Proving You Exist

I’ve been spending some time at Aaramph, a non-profit focusing on education in slum areas. They are located in Navi Mumbai (or New Bombay), which is home to many different migrant populations who have come to the city seeking work. Aaramph provides education to children who, for many different reasons, are not using the formal education system provided for free by the government of India. One main reason why these kids aren’t enrolled is that many of them were born at home and don’t have a birth record. Mothers try to fix this by going through school or government officials to navigate the bureaucracy, but sadly this is often fraught with corruption and ends up costing upwards of Rs. 400 ($10 or a week of salary), with no guaranteed result. Aaramph has worked for years to set up a system, advised by trusted lawyers and recognized by local schools, that results in a birth record being obtained in a single day for only Rs. 40.

That’s just one example of the many things I learned while speaking with Shobha Murthy, Aaramph’s founder. I had never heard of this problem of birth records before, but it is a great example of both the trouble with informal systems and the disconnect between policies (like free education) and their implementation.

I found Aaramph through an Indian volunteer-matching website. In an odd coincidence, her brother works for a company in Minneapolis where I worked for 4 years, so she’s actually spent time in the town where I live. I’ve had a chance to tour Aaramph’s facilities and will be working on a donor’s report for them in the coming weeks.