Every day when you step out of your home, how many needy children do we come across? Some do not have proper clothes, others lack parental care, and some are unfortunately handicapped, while others have never stepped inside a school – ever. Many of those grubby faces we see on traffic lights selling knickknacks haven’t had a decent meal in days…Nonetheless, we carry on. Once in a while, we do offer some charity & feel blessed, but that’s about it!
How easy is it to forget, that – We make a Living by what we get but we make a Life by what we give!
As of today, 17 million children in India still go to work, not school! Many have never stepped inside one while others are dropouts because of their circumstances. No human being remains uneducated & uncouth by choice, it is the just that some do not enjoy the privileged life we do. That puts, even more, responsibility on us, don’t you think, to provide for those who never got dealt a good hand of cards?
It is not just inspiring but reassuring to learn that people who do care for these underprivileged children are some of us, coming from same circumstances that we do, with similar problems that we too face!
The story of a lady, Beena Rao is that of valiance & motivation because she has been instrumental in changing the lives of 5000+ slum children with her free coaching project – Prayas (Efforts).
Mrs Beena started out small in 2006, with just 2-3 children that she personally tutored, but 10 years down the line, Prayas now has been able to touch the lives of 1200+ children in Surat alone. She has a team of 34 volunteers who run 8 different coaching centers across the city.
Classes are conducted every evening for class 3rd to 8th students for free, wherein the volunteers teach not only school curriculum but also strive to provide holistic education like morality & ethics, arts & crafts as well as discipline, yoga & general fitness. What is worth mentioning is that the volunteers are self-motivated & make merely Rs 1000 to 1500 for their contributions. Mrs Beena on the other hand has charged nothing for her efforts.
The impact that Prayas has made speaks for itself. The slum children after receiving merely months of coaching have become much better at academics & reading. They have stopped using slang & have learnt the value of respecting others & basic courtesies!
This is just one story – We need many more Beena Rao’s today, to actually help our society fight poverty & illiteracy.
Why can we not volunteer few hours every weekend or in the evenings to help the under-privileged children? Isn’t it easy to start small by donating your sweat to only tutor the kids of your house maid or driver or watchman?
Providing books to these bright students will also inculcate the hobby of reading in them, thus making them more aware of the worldly ways. You can also take out time & volunteer to teach them a skill set like painting or TV repairing or vehicle maintenance which will provide for a vocation once they pass out of schools.
Volunteering for slum kids will definitely help in creating a better India. All we can ask is for every individual to donate your time to educate underprivileged children around you & their skills development. Lastly, it is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little! Do what you can – because every Prayas counts!
