GoodWeave-supported Motivation and Learning Camps (MLCs) were established to help bring the benefit of schooling in rural villages in India where children are especially vulnerable to exploitation. The MLCs are crucial in bridging the education gap between at-risk children and the rest of their school-going peers, which can become a key factor in allowing these children the ability to choose their own path—as exemplified by a young boy named Sudhir.

11-year-old Sudhir came to Panipat over three years ago when his entire family left their native Nepal in search of jobs. Today, his mother works as a weaver in a carpet factory and his father is a guard in that same place. While in Nepal, Sudhir attended school regularly, but his studies had stalled after the move.

It wasn’t until April 2017 that the GoodWeave team enrolled him in a local school in Panipat. To make up for his prolonged absence from a classroom, he was encouraged to take bridge classes at the MLC as well. When asked what it meant to him to be back in classroom, Sudhir’s eyes welled up. “I can become a teacher now,” he told us. “I really, really don’t want to be a factory worker.”