Children's Cooperatives

Education, Health, and a Voice: How Butterflies NGO Builds Cooperatives with Street Children — Not Just for Them

Most people think of education as something that happens inside a building — four walls, desks, and a chalkboard.

Butterflies NGO thinks differently.

For street-connected and working children in New Delhi and beyond, the classroom might be an open-air contact point, the back of a van, or a peer-led savings meeting under the sky. What matters isn’t the building.

What matters is the child.

Street Education That Comes to the Children

Butterflies deliberately takes a non-institutional approach to education.

Rather than expecting marginalized children to adapt to rigid systems, qualified educators — trained as Child Rights Advocates and Child Development Officers — meet children where they actually live and work.

At eight open-air contact points, operating six days a week, educators provide foundational education while helping children transition into public schools.

After school hours, Butterflies also offers supplementary learning through collaborative study and peer tutoring groups.

This approach recognizes an important truth:
Children often learn best when they learn together.

And when a child helps teach others, they become more invested in their community’s success.

A School on Wheels

Some children cannot access even open-air contact points — especially those living in remote areas or affected by natural disasters.

For them, Butterflies operates a Mobile Learning Center (MLC).

This traveling classroom is a van stocked with:

• Books and study materials

• Art supplies and creative tools

• Educational resources

• Computer technology

The Mobile Learning Center serves children in New Delhi and Uttarakhand, delivering education directly to communities until students can be integrated into formal schools.

The van also visits regular Butterflies contact points after school hours, helping transform everyday gatherings into vibrant learning spaces.

Health Education, Led by Peers

Since 1995, the Child Health & Sports Cooperative (CHSC) has helped promote healthier lifestyles among street-connected children, their families, and surrounding communities.

What makes this program unique is its peer leadership model.

Children elect Child Health Educators (CHEs) every six months. These young leaders are trained to conduct workshops on topics such as:

• First aid

• Dental health

• Nutrition

• Disease prevention

• Personal hygiene

• Environmental cleanliness

Rather than adults delivering information from above, children become health educators themselves — building leadership, confidence, and community awareness.

A Bank of Their Own

In 2001, Butterflies launched the Children’s Development Khazana (CDK) — a financial management program designed specifically for working youth.

Participants open personal savings accounts where deposits earn interest, just like in a traditional bank.

More than two decades later, the program continues to empower young people with financial literacy and independence.

Members elect Volunteer Managers who operate the khazana at Butterflies’ eight contact points during six-month terms, supported by adult facilitators.

For many children who have rarely owned anything themselves, the program teaches them to:

• Save money

• Manage finances responsibly

• Build trust in financial systems

Because this system was designed with them, not just for them.

A Microphone, a Newsletter, a Stage

Through Butterflies Broadcasting Children (BBC), street-connected children gain something they are rarely given:

A voice.

BBC members create and produce:

• Newsletters

• Weekly radio broadcasts

• Digital storytelling projects

• Theater performances

These platforms allow children to share their experiences, concerns, and ideas with wider audiences.

In a world where many street children remain invisible, BBC ensures their stories are heard, respected, and impossible to ignore.

Partnership, Not Charity

Butterflies’ Children’s Cooperatives are not about charity.

They are about partnership — empowering children to participate actively in shaping their own futures.