Child-led Health Sports Cooperatives for Emotional Wellbeing

The problem

Just over a quarter of India’s 400 million children are working on the streets.These street-connected children live either directly on the streets, sleeping at bus stations, railways or markets with no shelter, or in tents made of plastic sheeting and bamboo in over-populated slum areas. The children in the slum areas face the constant threat of eviction because they are on unauthorised land. The marginalised rural children live in poor quality and, often, makeshift housing.

These street-connected and marginalised children have to live without amenities such as safe tap water, functioning health centres and quality schools. They are deprived of their rights to healthcare and education, resulting in poor health and disease. They also face discrimination in their education and drop-out rates are high.

Many children also either don't have a family or experience violence, dysfunction and poverty. Those on the streets are subjected to physical, sexual and emotional violence.

These street-connected & rural ethnically marginalized children are conditioned to think there are no alternative options to their existing life. They often lack communication, interpersonal relationships, empathy, and positive coping skills and suffer from poor mental health. Their social isolation and neglect often results in the children being victims of gangs and drug dealers as well as involved in their activities.

Our local partner

Butterflies has been working with street-connected children since 1989. They are one of ChildHope's oldest partners. Their focus areas are education and vocational training, development of life skills, financial management and health. Butterflies also has a research, advocacy and training wing and is an active participant in national and international networks for advocating and promoting policies, programmes and actions to protect the rights of children. Children are given their own prominent voice in the advocacy work through the children’s media projects Butterflies runs.

Project objectives

Child-led health & sports cooperatives (CHSC) provides a safe environment for 4,500 street-connected and marginalized children, to build life skills and make positive life choices. Using sport within an integrated programme, the project aims to overcome social isolation, increase self-esteem and tackle substance abuse and risky behaviour. We work with street-connected children in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur and ethnically marginalised children in rural Kerala, Odisha and Jharkhand who are at risk of migrating and losing family care. Both groups are at the margins of society, are deprived of a safe and settled place to live and face social isolation and discrimination.

Our activities

Children and young people have access to a safe and supportive space through the establishment of a Child Health and Sports Cooperatives. The cooperatives will be led by children; enabling them to learn crucial leadership, management, and communication skills.
Children and young people will demonstrate improved mental and physical health seeking behaviour, increased confidence in their own ability to make change, and built resilience to lead safe and positive lives. They will gain knowledge on physical and mental health issues and will access professional help whenever required.
Children will benefit from their parents increased understanding and recognition of the importance of mental health and emotional well-being. Parents will be supported to provide a safe and positive environment at home.
A wider understanding of the importance of sports for change will be created through a network of NGOs and empirical research. An NGO network promoting the inclusion of sports in health and education programmes as a tool to prevent risky behaviour and improve well-being will be created.