SHISHU PREM SAMAJ (SPS) is a Charitable trust working with the under privileged, especially leprosy patients and their families since the last 32 years. Though the trust had formed with the sole aim of medical and surgical rehabilitation of Leprosy patients, it was later realised that along with medical aids, there was a greater need for the overall support for the social development of these stra
ta of communities to help them get integrated into the society. In order to achieve this goal it was very important to bring awareness of the disease and the various issues clouded by them. We believe that the number 1 manner in which to help the under-privileged is to provide them and their families with education, this in turn helps them to help themselves. Thus, with this idea in mind, we expanded our assistance into the field of education. Slowly as we grew, we spread our work to the other socially and economically deprived communities in our society. The team started with Mobile Surgical Unit (MSU) operating and treating patients in various hospitals and slums. Most of the surgical work was carried out at Vimala Dermatological centre – Versova, Mumbai. In the past our team had been operating at Mukta Jeevan Hospital Veheloli (Shahapur), Leprosy Hospital at Trombay, Parvati Leprosy Hospital at Surat and M.P.Shah Hospital, Bhavnagar. Through the years we have transformed our main mission, to providing education to children from lower socio-economical backgrounds. We introduced new projects:
BALWADI (NURSERY SCHOOLS): Our first Balwadi was started in 1990 at Panchubander, the leprosy colony, so as to provide the children with a steppingstone, from where, they can build an education. After some research, it became evident that in the slums, which are in the vicinity of our residence and central office, the children were not being sent to school as the parents lacked the want for or even understood the importance of education. Keeping in mind our mission, we started Balwadies in these communities and then in local government schools. At present we have a total of 395 students in 11 Balwadis; 2 in different slums and 9 in 3 government schools. The classes are held in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and other colloquial language, since the residents of these communities originate from different parts of India. In these classes we prepare children in the age group of 3-6 years, for primary school, all the while focusing on the complete development including health of these children. We hold 4 hours classes without a break, where we push for their participation in the classroom, which we believe, builds children's attention span and instills in them a habit of attending school. Our main aim is for all our students to be enrolled in primary School after attending our Pre-Primary education (nursery school). SUPPORT CLASSES FOR SCHOOL GOING AND SCHOOL DROPOUTS:
We conduct 5 classes in 3 slums for school going students and school dropouts. The slums we work with are in and around 4 Bungalows, Andheri west. There are more than 150 students from various schools who attend our classes daily. We decided to start this program, as students attending government schools, have to share the attention of their teacher with at least 60 students (at times a 100 students), hence making it impossible to seek assistance with queries, especially with the tougher subjects. In the support classes, our teachers give extra coaching and special attention to our students, helping them with the different subjects. Our students belong to economically weaker sections and can’t afford private coaching classes. EDUCATION SPONSORSHIP: Through the funding of our individual sponsors we provide financial aid for poor and hard working students in paying their school fees, stationary, uniforms, etc and help pay for medical assistance for students who suffer an affliction. We assists students suffering from TB, AIDS, Cancer and other dreaded diseases, as well students from broken families, with single parents, orphans and the handicapped. We presently have 350 students in this project. After the passing of our dear founder we started the DR. ANTONIO SALAFIA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM where we provide gifted, young, impoverished Indian students a possibility to further their higher studies in any of the educational fields. We have always have been faced with the dilemma of not being able to provide further support and to offer that ‘final step’ in the education of our students. And since the demise of our founder Dr. Antonio Salafia, we saw no better way to honor his memory and to make real, one more of his life-long dreams. Through this program we provide financial support to students in graduate and post-graduate fields of Arts, Commerce, Science and Technology or any of the other Professional Courses. The program began in the academic year 2015/16 with 5 students: 3 girls and 2 boys. Two of the students are studying Computer Science, one is in Accounting and Finance, another entered into Hotel Management and the last one wants to be a Homeopathic Doctor. Our last project, was started by Dr.Salafia as a manner of assisting his aged leprosy patients, who due to their illnesses are ostracised by their societies and families and are deprived of the basic necessities like food and clothing. Most of them are abandoned by their society and even family members, leaving them to beg on the roadside to survive or, get involved in destructive activities (narcotics and alcohol abuse/sale). We make them self-reliant, keeping them away from harmful activates, and in some cases to be taken back by their families. Through SAAD (Scheme for the aged, abandoned and destitute) on the 2nd Saturday of every month we provide food grains, cereals, oil, spices, salt, sugar, and other daily necessities, apart from food, we provide them with toiletries, kitchen utensils, daily clothing/wears, foot wears etc. as per the availability of funds to patients suffering from Leprosy, Cancer, AIDS.
