Working with CRY
Working with CRY:
A life changing experience
So it was summer 2012. My first year in my engineering course was over and I was home on a two month long vacation. Two months is a very long time and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do during my break. However, my father had told me about this internship programme at CRY that he had read about in the newspaper and I was looking forward to joining it. I had always wanted to do something like that, to be a part of a NGO and understand how they go about tackling all the societal issues. So on the morning of June 3, 2012 I headed for the CRY office in Saket, Delhi. They have their volunteers meeting on Sundays. And there began my journey with CRY.
I took up their theatre workshop programme. My thoughts on the workshop were something like this: so they’ll give us all a script, make us recite the parts and then decide on the part we played best. But it was nothing like that. We were a group of thirty people. We came from all over the city and so mostly none of us knew each other. Our guide made us do all sorts of activities. We also discussed and shared our own experiences and opinions on child abuse, child labour, the RTE Act etc. It was through these activities and discussions that we got to know each other’s strengths and slowly a group of 30 strangers became a team. So within a span of six days we all became great friends and were able to prepare a beautiful script for our street play. We were all highly motivated, felt great pride in what we were doing and were all set to move the hearts of the people watching us; to make a difference in our own little way. Our first performance at the Indian Habitat Centre was a great success and there after we performed the play all over Delhi.
Throughout this journey with CRY, the thing that fascinated me the most was the power that lies in human emotions. A little hope, a little encouragement, a smile, a shoulder to cry upon or some time to share; these “little” things have the power to change someone’s life; millions of lives. To be able to make or change someone else’s life is a great responsibility to take on; for making one’s own life isn’t any easy business either. But people have done this. They have fought for the rights of their fellow humans; some have even laid down their lives. But change has been brought about. CRY helped me to realise that however slow the process of change may be, if our efforts are honest the aim will be accomplished.
Encouraged by my experience at CRY, I decided to start a small group in my college, with the help of CRY. So after getting a few friends as volunteers and all the permission work settled, the group began its journey. We often talked to children and their families around our college campus. We also went to a government school in a village, on the outskirts of our city. Believe me, the joy and contentment we felt after interacting with those children is something that is not easy to put into words. Every time that we visited them, on our way back, most of us had happy tears and in our minds millions of questions and thoughts. Thoughts like how we have had such a comfortable childhood and yet so much to complain about. And how these children have not had an easy life and the moment they see a little hope somewhere, they are thrilled. They are always eager to learn and grasp whatever life has to offer to them. And they are not just energetic but intelligent and quick at learning too. They are just as lovely as any child could be and yet life has not been as sweet for them as it has been for so many of us! Isn’t it ironical that we have so many opportunities and facilities and yet so much to complain about and these children have hardly any opportunities and they hardly complain? In fact, they try to make the most out of the opportunity at their hand.
It was through interactions with these children that my friends and I got to learn so many things; looking at life from their eyes helped us broaden our perspective on life. They made us realise the value of a smile, of time, of the gifts life had given us, of the pampering we received from our family and most importantly of our responsibility towards society. I believe that there is no one else but us to blame for what these children have suffered and are continuing to suffer; each one of us in the society is equally responsible. Sadly though for various reasons our group has not really been able to help these children much besides listening to them, playing with them and putting a smile to their face. But what I know for sure is that in the near future, in our own little ways each one of us will surely do something about this.
Well, I always knew that there is life beyond us and there are difficulties much greater than the ones we face. But through CRY I got to experience it. It has helped me add a new meaning and dimension to the way I looked at and understood life. And from what I have learnt I would like to share a thought with you: ‘Take a little time out of your busy schedules and add a new dimension to your life; there is much we can do to make this world a better place to be in for one and all’. I know you must have heard it often but it is true. We can make a difference. Think about it!
Cheers to CRY and all the other NGOs and people who work for the society.
Cheers to Sanya and Ramon! You guys made it all the more special in Delhi. Both of you are such amazing people and I am glad that we still keep in touch!
Cheers to all my friends who volunteered to be a part of the college group.
A life changing experience
So it was summer 2012. My first year in my engineering course was over and I was home on a two month long vacation. Two months is a very long time and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do during my break. However, my father had told me about this internship programme at CRY that he had read about in the newspaper and I was looking forward to joining it. I had always wanted to do something like that, to be a part of a NGO and understand how they go about tackling all the societal issues. So on the morning of June 3, 2012 I headed for the CRY office in Saket, Delhi. They have their volunteers meeting on Sundays. And there began my journey with CRY.
I took up their theatre workshop programme. My thoughts on the workshop were something like this: so they’ll give us all a script, make us recite the parts and then decide on the part we played best. But it was nothing like that. We were a group of thirty people. We came from all over the city and so mostly none of us knew each other. Our guide made us do all sorts of activities. We also discussed and shared our own experiences and opinions on child abuse, child labour, the RTE Act etc. It was through these activities and discussions that we got to know each other’s strengths and slowly a group of 30 strangers became a team. So within a span of six days we all became great friends and were able to prepare a beautiful script for our street play. We were all highly motivated, felt great pride in what we were doing and were all set to move the hearts of the people watching us; to make a difference in our own little way. Our first performance at the Indian Habitat Centre was a great success and there after we performed the play all over Delhi.
Throughout this journey with CRY, the thing that fascinated me the most was the power that lies in human emotions. A little hope, a little encouragement, a smile, a shoulder to cry upon or some time to share; these “little” things have the power to change someone’s life; millions of lives. To be able to make or change someone else’s life is a great responsibility to take on; for making one’s own life isn’t any easy business either. But people have done this. They have fought for the rights of their fellow humans; some have even laid down their lives. But change has been brought about. CRY helped me to realise that however slow the process of change may be, if our efforts are honest the aim will be accomplished.
Encouraged by my experience at CRY, I decided to start a small group in my college, with the help of CRY. So after getting a few friends as volunteers and all the permission work settled, the group began its journey. We often talked to children and their families around our college campus. We also went to a government school in a village, on the outskirts of our city. Believe me, the joy and contentment we felt after interacting with those children is something that is not easy to put into words. Every time that we visited them, on our way back, most of us had happy tears and in our minds millions of questions and thoughts. Thoughts like how we have had such a comfortable childhood and yet so much to complain about. And how these children have not had an easy life and the moment they see a little hope somewhere, they are thrilled. They are always eager to learn and grasp whatever life has to offer to them. And they are not just energetic but intelligent and quick at learning too. They are just as lovely as any child could be and yet life has not been as sweet for them as it has been for so many of us! Isn’t it ironical that we have so many opportunities and facilities and yet so much to complain about and these children have hardly any opportunities and they hardly complain? In fact, they try to make the most out of the opportunity at their hand.
It was through interactions with these children that my friends and I got to learn so many things; looking at life from their eyes helped us broaden our perspective on life. They made us realise the value of a smile, of time, of the gifts life had given us, of the pampering we received from our family and most importantly of our responsibility towards society. I believe that there is no one else but us to blame for what these children have suffered and are continuing to suffer; each one of us in the society is equally responsible. Sadly though for various reasons our group has not really been able to help these children much besides listening to them, playing with them and putting a smile to their face. But what I know for sure is that in the near future, in our own little ways each one of us will surely do something about this.
Well, I always knew that there is life beyond us and there are difficulties much greater than the ones we face. But through CRY I got to experience it. It has helped me add a new meaning and dimension to the way I looked at and understood life. And from what I have learnt I would like to share a thought with you: ‘Take a little time out of your busy schedules and add a new dimension to your life; there is much we can do to make this world a better place to be in for one and all’. I know you must have heard it often but it is true. We can make a difference. Think about it!
Cheers to CRY and all the other NGOs and people who work for the society.
Cheers to Sanya and Ramon! You guys made it all the more special in Delhi. Both of you are such amazing people and I am glad that we still keep in touch!
Cheers to all my friends who volunteered to be a part of the college group.
Posted by Vasudha Rajain on 26th Dec 2013
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toh kya tum phir yuhin chup reh jaaoge........???
Aaj hai ye manch jis par; dekh rahe ho tum mujhe,
Kal shayad koi aur tha; jisne bhi ye manch sajaya tha,
Aaj bhi mai hoon; kal bhi main hi tha,
Baat ye alag hai; ki chehra koi aur tha,
Jise tamasha tum samajh rhe ho; woh meri zindagi hai,
Baat ye alag hai ; ki ye tamasha ban gayi hai,
Kal dhabe par jo chay tumne mangwaya tha;
Haath jala tha mera; par phir bhi main use laya tha,
Kisi ke ghar ka farsh jab maine chamkaya tha;
Tumhe wahan nazar aaya tha main ; par tumne farsh par gaur farmaya tha,
Kya mazboori thi meri; kya socha hai tumne kabhi,
Garibi......? nahin!!
Ye shabd to sirf ek dhaal hai; barson se mera yahi haal hai,
Aaj yahan se jab tum jaaoge,
Sadkon par dekh mujhe; kya phir muh firaoge,
Jab hoga mere saath galat; toh kya tum phir yuhin chup reh jaaoge,
Toh kya tum phir yuhin chup reh jaaoge........???
Compiled by - Nancy Priya on 17th June 2012
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Educate Every Child
It has been almost 6 months that I joined cry. when I talk to people around me about the educational rights of a child and its condition in our country they tell me that it’s a nice thing to work and support for but there are other more serious and imp issues to deal with like corruption, global warming and crime for example. Of course these are of prime importance but are all these problems not related?
Is it possible to make people honest, caring and responsible after a few speeches and moral lectures? Can a grown up man who’s been brought up witnessing bribes, politics and lies ever going to change his beliefs? It’s so hard to make a corrupt politician realize that all the power given to him by the system is for the benefit of the society and not his own.
Even if we get determined to remove the corrupt people or punish the law breakers the change can never be permanent. There will always be some such people until they are taught at the 1st stage of their life- childhood.
And this gives us the solution to most of the issues in our society-educate every child, academically, socially and morally.
Children are the future of a country we were told, but we have never taken it literally.
We see children as young as 10 year old working in shops, households and begging at roads. And this is after RTE has been enacted and there is free education and meals for all children who fall below poverty line!
The education rate in India has gone from 65.38% to 74.04% in the last decade. But our capital, Delhi is 9th in order with a literacy rate of 86.3 %( same as Andaman & nicobar islands but lower than Chandigarh, Daman And Diu, Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep , Mizoram , Puducherry And Tripura ).
It’s not that we are not working to provide education to all. There are about 1780 MCD(municipal corporation of Delhi) schools in the capital that are to provide a number of facilities including mid-day meals, free books, copies, school bags, dresses, shoes and water bottles to the economically weaker sections of the capital.
The main problem lies in the actual implementations of these schemes. Still there are about 25 lakh students enrolled in the 56 tent schools in Delhi that do not have adequate infrastructure and children are forced to study in tents without any rooms or furniture in this killing heat. Some schools even lack the basic amenities like drinking water and clean toilets (as inspected by the C.R.Y team)
I would like to share an instance from last month when we had a puja at our home and decided to distribute lunch to the small kids from a nearby village. While eating I tried to make a conversation with them by asking about there schools. Surprisingly they didn’t go to school!
I started a polite conversant with them and they replied to me in equally polite words. When we became friendly after a few minute’s chats suddenly 2 boys from the group, about 8 yrs each started making fun of the other to make me laugh and soon I heard them abusing each other playfully. They probably didn’t know the meaning of the words they were speaking but the language came because of their illiteracy.
Doesn’t this behavior directly reflect the lack of education? The same boys had talked to me very politely when I talked to them in the same way.
There short polite conversation was a small proof of the fact that they can be made to learn if educated properly and timely.
Do extend a hand for child education and welfare because our future lies in them.
Compiled by - Himanshi Sharma on 13th May 2012
Is it possible to make people honest, caring and responsible after a few speeches and moral lectures? Can a grown up man who’s been brought up witnessing bribes, politics and lies ever going to change his beliefs? It’s so hard to make a corrupt politician realize that all the power given to him by the system is for the benefit of the society and not his own.
Even if we get determined to remove the corrupt people or punish the law breakers the change can never be permanent. There will always be some such people until they are taught at the 1st stage of their life- childhood.
And this gives us the solution to most of the issues in our society-educate every child, academically, socially and morally.
Children are the future of a country we were told, but we have never taken it literally.
We see children as young as 10 year old working in shops, households and begging at roads. And this is after RTE has been enacted and there is free education and meals for all children who fall below poverty line!
The education rate in India has gone from 65.38% to 74.04% in the last decade. But our capital, Delhi is 9th in order with a literacy rate of 86.3 %( same as Andaman & nicobar islands but lower than Chandigarh, Daman And Diu, Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep , Mizoram , Puducherry And Tripura ).
It’s not that we are not working to provide education to all. There are about 1780 MCD(municipal corporation of Delhi) schools in the capital that are to provide a number of facilities including mid-day meals, free books, copies, school bags, dresses, shoes and water bottles to the economically weaker sections of the capital.
The main problem lies in the actual implementations of these schemes. Still there are about 25 lakh students enrolled in the 56 tent schools in Delhi that do not have adequate infrastructure and children are forced to study in tents without any rooms or furniture in this killing heat. Some schools even lack the basic amenities like drinking water and clean toilets (as inspected by the C.R.Y team)
I would like to share an instance from last month when we had a puja at our home and decided to distribute lunch to the small kids from a nearby village. While eating I tried to make a conversation with them by asking about there schools. Surprisingly they didn’t go to school!
I started a polite conversant with them and they replied to me in equally polite words. When we became friendly after a few minute’s chats suddenly 2 boys from the group, about 8 yrs each started making fun of the other to make me laugh and soon I heard them abusing each other playfully. They probably didn’t know the meaning of the words they were speaking but the language came because of their illiteracy.
Doesn’t this behavior directly reflect the lack of education? The same boys had talked to me very politely when I talked to them in the same way.
There short polite conversation was a small proof of the fact that they can be made to learn if educated properly and timely.
Do extend a hand for child education and welfare because our future lies in them.
Compiled by - Himanshi Sharma on 13th May 2012
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Encounter With Childhood
Help child labors; don’t make them your helping hand!
In spite of the rising literacy rate of our country we can see small children working in almost every part of our nation. Be it at a tea shop, a hawkers' spot, a dumping ground, a restaurant and even a hazardous place such as cracker factory, child labor is visible everywhere. The main reason for this is that Children are cheap labors. As a child is weak and can’t protest or stand up for himself/herself, one can extract more work out of them without paying them much.
India has highest number of laborers in the world less than 14 yrs of age. There are about 60 million children working as labors. But these are just the known numbers. The real picture is even worse as most kids are “hidden workers” and there condition is not even known to the world. Total stats for child labour-12.6 million and around 0.12 million children work in hazardous job like cracker making, brick kilns etc. The government has set up Child labor act in 1986 and the Min age of employment set by govt of India is 14 yrs but this has not helped much in eliminating this problem.
Sharing one of my encounters on this topic, there is a small teashop outside my company where a lady works. More than tea they mainly sell cigarettes, and other smoking stuff. I never paid attention to it until one day our senior took us there for a cup of tea. I saw the 5-6 yr old daughter of the lady standing with her. I thought maybe the lady doesn’t know about the free education scheme for children and thought of telling her about it. I asked the little girl’s name, trying to make a conversation. She was very shy and looked away. A group of men came there, brought cigarettes and started smoking. It was hard to stand there with so much smoke around me and I left for my office. While walking away I heard a senior manager (also smoking) asking for tea and then said he’ll only have it if the little girl makes it! Everyone agreed in unison and started motivating the girl to work. They had a pride in their voice like they are helping the girl by giving more preference to her work than other workers. Those were all educated professionals working at good positions. However, I believe they could have helped more had they motivated her to study Instead.
A child trusts their elders and is completely dependent on them. Let us not break their faith and give them the care they deserve.
Compiled by - Himanshi Sharma
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Innocent Encounter
Sadhna , Chandan ,
Rahul, Vikram , Madhavi, Chiranjeet ,Partho, Vikram...No these are not
the friends I usually hang out with ,but would rather love to spend more
time with.
Yet , i can say that i
have made some wonderful friends in a span of a mere 1 hour. They
really know how to be happy, to smile effortlessly irrespective of the
fact that they don’t enjoy the comforts of the modern life as we all do.
These are the names
of the little fellows I had the chance of meeting this Monday along with
my friend , Lakshay. We spotted these carefree tiny tots against the
backdrop of a construction site in Noida. Much to my relief, they were
not made to work alongside the workers .But, I was really eager to know
what was the reason of the amazing smiles on these faces?
So , we both got into
the act of knowing our new friends by asking them a few basic questions
like, “ kya naam hai” ? “Pura din kya karte ho”?, Going further into
our conversation we came to know that some of them don’t know how old
were they ? And they did not know how much of a difference basic
education would make to their lives. Yes, they were happy about all
this, which is a sad thing to know.
In the meantime,
Lakshay managed to get some wonderful pictures capturing their innocent
faces. This really got them excited with one of them asking, ”Uncle meri
photo kheecho” which obviously irked my friend but neverthless we
continued with our conversation.
And then joined in Pooja,Madhavi and Sadhna .We got the three of them to sit down and interviewed them for some time.
The Girl Child-
This part remains
the most interesting and thought provoking .In a world where the ability
to dream is not an easy a virtue to find,we managed to get the most
innocent and genuine answers from these two girls.
“ Hum Padhne nahin jaate”.
“Mujhe nahin pata main kitne saalon ki hun “
“ Main Doctor Banungi”
“ Main Police Banungi”
What are we trying to highlight here is that
-Inspite of all the chaos around their lives ,these kids want to study but really don’t know how to go about this aim?
-There are additional
problems that should not be ignored. The lack of money for instance,
the daily struggle their parents go through for the sake of survival.
How do we tackle such issues ?
The least we can do is spend some more time with them and make them smile for some time.
The table below lists the names of these children with their ages .
Names Age
Sadhna
|
10 years
|
Chandan
|
5 years
|
Rahul
|
7 years
|
Vikram
|
5 years
|
Madhavi
|
9 years
|
Chiranjeet
|
5 years
|
Partho
|
10 years
|
Vikram
|
11 years
|
Call for action-
This whole episode will remain futile, if no further action is taken in
this regard. So we urge all the volunteers to at least try and take the
work forward by talking to these children and if possible look for
avenues to get them enrolled in schools. And do help spread the message
forward.
Compiled by-Ishan Mahajan and Lakshay Jethi
 |
| Ishan |
 |
| Lakshay |
No comments:
Post a Comment