Sakthi hails from the Narikura Community in Tiruvannamalai hills of Tamil Nadu. The communityis a largely discriminated one, and its children hardly get accepted in schools. Sakthi toodropped out of school and went back to his community’s ways of rag-picking. It was ahand-to-mouth existence, with five siblings in the family. The 12-year-old’s life changed when hewas identified by Hand in Hand India to continue his education. The Residential Special TrainingCentre (RSTC) gave Sakthi the advantage of a great atmosphere for learning, with teacherswho made him feel like family. The RSTCs run by us provides children an opportunity to regaintheir childhood through value-based education. This new episode of his life saw him become achanged person and also a motivator for 28 more of his community to join school.