Every dream will have a small beginning…

It is the interest and enthusiasm of few young professionals to learn and innovate while practicing social work theories in the field that has lead to the establishment of HCHW. Initially, it served as a laboratory for these young professionals to test the efficacy of theory into practice.

More than a decade HCHW has crossed infact, reinforced an enormous magnitude of transition in its efforts. HCHW literally had no blueprint for children on streets in the vary beginning, but over a period of time evolved a comprehensive, multidimensional and an integrated approach with a package of rehabilitation and development programmes addressing the needs and demands of children living on streets and in other difficult circumstances. Every year that has gone has given new avenues and new hopes. Each eventful year has bestowed HCHW to drive more thrust in its services and the way of functioning. As the years rolled down HCHW has become a source of learning in order to serve both practitioners in child sector as well as the students of social work.

It all started with a research project assigned by Osmania University to Mr. Rafiuddin, soon after he finished his final year exams for Bachelors course in Social Work. The project involved study on the ‘Conditions and situations of Street Children in the city of Hyderabad”. He undertook an extensive survey and found the bottlenecks in the problem of children on streets as poverty, broken families, haphazard human relations within the families, daily wage working environment, child labour, exploitation and abuse.

While carrying out the research study he realized that these children are not handicap in any way, rather they are like other normal children who possess lots of talents and capacities. He further figured out the root cause, as these children only need love, care, protection, a right opportunity and an enabling environment. He thus firmly decided to create sources for extending support and protection to such children. He strived to channelize their talents and potentials into constructive and collective strength.

Out of his interaction with children on streets, he realized their unanimous hope for betterment inline. He found that best majority of these ch9ldren were discontent with the conditions prevailing at their homes. They all have come on to the streets to work and earn their livelihood for the sake of going back to home one day and there by improve the conditions. He realized that all these children have a hope for betterment in their lives. This sounded very positive and the fore sightedness of Mr. Rafiuddin made it very clear that a result-oriented change can be expected while working with these children. Further, he found that these children have abundant talents which are untapped; latent talents which are never encouraged; creative skills which are never supported in any way. Children were unable to channelize their skills and talents in constructive ways while being on streets. The struggle before them was survival.

Hence, Mr. Rafiuddin firmly decided to address these issues in an emphatic manner to reach larger sections of such people in the society. He got an equally overwhelming and encouraging support from the other board members of HCHW. They thus have come forward as torchbearers and established Hyderabad Council of Human Welfare.

The main motto of HCHW is to create avenues of opportunities and support for children on streets in order to help them regain their childhood as well as strive to live and behave in socially acceptable ways for a better tomorrow.

In the initial days, Mr. Rafiuddin and his team used to work in an informal way, during evening hours interacting with children on streets living on footpaths, pavements, near public parks, in railway stations and so on. The team used to build rapport with children on streets and help them by persistent motivation and counseling skills. The team used to spend their evening leisure time in interacting with children on streets and helping them as a friend, guide and an enabler by understanding their problems and needs and there by extending emotional support. The coverage was for Nampally to Khairatabad initially and later extended up to Begumpet.

During 1992 communal riots broke and spread in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The cities were under curfew for almost a fortnight. This situation led to lots of trauma among children and made their struggle for survival, food and shelter much more horrible during the curfew period. It was really a pathetic situation for the children most of whom had left the city, some took shelter with the waste buying traders, while others working as servers in small hotels stayed locked within courtesy to the owners. Infact, it was an unforgettable shocking experience for the children on street that forced them to think otherwise the option of living on streets. During the same period, HCHW has taken an imperative initiative in organizing an “Ekta Rally” to strengthen the bonds between the people and emphasize India’s best ideology “Unity in Diversity” involving children living on streets, slum children, school children as well as the other sections of the civil society in the twin cities.

Once the situation has come to normalcy, when HCHW team started resuming their contacts with children again, they shared their gruesome experiences during the communal riots. It was at this time than an idea had emerged from one among the children to have a home of their own where they have adequate security and protection. This was indeed an opportunity HCHW team was waiting for. However, it took another solid eight months in hiring a building for starting the shelter home for these children. The hunt for getting a shelter kind of home for these children was indeed very difficult. This was basically because of the stigma attached to these children as a result of which no owners were willing to let out their house for the purpose. Secondly, HCHW was not in a position in those days to pay huge amount of money towards rent.

In those days, the team of HCHW had a good rapport with basthi leaders at Khairatabad. One of them had a single hall building under his purview, which was earlier used for manufacturing of illegal arrack. When the local MLA of this constituency became the Minister, he prohibited the manufacture and sale of illegal arrack in his locality.

In this way, this building was lying vacant for some time and the team of HCHW had approached and convinced the basthi leader in letting out to start a shelter home for children on streets. Infact, the basthi leader was least bothered about the purpose for which his building will be utilized and only concerned about the rent that he will be getting at the end of the month. There was no resistance from the local residents of the community as the building belonged to the basthi leader. Infact, there was a good support and cooperation from the neighborhood (to impress the basthi leader) as well as from the basthi leader (later realized that he intended to make money from the local well off showcasing this cause).

Thus, HCHW started a path breaking and first of its kind initiative by establishing a full fledged Shelter Home for children on streets. Thus the first Shelter Home (presently known as Child Development Centre – Hyderabad) was inaugurated on 15th August 1993
At Khairatabad by the then Minister for Labour, Mr. P Janardhan Reddy. Infact, this was a pioneering achievement in the non-profit sector. It was a general notion within the circles of non-profit organizations as well as civil society that these children (living on streets) do not require a home as they have already left their homes. People in general used to perceive that these children are a menace for the society and cannot be rehabilitated or reintegrated with their families as they lost the charm of childhood under the influence of hostilities on the street.