For a boy of 4, ECCD2, his entire world is the prison where he lives with his mother. ECCD2 was born in the spring of 2018 in Gurugram prison and unfortunately has never gotten the chance to see the outside world or experience it. Day to day, normal objects tend to scare ECCD2, for instance, a garbage collecting tractor makes him cling to his mother in fear, because that is how limited his knowledge of the world is.
ECCD2’s mother was sentenced to prison for a heinous crime. She, due to her prison sentence or reasons under treatment, developed temperament issues that included anger; irritation; a sympathetic and cold behaviour in her daily life which affected ECCD2 and he too would always be angry and irritable, more so when he was given instructions or corrections. He mirrored his mother’s emotions because that is what he saw all day. His
mother, due to her temperament issues and disappointments, refused to send her son to the in-prison creche.
The foundation recognized the need to first intervene with ECCD2’s mother where her son’s future was discussed at length, just so she could be convinced to send him to the creche. After multiple efforts, the mother agreed, and ECCD2 was immediately incorporated into the creche activities. A bright, smart child, ECCD2 quickly adjusted himself to the schedule and started taking a lot of interest in all the activities within the creche. In the
creche, the focus was not just education but also values and morals, wherein he was taught to be kind, to share and to not get angry. ECCD2 now has a good relationship with the creche worker as well as his peers, he can read and write, he looks forward to attending the creche activities, he recites poems with a lot of enthusiasm and is extremely expressive. The foundation is trying its best to prepare him for the world outside.
