Kolkata’s Forgotten Brothers
Helping Youth Escape the Poverty Cycle
In Kolkata, India, an estimated 70,000 people are living on the streets. With only 11 operational homeless shelters in the city, thousands have no choice but to sleep outside. In an attempt to earn some sort of income, many migrate into the city from their home village. Others grow up on the street from birth or a very young age.
The primary objective of this project is to provide youth in the Kolkata area with the proper knowledge and resources to become financially secure. In Kolkata, it’s challenging for people (especially underprivileged youth) to move up in society. For many, education simply isn’t a priority. However, in order to earn money and make a decent living, they need to have a skillset.
During our trip to Kolkata this past January, we got to know four youth (ages 14–23) sleeping outside our hostel every night. Jakir, Ronnie, Sahil, and Sajada were always so kind and helpful to us and the others in our volunteer group. Over time, we learned about their lives, their back story, and their daily struggles. Although it was heartbreaking, it inspired us to help them. Before we left, we produced a short 360° video story about their life, and then started a GoFundMe campaign.
Jakir, Ronnie, Sahil, and Sajada are just four out of thousands who need help in Kolkata. With enough funding, not only will we be able to ensure that these boys succeed, but we can expand the project to help other youth in need.
360° Video Story
In 2016 (the year before our trip to Kolkata), I studied Social Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. During that time, I learned skills in design thinking, community engagement, reporting, multimedia, and how to positively impact communities. I was excited to apply those skills in the real world while in Kolkata.
I approached this challenge with Design Thinking in mind. Design Thinking is a strategy used to determine the needs of people (communities, customers, whoever) and come up with something that meets their needs. It’s a five step process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.
My journey started with empathy. Although I don’t speak Bengali, I tried my best to talk to the boys, ask them questions, and understand their life. One of the boys spoke decent English so that helped while defining what they needed and wanted for their future.
They were in a difficult situation. They came from broken families, didn’t have proper identification, and had a very limited education. They moved to Kolkata for better job opportunities but found work to be scarce. They wanted to open a clothing stand, be taxi drivers, and go to school.
I decided to make a 360° video about them. With the video I would try and raise money for the cost of their education.
The GoFundMe has been a big success. To make sure the funds are spent on what they’re meant for, we will be returning to Kolkata and spending two months there. We were able to purchase our plane tickets out of pocket and are excited to use every donation toward improving the lives of youth in Kolkata.
Back-Story
Written by George Heru Love
From Dec. 28, 2016 — Jan. 14, 2017, we were in Kolkata, India assisting The Beloved Community organization’s project that sends underprivileged village children to school. When we first arrived at our hostel, we met four friendly boys who offered to be our travel companions around the city, turning into our tour guides, and protecting our group from pick-pocketers. They spoke broken English, but enough to translate for us in various situations. They even helped negotiate better prices for us at local shops and street vendors.
I didn’t realize that the boys were homeless until day four, when I saw them sleeping on the street beside our hostel. It broke my heart.
One day while they accompanied me to the grocery store, I told them to grab whatever they want and I’ll buy it for them. They were reluctant to accept my offer at first but after I insisted, they went and grabbed some food. My happiness turned into confusion when I noticed employees and customers giving me strange looks and disapproving stares. I had to fight back tears because I was so upset at how they thought it was wrong to help poor kids.
The value of the American dollars is ~68 rupees per dollar. A three course meal on the street can be bought for that price. Five dollars or less can buy a nice shirt, pants, belt, or shoes. Since the dollar goes such a long way in India, any amount of money will make a real impact.
Kolkata is beautiful and tragic at the same time. The level of poverty I saw is utterly mind-blowing. I saw homeless mothers sitting on the street, trying to feed their naked child. Street vendors literally sleep on their stands or on the street because they have no home or their home is in a village hundreds of miles away. I cried several times over the first week because I felt so powerless. I gave money and food to so many homeless kids and elderly that I lost count. I wanted to help everyone, but I had to accept that I just couldn’t.
What I miss the most is the friendships I’ve made with Jakir, Ronnie, Sahil, and Sajada. I treated them like family and spent a lot of time getting to know them. They were like the younger brothers I’ve never had. During the last few days of the trip they started calling me “brother.” I felt so honored by that title.
Traveling to Kolkata was a powerful, life-changing experience that helped humble me in ways words cannot describe. Seeing the immense amount of poverty there inspired me to work less for myself, and more for those in need. Although I don’t have enough money and power to help thousands, I would at least like to start with helping these four boys become self-sufficient.
I’m going to do everything within my power to help them improve their lives, and I believe education is the first step. They also have dreams of being a taxi driver and/or opening a clothing stand together. With your help, their dream can become a reality.
Jakir and Ronnie have an old 3G cell phone which they use to communicate with me via Facebook messenger and Facebook video calls. I speak with them every other day and we update each other about our lives. They cannot afford a phone service plan, so they use free Wi-Fi whenever possible.
Once Jakir, Ronnie, Sahil, and Sajada are off the street, we would like to expand this project to help more underprivileged youth in Kolkata, possibly by starting a non-profit organization. We will be learning Bengali so that we can communicate properly with the youth we hope to help in the future.
Thank you! Together, we can help change the lives of four incredible young men and other youth around Kolkata!
Project Details & Funding Plan
English Classes
According to a study done by Dr. Elizabeth J. Erling from the Open University, U.K., English language skills in South Asia are highly rewarded in the labor market. While talking with the boys about how we can help them, they confirmed this and expressed desire to go to school to learn English. Having skills in English would supplement any job they decide to pursue.
~$154.00 per course
2.5 months of ABC English
2.5 months of Basic English
2.5 months of Intermediate English
2.5 months of Advanced English
Total Cost — $2,464 for 10 months for four students
School Supplies
English classes may require access to a laptop computer in order to practice English and complete assignments. Other expenses include books, backpacks, writing utensils, etc.
Total Cost — ~$1,000
Basic living expenses
This will cover the cost of food, toiletries, clothing, etc., allowing them to survive while they go to school and study five days a week.
$3 per day per student for five days a week.
Total Cost — $2,400 for 10 months for four students
Housing Plan
This will provide them with a safe place to sleep, study, and store their school books/supplies while in school. It will also protect them from the extreme rain during the monsoon season (from May to October). The apartment will be a basic, one bedroom.
Total Cost — $1,500 for 10 months
Driver’s License Course
Jakir, Ronnie, and Sahil are old enough to obtain their driver’s license and become taxi/delivery drivers. ~$222.00 per course
Total Cost — $666.00 for three courses
Clothing Shop
They were also interested in opening a clothing stand around Kolkata’s New Market area.
$200 for street vendor license
$594 for clothing supplies
Total Cost — $794.00
The above funding plan is based off of average costs of English classes found online and through our own research while in Kolkata. We pledge to use all funds toward the above costs; English classes, housing expenses, living expenses, school supplies, driver’s license courses, and clothing shop expenses. All donations will be used to improve the lives of Jakir, Ronnie, Sahil, and Sajada, and possibly additional youth in the Kolkata area.
If you would like to donate to Kolkata’s Forgotten Brothers, check out the GoFundMe project!
