Jaipur: Project to Educate Child Wastepickers
Thanks to the generosity of Shanthi Women and the dedication of The Unforgotten’s local team, eight child wastepickers are now on the path toward an education and a brighter future. In just two months, the project has already made remarkable progress.
Project Overview
The Unforgotten launched its Jaipur education initiative in May 2026 in Sham Nagar, where many wastepicker families live. Our goal is to identify children who are out of school, prepare them academically, socially, and emotionally, and support their enrollment into appropriate schools.
Over the past two months, our team has spent countless hours earning the trust of children and their families. What began with uncertainty has grown into genuine excitement. The children now eagerly attend tutoring sessions and speak about becoming doctors, engineers, teachers, and soldiers who can help their families and their country.
Our Team
From the earliest stages of the project, Pooja has been the driving force behind its development. She identified the community, established relationships with families, recruited and mentored the local team, coordinated with government officials and community leaders, and continues to oversee every aspect of the program’s implementation. Her deep commitment to the children and her ability to bring people together have transformed this initiative from an idea into a thriving project that is already changing lives.
Prince is a recent high school graduate from the same community who himself benefited from educational support through another NGO. Today, he is giving back by helping the next generation of children prepare for school—a powerful example of education creating lasting change.
Mukesh Joshi serves as a volunteer advisor, providing invaluable support with legal registration, government permissions, and strategic guidance as the project continues to grow.
Khushi Sharma serves as the project’s Field Coordinator, working closely with children and their families on a daily basis. She conducts parent meetings, coordinates the children’s tutoring and school preparation, makes regular home visits, and helps ensure that each child receives the support needed to successfully transition into school.
Harshita recently joined The Unforgotten as a Field Coordinator and Mentor after observing the quality and seriousness of our work. With prior experience supporting vulnerable children through another nonprofit organization, she brings valuable expertise in child development, mentoring, and community engagement.
In May 2026, Amit Kapadia, Founder and Executive Director of The Unforgotten, visited Jaipur with Jerika Shupe to meet with the local team, visit the community, and help launch the project. The visit provided an opportunity to strengthen relationships with local partners, engage with the children and their families, and establish a shared vision for the program’s future.
A Partnership Built on Shared Values
This initiative would not have been possible without the generous support of Shanthi Women, whose compassion and commitment to expanding educational opportunities have made this pilot project a reality.
Shanthi Women is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged women and children through education, empowerment, and community support. Guided by the values of hope, empowerment, and equity, the organization invests in initiatives that create lasting opportunities for vulnerable communities.
In April 2026, Shanthi Women awarded The Unforgotten a $5,000 grant to launch our first education initiative for child wastepickers in Jaipur, India. Their confidence in this vision allowed us to recruit a local team, build trust within the community, identify children who were out of school, and begin preparing them for enrollment.
Within the first months of the project, eight children were preparing to enter school for the first time. This early progress demonstrates the profound impact that compassionate partnership and community-driven investment can have on the lives of vulnerable children.
We are deeply grateful to Shanthi Women for believing in this project from the beginning and for standing alongside us as a founding partner. Together, we hope this pilot program will become a model that can be expanded to reach many more child wastepickers across India.
Progress So Far
During the first two months of the project, our team evaluated approximately 20 children from wastepicker families to assess their educational readiness and identify those who would benefit most from immediate school enrollment. Based on these assessments, eight children have been selected and are now enthusiastically preparing to begin school. Through daily tutoring and individualized support, several older children have made remarkable progress and are now ready for placement in Grade 1 or Grade 2 despite having never attended school.
Selected students
Out of the 20 children evaluated, these 8 children have been admitted into the program.
| S.No. | Child Name | Age | Proposed Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aliya | 8 years | Grade 2 |
| 2 | Arif | 9 years | Grade 2 |
| 3 | Rizwan | 12 years | Grade 2 |
| 4 | Iliyas | 11 years | Grade 2 |
| 5 | Sahil | 10 years | Grade 1 |
| 6 | Hameed | 9 years | Grade 1 |
| 7 | Ilfas | 6 years | KG |
| 8 | Reshma | 10 years | Prep |
The demand for the program continues to grow. In addition to the eight children currently preparing for school enrollment, another five to six children are attending tutoring sessions regularly and showing great potential. With continued support, we hope to expand the program to welcome these children into school and provide them with the same opportunity to build a brighter future.
Supporting the Whole Child
Our primary focus is to ensure that every child has the support needed to succeed in school. While families will initially be encouraged to provide packed lunches, we recognize that this may not always be possible for households facing severe economic hardship.
If we find that access to nutritious meals becomes a barrier to school attendance, we hope to establish a small community support center near the children’s homes. From this center, a cook could prepare and pack healthy lunches for the children each morning before they leave for school.
In addition to educational support, our local team regularly collects gently used clothing and other essential items from family members and friends to distribute to children in need. These simple acts of generosity help meet immediate needs while reinforcing to the children that they are valued and supported by their community.
The Unforgotten also provides school supplies, learning materials, and after-school snacks to help ensure that financial hardship does not prevent children from learning and thriving.
Estimated Annual Budget
| Impact | Estimated Cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| Educate one child for one year | ~$240 |
| Educate 8 children | ~$1,920 |
| Annual field team stipends | ~$1,880 |
| After school meals | ~$1,000 |
| School supplies | ~$200 |
| Total annual pilot project | ~$5,000 |
The Shanthi Women grant is expected to cover much of the pilot project’s cost. The Unforgotten will also seek additional support from individual donors to sustain and expand the program.
Community Support
The project has received encouraging support from local government officials, elected representatives, community leaders, and parents. Since the project’s inception, our team has met with government and political leaders to share our vision and seek their guidance and support. We are grateful that they have expressed strong encouragement for our efforts and pledged to assist the project wherever possible. Their partnership will be invaluable as we work to expand educational opportunities for child wastepickers in Jaipur.
At the community level, building trust with families has been one of the most important achievements of the pilot phase. Through regular home visits and ongoing conversations with parents, we have developed strong relationships that are helping children successfully prepare for school.
Looking Ahead
The children are now enthusiastic about learning, have developed close and trusting relationships with our field team, and are genuinely excited about the opportunity to attend school. Seeing the confidence and joy they now bring to their tutoring sessions has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the project.
Our immediate priorities are to finalize school placements, complete admissions, continue tutoring and mentoring, monitor attendance and academic progress, and secure ongoing funding for uniforms, school supplies, transportation, and related support.
Our hope is that this pilot will become a model that can be replicated in other wastepicker communities across India, bringing many more children into mainstream education. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, dream, and choose a future beyond waste picking. Our experience during these first two months has shown that the desire to learn already exists—what these children have lacked is opportunity. With continued support from partners such as Shanthi Women and other compassionate donors, we hope to expand this model to reach many more wastepicker children across India.
For further information, please contact our Country Director for India – Pooja Haritwal ( : Pooja Haritwal) or our Founder & Executive Director Amit Kapadia ( : Amit Kapadia)