Why Sponsor Education for a Prisoner's Child?

To say that a prisoner’s life is hard is an understatement. The process, the time taken, the treatment meted out makes the entire journey very painful leaving scars at every step. How different is it for a prisoner’s family?

Whether proven guilty or not, sentenced or otherwise, their life can never be the same again. They are caught in a whirlwind of trauma that never seems to end. In most cases, the family is judged or branded as being that of ‘criminals’. Families are ostracized from society wherein even the extended family does not support them. House owners ask them to vacate. Spouses find it hard to earn a living if the bread-winner of the family is imprisoned. Children have the worst to bear. Left to the mercy of society, these children are isolated, denied social circles, asked to leave school and abused in many cases.

Image for representational purposes only

Did you know that children upto the age of 6 are required to stay with the mother, if she is imprisoned? Imagine the life of a child who is raised with a parent(s) in prison or one who is left behind at home when one or both parents are imprisoned. They deserve a normal upbringing and life as any of us or our children. However, we hardly know these children exist or what kind of lives they lead. Our attempt, at Imagine, is to understand these children, keep our judgements aside and to help them build a future where the shadows of crime and injustice don’t follow them. Our acts of love and respect can go a long way in healing these young lives.

This introduction was necessary to understand why The Imagine Trust has chosen to work with children of prisoners. Through our Imagine Educare project, we intend to sponsor the education many such children. Our small attempt can be a life-changer for these children where education is still a luxury. Join us in this mission to make education accessible to these children. Your contribution can change their lives.

Process

The Imagine Trust has offered to help children of prisoners. These children have been identified with the help of Prison Ministry India, an organization that is a pioneer in rehabilitation and reformation of prisoners for over 2 decades. Our process ensures that the background of the child and the need is verified. Confidentiality of every child will be maintained throughout the process. Proper receipts will be collected on disbursements of funds and an annual tracking of the progress reports will be maintained at The Imagine Trust. The identity of the donors will not be shared with the beneficiaries.

In addition, we will also be providing assistance to children from families that are severely affected by the Covid situation. 

Update

We ran a fund-raiser in June & July for the education of children of prisoners and families severely affected by covid. We are happy to share that we have been able to sponsor/support the education of 16 children ranging from LKG to LLB. We thank each of you who contributed towards this initiative.