NSVK

When we started this journey we didn’t really know what will happen, what we knew was we wanted to make difference, we wanted to bring change.

Navnirman Samaj Vikas Kendre began in 1996 with a vision to bring sustainable change in the lives of the slum dwellers. There were thousands of slum children who needed and wanted to be educated. There were thousands of youngsters who had the energy, potential, enthusiasm and talent to stand on their own feet but lack the source to channelize their energy. There were families striving for their daily sustenance. There were marginalized groups (for instance; People who were deprived of formal banking system, people from backward communities, minority communities, Transgender) fighting for their basic Rights. Our vision was to channelize the existing young energy to work for their own community, for their own people and for their own rights.

However heading towards this vision wasn’t an easy task. It was a group of few passionate youngsters from Malwani slum community who decided to work for the up liftment of their own people. The major challenge in front of this group was to involve young crowd from community in this drive of change. Many approached said no to the proposal of joining the group. Their reaction ranged from “What you are asking is to idealistic and we have to be realistic for our life?” to “this would not help us in long run we need to earn our livelihood”. Also there were few youngsters who supported this group. Gradually in over past ten years this group has grown from 5 to 100 youngsters.

In 1996, we started our first two projects, handicraft workshop and Non formal Education, both are fully sustainable and owned by community today. Ms Sanjida, who received Citigroup award from our Honorable Ex Finance Minister in 1999 is now managing workshop independently and exporting its products to Switzerland. Education project is currently being managed by teachers and community. Presently Navnirman is managing four projects simultaneously.

Income Generation Programme, started on a very small scale in 1998, was structured and provided with strong procedures and ambitious objectives in year 2000 while Family Development Program & Tuberculosis Programme were developing. In 2001, Navnirman became a founder member of Uplift India Association, a Network of NGOs of Pune and Mumbai involved in Micro Finance activities. Navnirman is also working with Transgender on AASTHA project, currently supporting transgender in setting up their own self sustainable organization “Triveni Samaj Vikas Kendre”.

There were many days when we had to work without office, and then we got a small shop to use as an office….! Then gradually community volunteers, workers and support from government and funding organization. When we started this journey we didn’t really know what will happen, what we knew was we wanted to make difference, we wanted to bring change.