Nilanjana, a young girl came to the office of Joining Hands with high level of motivation to do something for the underprivileged. Seeing her enthusiasm to volunteer and the preference of geographical area she was placed with one of our partner NGO: Salaam Baalak Trust. At the contact point where street children are gathered and engaged in some constructive activity she got involved in teaching and counseling the children who were either drug addicts or had been victims of addiction. Her interaction with the parents of these children gave her a greater insight into their lives. Here’s her experience in her own words:
Having a natural inclination to get involved in social work, I volunteered while in school and when in college I got engaged in teaching blind students. Joining hands introduced me to Salaam Baalak Trust and it exposed me to life on the street.
I saw the street life. It’s vibrant yet gloomy.
There is hope on the streets but lot of despair
There is pain clouded by smiles
Life is different on the streets
Leading difficult lives but that’s their way of life
They don’t want to give up this way of life
I visibly see myself being more positive
I realized that those kids don’t need our sympathy
They just need lot of love and affection
They are smart kids capable of doing anything under the sun
Being whoso ever they want to be but lack the opportunity
A helping hand is all they need
I have learnt from my experience that one must never give up hope in life
Because many people just survive on that one word
Hope for a better tomorrow!
The experience was enriching. I got exposed to a completely new life. I must have passed by C.P a hundred times before, however since I was not volunteering before I never really noticed this other side of C.P where there exist people who are leading completely different lives from ours. It’s like saying that one never really knows about the wet unless one buys a pet. What I noticed in particular was that the kids are very street smart. They are up to date with all the recent movies but the sad part is that most of these kids end up getting into drugs. The free availability of drugs in that area is a menace. I came across a child who had given up on drugs completely on his own will. The volunteering project opened my eyes to this menace of drugs.
The project that I was involved in focused primarily on teaching the street kids and counseling them. I also focused on a lot of craft work because it was something they were genuinely interested in. The kids enjoyed learning about new facts so I made it a point to get my own personal books. I taught basic English to one kid who was very keen on learning the language. Considering the fact that I volunteered only for sometime I could not teach him English in detail but I focused on the basic things.
It was the craft bit which actually got out the real talent of the kids. They are very innovative. They saw waste material and in no time turned the waste paper into a bag. Their creative bend of mind was brought out when I conducted the craft class.
I did not dislike anything about the project. However I feel that working with the kids for just 2 to 3 hours in a day does not bring about the desired changes. After all, the kids revert to their normal street life. It’s important that there be a mechanism to see whether the kids are actually abiding by the things they are taught in class. To become victims of drugs is very easy. Till the time the social workers are with them they are in safe hands. But the question is what after that?
I can say that I had a personal equation with two - three kids. I definitely did not bring about a change in the life of all the kids but I made an effort to influence them in a positive way. Vishal started communicating with me in English. It was not fluent but simple things that I had taught him he was taking an effort to practice. I saw that the mother of one of the kids was extremely comfortable around me and expressed her concerns regarding her child. She opened up to me and told me that they were more than ready to send away their children to centres. They believe that the atmosphere in the area was not good and they fear that their children will be victims of addiction in the future.
Keeping in mind that the kids are street kids it’s very important that we know what exactly are their needs and their desires in life. Their aspirations are different. They might not be able to write alphabets or spell words but they are very smart. They can be great actors if provided with the opportunity. They can be great artists. Not everyone is born with an inclination towards studies and not everyone is provided with an atmosphere conducive for education. It is important to tap their talents.
I got the opportunity to volunteer through Joining Hands. I experienced a lot of new things and the reason behind that is the fact that JH introduced me to Salaam Baalak Trust. It’s been a beautiful journey and the experience will be cherished by me.
Nilanjana Sen
Volunteer
July 2011
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