We see beggars every day. Small children are born into poverty living on the street fighting for survival. Their futures seem to be non-existent. Do they have a chance to get a brighter future away from the slum?
Salaam Baalak Trust
Salaam
Baalak Trust helps children living on the street. They give them a home and
teach them. We were on a city walk in the slum with two former slum kids as our
guides. They told us their amazing
stories and how they went from being poor children living in the slum to educated
and happy young men. We met some of the organization's small boys as well. They
each had their own sad past, but their happy faces and eagerness to communicate
with us, showed us their life courage. They all had dreams; some wanted to
become a Bollywood star and others a pilot. Salaam Baalak Trust has given these
children a chance to get a life out of the slum and to make their dreams come true.
Inclusion at Amar Joyti
Amar Joyti is
a school for children with different disabilities. The school has many facilities
to help the children: such as physiotherapy, x-ray, dentist and a factory for
making artificial limbs. The children are
taught how to take care of themselves. E.g. they learn how to use braille or sign language. This
gives them the ability to live an as normal life as possible and also improves
their confidence. There are also children without any disabilities. We watched
as all the kids playing together in the schoolyard. This is a fantastic example
of inclusion.
The
organizations have given opportunities to those who didn't have any in the
first place. The children that did not have any future now believe in a
brighter life.
2l dancing at Amar Jyoti with the children
Corruption
One of the main
issues for the poor people in India to get as many opportunities as possible is
corruption. For instance the wealthier parents can pay the schools or
universities their children are applying to, so they easily can get in without
the principals questioning anything. We already knew that corruption is one of
the main issues of India, but we hadn't experienced it before today.
The lights
of Diwali brighten up the streets in Delhi. But the policemen took advantage of
this to earn a bit of extra money. So when the bus driver decided to park just
next to a "no parking and no stopping sign" just in front of a police
station he had to pay a fee. The policemen wanted 10.000 Rupees if our driver
should have his licence back. The fee is normally much lower, around 200-300
Rupees, but because of the Diwali they could claim more. They also knew how
desperate we were to get the bus back so they tried to make us pay even more
than others. Thanks to our guide we ended up paying "only" 3000
Rupees. While the guide and the bus driver were at the police station we all waited
outside in the sun. After one hour they finally came back and we could move on.
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