Kolkata, the city of joy is a vibrant city, is also known for its warmth and accommodative nature. On the one hand the city represents sophistication, and on the other there is abject poverty and misery in the poorest slums in the country. Towards Life Foundation, TLF NGO is a venture to alleviate the living standard of the downtrodden dwelling in the slums of urban Kolkata in several pockets across the city.
During July 2008, a comprehensive and massive survey of the pavement dwellers of the city was conducted by us covering 30,000 respondents covering the entire length and breadth of the city of Kolkata. We came across with a great pity the extreme sorry plight of the living condition of the slum dwellers and their quality of life of more than 3 lakh people in the city of Kolkata living by the side of roads, canals, underneath over-bridges, garbage shades, dumping grounds and contagious places. They don't have reasonable earning for affording square meals of a day, most of the children were uncared don't have any education or health support.
We then decided to do something for the children (ages between 6 and 16) living on the pavements of Kolkata. TLF is running 8 centres from January 2009 at the following places: Tollygunge, Chetla, Khidirpur, Maniktala and Dum Dum.
Disparity in the civilization was noticed at the dawn of learning phase in the European world during the period of Socrates down up to the period of Aristotle through Plato. It was actually taking care of and redresses the intrinsic cries of human Soul, by Sir Isaac Newton through crafting of his Principia Mathematica. The role of which was a projective understanding of intrinsic qualities of human being and giving a lease of life to each attributes to blossom with the gentle breeze and sneezing watery lap of Mother-Nature.
It was long before, roughly around twenty thousand years prior to Jesus the sages of India’s Vedic period had identified the intrinsic qualities of human person to be one and the same having drawn and derived from the same cosmic source of the Supreme in all conditions spread across the lengths, breadths and corners of the world. The sages had proclaimed that the Supreme is residing within every person: Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahman. The 'Brahan' supreme is the creator and maintainer of the entire universe and He has led every element of creation thrive forward in life with same elemental treasures of the Supreme Divine. However, during the period of historical progress the human journey has taken an erotic path leading to divisions and classifications across nations, places, clans, cultures, faiths, tests, choices, preferences and egotism. The civilization has therefore gone into many fragments at times or most of the times forgetting that a large number of potent souls are lying uncared for their proper blossoming. It is in this modern era, this has turned into a problem of social and cultural living of human being on earth in different places.
We have given books, pens, pencils, drawing sets etc. to all students. We are feeding each student at a rate of Rs. 12.50/- per student per day of the class. We are giving each of them four sets of complete dress during the Durga Puja festival.
Now we are planning to launch “Micro-Credit” for the families from where these street children are coming for their studies.
“Towards Life Foundation(TLF)” has embarked on its voyage of providing Education, Economic Independence and Health & Hygiene Development to the pavement dwellers of Kolkata with a mission to seek Social Inclusiveness for them.
We conducted a comprehensive and massive survey of the pavement dwellers of the city of Kolkata during July, 2008 covering 30,000 respondents spread over the entire length and breadth of Kolkata. We observed with great pity, the extremely sorry plight of the living standard and quality of life of more than 3 lakhs people in the city, living by the side of the roads, canals, underneath over-bridges, garbage shades, dumping grounds and various such places. They don't have reasonable earning for one square meal a day, most of the children were uncared for and didn’t have any education or health support.
We decided to do something for the children (aged between 6 and 16) living on the pavements of Kolkata. Mainly the students and teachers of EIILM are offering education to these people. TLF is running 8 centres from January 2009 at the following places: Tollygunge, Chetla, Khidirpur, Maniktala and Dum Dum
In the present time, working professionals are compelled to move out for working in MNCs and for overseas jobs. The elders of such families do not wish to live permanently with their children in strange and distant places. Sometimes, in spite of having all resources, it is difficult to run the house all by one oneself. Old age homes provide home comfort and peace to minds to seniors who prefers to stay peacefully in a calm environment without any hassle or troubles of life. Such homes provide secured and comfortable life without the feeling of loneliness. Our visit to Vivekananda Mission- Old age home was to make them feel cared and comforted. Recreational activities of various kinds were conducted with a touch of cultural flavour with varied performances. The entire effort was to touch their hearts and bring smiles on the faces for the inmates of the old-age home.
EIILM-Kolkata firmly believes in the cause of social upliftment. We understand the world has not yet attained the position of homogeneity. There are differences among the status conditions of living and total way of life by people of different parts of the world in different conditions. The Indian situation represents an average of the global situation wherein a large mass of people have attained their glory in terms of financial happiness and financial well- being. The strength of that and the focus of that in different areas are as such the positions of the world attained in their own way through their own initiatives. The economic growth and growth in different areas happen only when the initiative takes a collective form and through the collective initiative the world advances towards attaining the goals of the bottom line and goals of the nations as a whole. Whereas there has been a massive changes in the economic positions of the country India during the last decade, the poverty line in India has drastically got reduced from the erstwhile two-figure positions now almost below 5% of the population. The reach of facilities like health facilities and others has now grown fabulously and strongly. Education and health care has now got spread out in a scale, could be considered as a mass scale but again everywhere beneath the illumined objects and illumined lives and in the vicinity of that there are patches of darkness prevailing. These patches of darkness cannot be removed by singular initiative of the nations. It should have a collective and collaborative approach and initiative by individuals and organizations. EIILM- Kolkata believes in taking a lead in that.
The primary city Kolkata where the institute has grown attracts the attention of people to do something for the dark patches prevailing in the city. EIILM-Kolkata during 2006 onwards took a resolve to take care of the most downtrodden, the most deprived class of people who do not have even a shanty to live in, the pavement dwellers. We had focused on the children of the pavement dwellers and thought that if we can provide them with education, particularly education that helps them to get a quick positions in life and supports in life is the most befitting one. This is why an organization Towards Life Foundation was promoted by EIILM-Kolkata during 2006 and the activities of providing education, supporting health and standing by the students of that category who come from the pavements, who live by the side of the canals, who face enormous varieties of social and economic evils, still surviving at their very early age. This initiative of the institute EIILM-Kolkata continues now. The name given is in the context , "Prana Dipti", The Glowing Vital(TGV), it's a unit of Towards Life Foundation which is a socio-environmental initiative of EIILM-Kolkata.
Photos of dress distribution camp, and sports items distribution camp, and drawing competition prize distribution camp and at the below right photo is of the team from abroad leaded by LISA WALKER the miracle maker who is teaching our street children.
Glimpses of various activities organized by Towards Life Foundation (TLF) Classical Dance by TLF Children before the Hon'ble CM (above left) Felicitation of Sri Kashikanta Moitra by the Hon'ble CM at TLF Town Hall Program (above right) Inauguration of EIILM-TLF "Quenching Thirst" Program at New Market by Prof.(Dr.) R P Banerjee, Director, EIILM (below left) Speech by the Hon'ble MIC-Sundarvan Affairs Sri Shyamal Mondal at the EIILM-TLF "Quenching Thirst" (below right)
Our TLF Centres visited by the Guests from Germany (above left) Routine medical checkup and medicine distribution camp (above right) Speech by Subha Dutta, Chief Editor, Bartaman at the Memorial lecture on Late Pabitra K Ghosh, visionary advisor, TLF (below left) Lighting of lamp by the Hon'ble CM of WB at the 2nd Death Anniversar cum Felicitation Program of Kashi Kanta Moitra at Town Hall (below right)