They wander the streets of Calcutta in their millions, in search of a livelihood; millions of children who live in squats, in shacks, on sidewalks … the majority are immigrants, clearly extremely poor, and are either orphans or have only one parent to support them.

Under these circumstances, where drug trafficking and sexual abuse are a daily threat, the children have neither the time nor the material or emotional stability to attend school and acquire the basic education that would enable them to learn a trade.

At the beginning of the 1990’s, Janine Walter, a retired English teacher, visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta. During this trip, she had a life-changing encounter with young volunteers who were providing informal education to the children of one of the poorest slums in the city. Deeply moved, she helped them to structure their program, creating the not-for-profit association Calcutta, de la rue à l’école (Calcutta, from the street to the school).

Juliette Karrer, an employee of BNP Paribas, has supported this association for nearly eight years. Now vice-president of the association, Juliet has received financial support from the BNP Paribas Foundation as part of its Coup de Pouce (Helping Hand) employee program.

Thanks to this support, Calcutta, from the street to the school has been able to carry out an innovative project: to create an educational “e-wall” in the heart of the slums of Calcutta, giving the most disadvantaged children in the city access to education and schooling, through the use of computers.

Computers will be installed on the external walls of youth centres, located in several neighbourhoods, and are already being used free of charge by Calcutta, from the street to the school for its introduction to education program in the heart of the slums. These computers will be accessible to children, who will be able use them completely independently. Equipped with a touch screen and designed to withstand the vagaries of the weather as well as power outages, the machines will have internet access and will feature a number of educational software programs that will build on the natural propensity for children to learn best in groups. Suitable for primary education, they will allow these children who do not attend school to acquire basic knowledge and skills.

Calcutta, from the street to the school

They wander the streets of Calcutta in their millions, in search of a livelihood; millions of children who live in squats, in shacks, on sidewalks … the majority are immigrants, clearly extremely poor, and are either orphans or have only one parent to support them.

Under these circumstances, where drug trafficking and sexual abuse are a daily threat, the children have neither the time nor the material or emotional stability to attend school and acquire the basic education that would enable them to learn a trade.

At the beginning of the 1990’s, Janine Walter, a retired English teacher, visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta. During this trip, she had a life-changing encounter with young volunteers who were providing informal education to the children of one of the poorest slums in the city. Deeply moved, she helped them to structure their program, creating the not-for-profit association Calcutta, de la rue à l’école (Calcutta, from the street to the school).

Juliette Karrer, an employee of BNP Paribas, has supported this association for nearly eight years. Now vice-president of the association, Juliet has received financial support from the BNP Paribas Foundation as part of its Coup de Pouce (Helping Hand) employee program.

Thanks to this support, Calcutta, from the street to the school has been able to carry out an innovative project: to create an educational “e-wall” in the heart of the slums of Calcutta, giving the most disadvantaged children in the city access to education and schooling, through the use of computers.

Computers will be installed on the external walls of youth centres, located in several neighbourhoods, and are already being used free of charge by Calcutta, from the street to the school for its introduction to education program in the heart of the slums. These computers will be accessible to children, who will be able use them completely independently. Equipped with a touch screen and designed to withstand the vagaries of the weather as well as power outages, the machines will have internet access and will feature a number of educational software programs that will build on the natural propensity for children to learn best in groups. Suitable for primary education, they will allow these children who do not attend school to acquire basic knowledge and skills.