Children of the streets

"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." 

- Kofi Annan

It is estimated that more than 400,000 street children in India exist. The majority of street children in India are boys with little or no education. Street children are of age group between 6 to 12 age. These children separate from their families and start living on their own in this wide world. Some common reasons are poverty, aberrant families and urbanization.

The basic education is also not provided to these children thus, they are not able to understand the difference between good and bad. At such mere age they do what they see. Such, children get easy influenced by people. Those people who are part of child trafficking. Thus, their future is hindered.

"On the street there is no tomorrow. There is only here and now and nothing else. And yesterday is just another day you’re trying to forget."

-Darlenne Susan Girard

Most children who leave home to live on the streets come from slums or low cost housing, both which are areas of high illiteracy, drug use, and unemployment. Children usually transfer their lives to the streets through a gradual process; they may at first only stay on the street a night or two. Then, the street turns their home!

As their basic needs are not accomplished they get involved in many criminal activities. Street robberies, Pick pockets, Drug and nicotine addiction and many more other activities. At your suprise, there are lakhs of street children in the highest economic city Mumbai! So now question arises, Is Mumbai really economically strong? Then turn out to whole of India, Is India economically strong to fulfil the basic needs of these children?

If you and me take a step forward, then yes India is economically strong to fulfil the basic needs of these children. Contribute not more not little but, what suits your pocket and needs of others. This is my step towards Better India and Better Us! I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda.

 Support the fight against Hunger and Education

Better India Better Us!

Child is meant to Learn, not to Earn..

On my way back home, I thought of having chai at the tapri nearby, So me and my wife went near the tapri, The chaiwala was preparing masala chai on a coal fire, besides him was a small boy, in morbid condition thin, tanned and it looked like the child managed somehow to fit in those trousers, wearing a shirt which must have been washed ages ago. You would pitty that poor little soul.
As he walked towards us, he slipped and fell on his face, the unglazed clay teacups (Kulhar) broke and the tea was all over the floor. The chaiwala yelled at him, and hit him hard. The poor little boy could only cry.
When me and my wife yelled at the chaiwala for hitting him, the chaiwala said, " Last month, this boy cried and praised near me to lend him 1000Rs and when its time to pay back, He has nothing in hand and agreed to work here. Since, the day he started working here he is creating mess around. He broke 5 kulhar's and now you are yelling at me for this boy!"
The tears in his eyes were so pure, that I couldn't resist myself from paying his loan amount. Me and my wife had word with that poor child, He said, "Saheb, Dhanyawadh! "
When my wife asked him "Why you borrowed 1000Rs ?"
He answered, " My dad left my mom for another woman, I have 2 sister's and a younger brother, My mom couldn't handle this and she tried to commit suicide. My mom was hospitalised and we went short of money, So I borrowed 1000Rs from Shamkumar Uncle (Chaiwala). We have no earning member in our family, so I couldn't pay back the loan and now I left school and have to work here." We took him to the NGO and the NGO is working for the betterment of that poor soul.
Put children in classes, not for washing the glasses!

This was just a short story depicting the problems faced by children. According to the 2011 national census of India, it is found that the total number of child labour, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35 million and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group.

These Children facing child labour, Just want better future.  

Make their Future Bright,
Shape their Future Right.
Please do a favor,
Stop this Child Labor.

I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with BlogAdda and Akshaya Patra!

India, Going Hungry!

If I ask, "Describe India in one word? " The senior citizen's might say "Independent! " most of the middle age citizens might say "Corruption." and people of my age might say "Freedom!" All we want is Freedom!!! Freedom doesn't just mean equal rights or free to do anything anywhere it simply means freedom from everything, from poverty to corruption from malnutrition to education. We just want a Better India! Dreaming about better India isn't difficult but chasing that dream is. I already wrote about poverty and hunger. 

Now let me write about Malnutrition. So what is Malnutrition? Malnutrition is a subject of National Shame! India is the most chronically malnourished country according to 2008 statistics. Undernourished children have more risk of death than children who are well-nourished. Thus these children are more prone to serious diseases. We live in a country that prides itself on power and weatlh, yet there are millions of children who go hungry every day. We all should stand together, together as one and fight against this obstacle.

There are list of causes for malnutrition. So if I sum up them they include:

• Poverty.
• Illiterate mothers (or ones having less than five years of education).
• Poor access to medical services. 
• Poor sanitation.
• Early marriages of girls.
• Pregnancy at early age resulting in ignorance about nutritional needs of infants and thus low birth weight of the newborns.
• Poor breastfeeding and many more resulting to malnutrition.

Proper nutrition is important, Nutrition ensure proper growth of mind and body. Mental and physical development both are important. Good nourishment is the right of every child and the government is also taken good steps towards it. Government needs our support and we all should show our participation in the national schemes. One of it is School feeding. It not only fills stomachs, but has a proven track record of boosting enrollment, attendance and academic performance. There are many other national schemes and we should look upto participating in it.

To prevent malnutrition there are simple ways :

• Proper and nutritious food should be feed during pregnancy. 
• Improve breastfeeding practice. 
• Proper sanitation must be maintained to avoid risk of infection. 
• Proper nourishment must be done, over nourishment and under nourishment both are harmful. 
• Control deficiencies in adolescent girls and women. 
• Provide proper care to children at proper age.
• Provide information about Malnutrition.

If a child is malnourished both brain and body will put their hands down. Hungry people cannot be good at learning or producing anything, except perhaps violence. The child will neither be able to educate nor play properly. As said, Hunger and education must never go hand in hand. The graph shows us the rate of children under malnutrition

For better future India need better youth and for the betterment we should take steps to get ridoff Malnutrition. Think twice before you waste even a small grain. Somewhere atleast one child will be craving for food at this minute. I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda 

For Better India Better Us!

What You Don't Know About Children in India, May Shock You!

After reading about the initiative taken by BlogAdda and Akshaya Patra i.e 'One blog post can feed one child for a year!’ Out of curiosity, I googled to know more about the condition of children in India. I was astonished reading about so many difficulties faced by the children at such small age. Poverty is a national disaster! It should be cured in time because, Imagining better India is really difficult after reading this.

"Poverty is multidimensional. It extends beyond money incomes to education, health care, political participation and advancement of one’s own culture and social organisation."- Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Poverty is a chronic condition for almost 30 per cent of India's rural population. The main suffer's of poverty are the innocent children. These children hardly get daily bread and the word education is no where in their dictionary. The only option left is begging or robbery. Their parent sent them on streets thus, their future is misguided.

I would like to share an inspiring story "The Story of Sunshine Project "

(src: http://www.sunshineproject-delhi.org )

Place: New Delhi, Capital of India

In 2002, Kuku Arora met a little girl called Roshni on his way to work. Little Roshini was approximately two years of age, had only one hand. Kuku and his wife Priti started to feed her a little food every day, but one morning she just disappeared. The couple missed her and started looking for her. After some time, they found Roshni begging. At that moment, watching the little girl begging in a very busy main street the Aroras decided to help. They had a conversation with her parents and suggested that they could look after the child during the day, providing food, healthcare and education. As Roshni’s parents lived on the street and the discussion between them and the Aroras became rather heated, more and more children came close to listen and finally asked eyes wide open whether they could come, too! This is how the wonderful idea was born twelve years ago: to give the kids from the streets the gift of a safe and happy childhood. It was only the next day that Kuku and Priti started out with no less than 17 children. They named their remarkable task "Sunshine Project". They provided them food and edcuation with love and affection. An inspiring couple, Big salute to both of them for an excellent beginning. (To know more about the Sunshine Project Click Here )

If every citizen of India comes forward with a helping hand towards these children India will surely be able to overcome the National disaster-Poverty. So lets start from today 'We all promise to show a helping hand towards these little chidren'. I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda

 Better India, Better Us!

Hunger and Education! What will child be like in 100 years?

"Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year."-Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil. In India, it claims that 10 million people die every year of chronic hunger and hunger-related disorder's. Based on government estimates that 35.6% of Indian women and 34.2% of Indian men have BMIs less than 18.5.

 
The Planning Commission’s India Human Development Report states, “If India is not in a state of famine, it is quite clearly in a state of chronic hunger.” Dr. John Butterly, executive director of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and co-author of “Hunger: The Biology and Politics of Starvation,” says chronic malnutrition often leads to a compromised immune system and makes a person unable to fight off organisms “that a normally fed human would barely notice.”
The Prime Minister called India’s malnutrition problem a national shame after a survey revealed that 42% of the nation’s children are underweight. Without oil, Machine fails at his work similarly, without food human fail at their work. Children are the roots of better India if they are not feed proper it will lead to disaster in near future. 

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others."- Saint Augustine.If you google you'll find number of families who have lost their children due to Malnutrition. There are many families in India who waste large amount of food while, few who sacrifice their food for others*Wastage and Sacrifice are two different terms*. For a better India we need healthy children. If you are hungry your mind becomes unstable, you act like a demon. Hunger and education should never go hand in hand.

A hungry child will never be able to learn and play properly. Without fun and education the road towards better future is difficult. For a better India we need better youth. Healthy Children are real treasure's for better future of India. If it goes like this only for next few years then, then think what will it be like in the next 100 years? We all should make an attempt to contribute and it's really an amazing attempt of BlogAdda and Akshaya patra "One blog post can feed one child for a year". I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda