working, I continued my studies part time and managed to eventually complete my grade 12. Still, I worked as a labourer until 1999. At that point I was very fortunate to be offered a job in a local library. The man running the school was impressed with my community work. This job allowed me to work only four hours per day, leaving enough time to also run the school. Of course, the pay was not much, but it was enough, and I used half my salary to run the school.

Our Teachers

Our teachers are one of our greatest resources. They are local college and high school students who come to teach on a volunteer basis (we do pay a small honorariam so they can continue their own education). Without their commitment, it would not be possible for our schools to help as many children as they do! The Volunteers are from every caste, and have a deep love of the children.

Our Mission

Our mission is help every child we can to become educated and literate, so they will have a real future and be able to support their families and communities. Also, by educating all the children, we can slowly begin to eradicate the drug problem in these ares, that exist only because there are no other opportunities. We also want to help girl children in particular to have a strong future, and women so they will be able to care for themselves and their families with dignity.
We have achieved quite a lot in only a few years. But I have very big dreams! I want to help many more children, and many more in the community. I know this will not happen fast, but if we come together in different ways, through learning partnerships and other partnerships, I believe we can change the lives of many children for the better. I hope you will join me in this dream!