Shalini Khemka, Investment Director at LDC (Lloyds Development Capital) and CEO of The London Entrepreneurial Exchange, visited Mumbai Mobile Crèches (MMC) recently where she witnessed the inspiring work of our charity partner.
Over 50,000 children of migrant construction workers live on building sites in Mumbai. MMC runs day care centres providing health and education services on the sites themselves. Since 1972 MMC has reached out to more than 150,000 children who would otherwise be left to wander on the dangerous sites while their parents worked.
Mumbai Mobile Crèches also trains women from migrant communities to become teachers so that they can run centres themselves. MMC aims to be a demonstration model of quality childcare for construction sites across India.
“It’s a framework that should be repeated,” said Shalini Khemka. “Babies and children are fully cared for and educated by extremely diligent staff whilst their parents are working on the construction sites. The trip gave me a real feel for how a MMC centre works and how critical The British Asian Trust’s contribution is to their success. I personally, haven’t seen anything quite like it before.”
Children at the centre Shalini visited were busy preparing for a performance. “I saw children of all different age groups singing, dancing and performing theatre, puppet shows and poetry. They all had a sense of kinship and belonging,” she said.
Seeing the babies sleeping in the nursery was an emotional experience for Shalini. “It was wonderful to see how they were being properly looked after thanks to the sheer hard work of MMC and the Trust’s support,” she said.
“The visit was just humbling. I am so glad that I did it.”
