Since i have been 12 years old..old enuf to realize the world outside my cocoon, i have always felt for the street children... the ones who come at your car windows and tap gently. If you look beyond their grimy faces and ragged clothes, you will probably see honesty in their eyes and a teeny-tiny hope.. my throat would always choke up looking at their faces. Since then, i had this 20 year plan -- Once i have enuf money... i will build a 'home' for these kids... (always had something to do with the kids that melted my heart)... and educate these kids, teach them art and craft (have u ever noticed what amazing things they make and try to sell to you?) and sell their stuff to earn money for them. But i never knew where to begin till i earn 'that much money'!Last week i got my opportunity. So, you may have heard of the Teach India Foundation. I applied for that months ago. They replied in January, asking me to report to an organization called "Youth For Seva". They run schools all across Bangalore where they teach underprivileged children. Its an organization started by an IT fellow 2 yrs ago and now has grown crazy big. I couldn't go for the orientation (my parents were here)... and then work took a monster turn and i found myself with no time to breathe.
Then, they came up with a "Sponsor A Child" program. I decided that the least i could do was this. So i sent them a mail that i would love to Sponsor a Child and in case they want me to be a 'Coordinator' for any building (they needed those too), i could find time for that too. Last week, i got a call from a volunteer, telling me about the process of Sponsoring a Child. After he was done, he asked me where i worked. When i told him Oracle, he said "me too"... which building (we have over 10 buildings in Bangalore)... and before i knew it.. he had made me the 'Coordinator for Youth For Seva Of Oracle *My Building*'! I was thrilled.. This was it.. this was my chance to do my bit for the kids!!
And so, now i am making my plan to promote the cause in my office, telling people about Youth For Seva (and how its not a fraud)... how extraordinary and different the Sponsor Program is..and how they can see where their money is going. Its 500/- a month, you can make a 5-year plan for your sponsored child, you can 'choose' the child you want to sponsor, you need only 2-3 hours a week to spend with the child, meet his/her family and be completely involved!!! I love this! :)
I am glad, that finally, i am involved in something that i am passionate about. Infact, in my first job in a PR agency, one of my clients was 'Christel House', an international NGO/World-class school for underprivileged children in Bangalore. May i confess, i worked hardest on this client, i didn't miss an opportunity to visit the school and meet the children, the children who used to greet me every time they saw me -- "good morning Didi".. filled up my eyes...
A small incident that i remember which shudders me up till today. I was at Christel House one morning and visiting the 'Sick Room'! In the room, i found a little 10-yr old boy and a 9-yr old girl, talking to the 'Lady Doctor' there... They were talking in Kannada and the girl was crying.. i sat there, like a stone, coz i knew something was wrong and i wanted to know wat it was. When the kids left, i asked the lady, wat the problem was. She said, "The boy and the girl are in the same class. The girl always gets tiffin for the boy. But given any opportunity, the boy hits the girl, mostly for no reason. The girl cries, but then goes back to the boy and gets him tiffin the next day again. The girl doesn't break the friendship and the boy continues to hit her." I was shocked to hear that and wanted to go hit the boy myself. The lady said, "Tanu, do you know the reason behind this? The boy has seen his father, hit his mother, for no reason. The girl has seen her mother being hit by her father for no reason, and the mother still feeds the father after all the atrocities. This is what we are dealing with, Tanu." I had nothing to say, i sat there dumbstruck, till it hit me -- these people are not only giving knowledge to the kids, they are also teaching them valuable social and life lessons! 2 months later i returned to the school, spotted the girl and the boy, they were walking to the playground hand-in-hand. I went and asked the 'Lady Doctor' as to how the situation was, she said that the boy had written a 'sorry' card to the girl and now they were best friends. No one hit Anyone! :)
What i did for Christel House was coz it was my job.. Wat i am trying to begin with Youth For Seva, is a passion. A friend asked me "do you have time for this?".. i say - Hell yeah!... I will make time to promote this cause...and i will ensure that maximum people from my office sponsor a child..
Guys, come on, its a small little opportunity that make a huge difference in the life of a child! And all it takes is 500/- a month!!
