Health Checkup Camp............Healthy India, Stronger India

Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy.

Slowly and steadily, the Guardian of Angels project is moving at it’s pace with some more volunteers adopting the little angels; Raj Kishore, Rajeev and Shikha to name the new guardians in the project.

We Volunteer held a “Health Checkup Camp” for the little angels today at our Office.
The kids present at the camp were Najakat Ali, Abdul, Muskan, Shabnam (younger), Rubeena, Sapna, Shamsher Ali, Chanda, Sabeena, Neena, Shabnam(elder), Sher khan:)

There were more kids expected from an another sector but due to some unavoidable reasons, they could not accompany us to the office for the camp.
Anyways, alls well that goes well and ends well………as much clichéd as it seems :)

The kids were ferried to the office at around 10:00 AM. Meanwhile, Dr. Vineet, who was supposed to examine the kids, was already ensconced in the office….accompanied by a make-shift nurse (Kaval) :)

The kids were let loose in the park at a stones throw from our office. It is an amazing phenomenon that wherever the kids see a park with some swings and sea-saw, they go berserk. And to no surprise, the same happened here aswell. Most of them climbing from all sides upon the sea-saw; some on the seats, some on the bars, and the very little ones hanging in mid air clinging to the bars. The Sea-Saw looked more like branch of a tree with birds chirping over it. Abdul, as always, was smiling all the way - hopping from one place to another. Dr. Vineet called the children one by one into the office for the health examination. Meanwhile, we played a few games with the children. I don’t know how to translate the names of those games into English. But I’ll tell you what we played and you can make out yourself. Game I – all the children were made to sit in a big circle and one of the players has to go around the circumference of the circle and drop the handkerchief behind a sitting player and that player has to get up, carry the cloth and catch the previous player while he/she is still running. If the previous player sits, the second player has to perform the same thing. GAME II – Dog and the bone….if you understand this then fine enough….else forget it…I am bored explaining so meticulously :)

Everybody had a gala time in the field, with the volunteers joining that circle wali game aswell. By noon all the kids were examined by the doctor and were prescribed some medicines. None of them had any grave health problem. Just the usual calcium ki kamii and lack of vitamins….I bet all the volunteers have the same:).

Only the little Chanda had some chest problem…was referred an X-Ray………
Guardian..Please note

One funny thing happened……:)
We had distributed them biscuits just before the Health Examination was about to start. So when the first kid went to Dr. Vineet, he asked the kid to open his mouth to do some oral checkup.
Dr. – Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa karoooo
Kid – aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa…..and all the biscuits he was eating earlier was still in his mouth………….

Later the kids were given sugarcane juice and bananas. The event went pretty well..and without any interruption. After the event, Preet presided over a meeting with volunteers for some feedbacks and updates over the We Volunteer.

Nice cute event I would say:)

Volunteers at the Event:
Preet, Karan,Kaval,Ankush,Raj Kishore, Rajeev, Sudheesh, Kanupriya, William, Ravi(first timer)

Sincere thanks to Dr. Vineet

We Initiate..............Do You????

Mellifluent Symphony…….Provoked

Mera Bacha Sabse Acha (Guardian of the little angels) project is very well into its first phase with some positive signs from both, volunteers and the angels. The project found its way into this week with the distribution of clothes to the Angels by their respective Guardians. (All thanks to Preet for the clothes)

Meanwhile, Rajdeep and Bikram also got involved into the project picking up two kids.
Rajdeep-Sher Khan
Bikram - Sapna

As decided in a meeting, every weekend event would be planned around the kids in the “Guardian of Angels” project. The first event according to this plan was held yesterday at the Lake Sukhna in Chadigarh. To be true, this event was first of so many things.
It was our first outing with the kids in the new project. It was their first visit to the lake in the city. It was the first day that we had a confrontation with a cop and finally it was the first time when I felt that our RIGHTS are slaves to the whims of the police.

The day (Saturday) started when I and Preet set off from our houses at 10:30 in the morning to inform the kids about the evening event. After informing the kids in sector 35(the family which lives in a sewerage pipe), we moved to sector 36 market where Rakesh and company are usually found. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait or were not ditched as on some earlier occasions. They were busy in their so called mundane activities in the market. Some more facts came into light about them at that time. A new kid had arrived on the scene to join the flock. Name – Arjun, brother of Bheem and Nakul(twins and very innocent). Arjun, Sonu and Manoj(Panda) are bullies who snatch money from other beggars and also from the children who roam around collecting money on the name of “Shanii Dev.” Amazingly, we stopped some such kids and asked them whether they knew the meaning of the oil they carry every Saturday. Our guess was right. None of them knew what it really means. They just set out every Saturday morning, extend that container of oil infront of the passersby and people, all thanks to superstition, drop a coin into it. Anyways, on Saturday the three elder kids were more aggressive towards the little ones (Rakesh and Nakul). Shoving and abusing them even infront of us. We segregated the younger kids from the three and I gave a few sermons to Rakesh and Nakul. Meanwhile, Preet tried calling up the Child Helpline for Arjun, Manoj and Sonu. But they all ran away from the spot. We talked for some more time to Rakesh and Nakul. We told them to meet us in the evening and accompany us to the lake. Rakesh had been to the lake with me earlier aswell. They hopped on our bikes and we went to their homes to talk to their parents and take their permission. Nakul’s father is a rickshaw puller and incidentally we met him on the way to their homes. We asked him whether he knew about his kids begging in the market places. He said that he himself was fed-up with them. But we told him that they are just kids and need special attention. We also assured him that from now onwards we are going to take care of the needs of his children. He asked us to talk to their mother. So we moved towards their habitat. It was a typical jhuggi settlement, with filth and dirt everywhere. But we could not talk to anyone. No one was home. Anyways, we just told them that we will come back in the evening and take them to the lake.

Then we spent of couple of hours in the office and finally returned home to gear up for the evening.

Act II - The Event @ Lake

The kids from sector 35 hopped on an Auto-Rickshaw with Preet. Me and Karan geared our bikes, with Rakesh pillion to Karan. We reached Sukhna Lake in some time and re-united with the other children and Preet.
Meanwhile,Shyam,Sudheesh,Bikram,Rajdeep and Kaval poured in one by one.
So the event started pretty well, with the kids brimming with enthusiasm and excitement, just like the majestic Sukhna. We gave them some pop-corns to eat. Preet’s kid Abdul had invented a new pronunciation of Preet’s name – “puhlees” or “police” :)

The fun had just started with the kids enjoying the ducks, the boats, the crowd, the evening and with the volunteers. a gentleman asked us about our organization and also donated a sum of rupees 500 for the cause. We all were having good time and even the crowd moving along were pretty happy that we were doing a good job.
But as they say, you need one “Asshole” to ruin the show. Same happened here. A policeman accosted us started question us and about the kids. I will not go into details, because I just don’t feel like talking about it and this is the reason due to which this post is one day late. You can well imagine what could have happened with the due course of the events. All hue and cry was just coz of one damn illogic from his part. Anyways, we just decided to move away from the spot to a different place to have some solace. We sat there for some more time. clicked a few snaps, had some juice and signed off the day

But I just want to say one thing,

Had the kids been in Nike T-shirts, Pepe jeans and Reebok shoes, nothing would have happened. And we thought, sitting infront of the TV sets, that there are equal rights, irrespective of cast, creed, color and status.
Anyways, we are not perturbed. We have initiated and we will make a change.

Volunteers at the event: Preet,Kaval,Karan,Shyam,Sudheesh,Bikram,Rajdeep,Ankush,Shikha
Angels: Abdul,Muskan,Shamsher Ali,Rakesh,Sapna,Rajeeb,Sher Khan, Mohobbat

"parindon ko milegi manzil ek din....yeh faile hue unke pankh bolte hain. Wohi log rehte hain khamosh aksar, duniya mein jinke hunar bolte hain"


We Initiate...........Do You?????

Mera Bachaa Sabse Acha! ( Guardian of the little Angels)

Confused over the topic??
Ok I’ll explain.
The We Volunteers have contrived a new strategy into the organization where each volunteer will be adopting a slum kid/beggar under the name
“Mera Bachcha Sabse Acha:)” or “Guardian of the little Angels.”

The key aim of this methodology is to be more target-oriented and accountable towards the cardinal objective of “We Volunteer.” Every volunteer will take care of the basic needs of the kid assigned to him/her. The basic needs could be clothing, education, nutrition, health care and recreation. The We Volunteers will still be working as a cohesive unit but with this methodology in place, the progress would be defined in individuals rather than in groups. The impetus for this new approach is that every kid has different interests and attitude. Thus, dealing with them in groups will make some children neglected. Moreover, the volunteer will have a clear understanding of his job and duties. The finance for this project will be borne by the “We Volunteer” inhouse treasury. So volunteers find your kid and start the process of individual change.

The Start

A meeting of the Beggar Rescue Team was held yesterday to implement the concept.
Volunteers Present: Preet, Ankush, Karan, Kaval, Shyam, Sudheesh and Akashdeep.

As the discussions over the “Mera Bhachcha Sabse Acha” methodology went forward, we all decided to start the project right away. The question was, Where to start from? The first answer that came to mind was to initiate with that family living in a sewerage pipe at the Piccadilly crossing in sector 35. We all made a beeline to that so called home of that family. Reaching there we all saw the same dismal conditions in which the kids and their parents were living, eating, sleeping and playing(meanwhile, Akashdeep had to leave for some urgent work). The kids met us with same enthusiasm and affection. It is very funny that everytime we meet them, we have to tell our names again and again. They don’t seem to remember for some unknown reasons, Preet had some tough and hilarious time making his adopted kid remember his name :) I’ll come back to this episode a few lines later.

We talked to a lady who was the mother of two kids in that group of 15. She was willing to let her children take up school, but due to lack of money and income she could not make arrangements of their education. All the kids in the group collect garbage from house and shops. Yes! Garbage…at the sight of which we just shut all out senses….and these little kids make their living from it and also stay in its vicinity. Meanwhile, there was one more family which had come from Ahemedabad, Gujarat to make some living. They had some land to till back home but just to make more bucks, they travel to Chandigarh to sell and buy articles to resell them at their place. They had three kids.

The most interesting thing that we got to know was that the adults had voting cards issued on their names. Amazing isn’t it. The politicians are concerned about their voting rights but none so ever about the other most important right. The right to education and the right to live a healthy life and eat three end meals. Now you’ll argue that people like these go for voting just to make some money being offered as the lure by the politicians. But why shouldn’t they? If an IIM graduate can drop a National Company’s offer to join a firm in London because of more moolah, if the government servants take kickbacks in most of the development works in the country, why can’t these people think about in terms of money?

Anyways, we all decided to pick one kid each and start over with the project. The following is the first list of Guardians and their Angels.
Preet – Abdul and Muskan
Kaval – Neena
Ankush – Sabeena
Shyam – Rajeeb
Karan - Shamsher Ali
Sudheesh-Mohabbat:)

All the volunteers will take care of the needs of their respective kids from now on.
With each volunteer taking up his/her kid, the process of making these kids remember our names began.

Sudheesh and Shyam were the lucky ones since the kids who were assigned to them were elder as compared to the others in the lot. So they could recall the names easily.
As every other volunteer tried to make the kid remember his/her name, some funny incidents came into light. I’ll start with Preet:) his kid Abdul made different noises while uttering Preet’s name. This name evolution of Preet continued till the very last moment.
Preet – Apkaa naam kya hai?
Kid – Abdul
Preet – Mera naam Preet hai.
Preet – mera naam batao abb?
Abdul – naaaaaam
Preet – arre mera naaam bolo
Abdul – mera naaam
Preet – tumhara naam abdul hai, mera naam kya hai bolo?
Abdul – Mera naaam,,,lolz
Preet bhi kartoos…uska kid usss se bhi badaa kaartoos…lol….he was just repeating what Preet uttered:)
Me- tell him your middle name..may be he can remember that.
Preet – Acha mera naam Arjun bhi hai…Bolo Arjun….
Abdul – ashfoooooshshshshs…(this was the most hilarious)

The same happned to other kids. Though they didn’t murder our names like Preet’s kid did.
But, they had difficulty in remembering our names. It could be due to that fact that they are not used to names like ours. And this is the reason that the name of the Mascot of our organization is “Chottu”, which complies with the understanding level of the slum kids and beggars.

We talked to the few adults of the family standing there; meanwhile, Kaval played a few games with the kids.

As Preet says, if every rich takes care of every poor, there will be no poor.
So we signed of the day with some thinking to do.

All those who read this post, please take a look around and take up some initiative. For those who are in Chandigarh, we are always looking for motivated and compassionate people to join in with us. It’s not difficult…..just needs time..
If you have any suggestions, views, ideas or comments………do reply through comment posting/email/phone call/meet in person.

We can and we will…

We Initiate………….Do You??

We Volunteer Workshop......the paper creativity

Success does not come in heaps rather it is achieved with every effort towards a desired goal, no matter how miniscule that effort is. It is the harvest of such moments when a number of hands join together beating with synchronous rhythms in the heart, chant a common melody; a melody so mellifluous and pervasive that it could muffle the cupidity and ignorance of the world.

Another day and yet another feather in the cap of “We Volunteers” and the
“Little Angels.”
We received an overwhelming response to the “We Volunteer Workshop” at the Rose Garden today. Nearly twenty kids joined us at the workshop to learn and implement at the workshop.

The workshop pushed off with a small introduction of the kids. The whole gathering was divided into groups with a ratio of two volunteers to three kids. The things finally fell in order as Preet and Kaval took over their usual supervisor roles:) …Every volunteer who had attended the previous workshop was supposed the demonstrate to the other volunteer in the group and to the kids about the methodology which goes into making a
“Paper Bag”

So here starts the fun………every individual present at the workshop, be it the kid or the volunteer, got so engrossed into the Paper Bag Making that time just flew by( obviously with some exceptions off course….:)

Within a span of two hours, 22 paper bags were made, left drying in the sun. That’s a good target achieved owing to the skill level of both the volunteers and the kids.

So here comes the second set of goods from the We Volunteer Factory:)
We have an order of a thousand such bags from a store……so there’s a long way to go.
At the end of the workshop, some refreshments in the form Samosas were distributed the all in attendance. I wanted Coke too…but Kaval turned my demand down on the pretext of Cola being harmful to health….What Crap!!!....Nobody died of Cola anywhere….besides Milk has Urea too…she still has to give me some satisfactory clarification….:)
Meanwhile, Priyanka noted down the names of the more willing kids in each group and the ones who have the dexterity for Paper Bag making so that we can put the rest to some different projects.

The workshop ended with loads of fun, some elementary teaching and 22 Paper Bags. Yahoooooooooooooo!!!......Well Done Comrades…

Most of the kids will join us tomorrow aswell at our office for some more help with the bags.
A few volunteers went to the office after the workshop for some feedback and deliberate over the day’s event.
With Shyam and Raj showing their Engineering Skills climbed up on the table to put up the very much needed ceiling fan in the Office…Good work guys…really good work…..and ya with Yashodhara at her usual senseless commentary inbetween.
Some more plans and discussions about the plan of action for tomm and nest week, we signed off today’s workshop……….

We Initiate…………………Do You???

The first success

“WE DiD iT”

All the hard work and dedication put in by the “Alternate Source of Income Team” finally materialized by making bucks from waste clothe.

How???

Well as I mentioned in the previous posts, We Volunteers have utilized the waste clothe and made hand bags out of it. The bags made their maiden display today at “Urban Roots” in sector 10, Archie’s Gallery in sector 17 & 35, in Chandigarh at a price tag of Rs 49 and Rs 99 for the two different sized bags. And the most amazing part is that within the span of two hours, 3 bags were already sold.....CHANDIGARHITES - please do check them out....at the above mentioned stores and help the little angels with your purchases.

As soon as the SMS about the sale of bags flickered on the screen - Kaval, Keerti and Kanupriya, yashodhara, all went into frenzy. And why not!!...that was a job well done..A step initiated which could be a source of income to the kids begging around us. Great going guys!!!

I and karan had gone to meet the kids at sector 36, where we had fixed a tryst with them. But unfortunately, they ditched us :) ..they were nowhere to be found…and that’s bad because they will miss the tomorrow's workshop at Rose Garden.
Anyways, we decided to take a shot at sector 17 to look for some other kids for the project. Kicking the engine into a start we roared to 17. And there we saw Kaval standing at Neelam, all exhausted coz of the hectic and proud work done, and also smsing, waiting for the rest of the team to assemble. Joining her at the waiting line :).

Meanwhile, a girl of around 10-12 years came to us to beg…So here starts the first practical of the day for Beggar Rescue Team. Incidentally, her name was Neelam and we all were standing at the Neelam Theatre only..so we were somehow skeptic if she was telling her real name….but in the end..that actually was her real name.
She told us that she had landed in Chandigarh from Bihar with her family just a month or so back with her family. Parents are still looking for a job and she has two siblings. She comes all the way from Mani Majra to sector 17. She had a bruised foot. The wound was covered with a paper (just like we help ourselves with a band-aid)..Kanupriya and Yashodhara bought some anti-septic cream and some band-aids for the kid…All thanks to Kanupriya, she helped the girl cleanse her wound and applied a couple of band-aids to cover the bruise. The paper which the girl had initially stuck on the wound was pretty hard to get off….as it at gelled with the wound
While Kanu was helping out the girl with the first-aid, I heard a voice calling for me..

"Bhai saab zara idhar anaa…"
I looked up and saw the man who had been watching us for quite sometime.
I went near him and he simply shook my hand and said thank you….
“Tusi bahut acha kaam kar rahe ho, madam aur aapko THANK YOU”
ME—Jee yeh to hamara farz hai (I know it’s a banal answer…but I could not gather any other words)…

So back to Kanu…she the band-aid was applied very neatly and the sight seemed a little better.. We asked the girl to apply the anti-septic cream regularly at home…As we were about to leave, the girl with beholden appearence, very sheepishly said “Shukriya deedi ..bhaiya”
WE - “arre koi baat nahin”

She also promised to join us at the Workshop tomorrow. Let’s hope that she turns up.

Me, Kanu and Keerti took a walk around again to look for some more kids. Seemed strange but as we tried to approach them, most of them ran away: )

A few more conversations with some more kids, but not much success.

Meanwhile, Karan, Yashodhara, Kaval, Karun met some more beggars at their end and told them about the tomorrows' event at Rose Garden. There seemed a positive reply from some.

It seems easy wooing kids, but trust me…legs ki waat lag jati hai..
At the end of the business day, We sold our BRAND …Yipppieeeee!!!! And also asked a few kids to join us at the tomorrow’s workshop…
Me and Karan took a round of 36 market again on our way back home…but no success…
Chalo …Koi Fight nahin hai….NeXt Time sahi.

P.S. Snaps on the right most frame

I Initiate………………..Do You????

Stinking Reality

Ghar se to nikle the khushiyaan baantnein, apni kaksha mein hasil kiya gyan baantnein
apni shiksha ki seekh gareeb bachchon mein jagayen to sahi.
A,B,C to kya sikhate, unke paas to rehne ko ashiana bhi nahin.

Time: 5 PM, Date: 26th March 2007, Venue – 36 Market, Chandigarh.
The We Volunteers assembled again to follow-up the task undertaken a month back to woe small children away from the menace of begging and make them aware with values of education and self-respect.
Call it a chance or whatever-we met the same child bully who accompanied us to the lake sometime back for an outing. Bheem, Sonu, Rakesh were absent from the scene.
As the new volunteers into the project tried to get into a conversation with him, asking him about his “Motive of Begging.” The same answers flowed out of his mouth and ignorance towards whatever we told him was visible on his face. Another thing that came into light was his ability to fabricate answers impromptu. Anyways, this question-answer session did not last long as one of the volunteers eager to transform his fate, mentioned “School and Education” in the talk. As soon as he finished the question, Manoj (the subject) turned and ran away (he attended school just for one day)
So what conclusions can we draw from this? Well, with a couple of sessions with the child beggars who once went to school, has brought out certain facts about the begging and the drop-out from school.
~~~Most of them beg due to peer influence.
~~~There is no particular motive associated with begging.
~~~They beg just to eat some snacks and drink some cola.
~~~Some parents are unaware that their children beg
~~~Most of them dropped out of the school after a beating from the teacher in class.

Anyways, we handed him our contact numbers again and just as I was composing this write-up, I got a call from Manoj. He and the kids will meet us at the same place tomorrow at 5.

Preet, Rajat, Karan stayed back at 36 and me(Ankush), Rajdeep, and Dr. Sudheesh Moved towards sector 35 to look-out for some more children begging at the eating joints and parking lots. Surprisingly, we could find none……has Chandigarh changed? No beggars???
Neh I don think so….well one reason could be that the sector was still not alive. The party and date hours had still not started. The Flashy cars, roaring bikes, beautiful damsels and the cool hunks had still not descended on the scene (the “business objects” for beggars).
Meanwhile I got a message from Kaval to regroup at the Fragrance Garden with the “Alternate Source of Income Group”. So again we rode our bikes and zoomed to the spot.
The “Alternate Source of Income Group” has done a great job. Making Hand bags out of waste clothe, Paper Bags from the waste newspapers. Great job. And we are ready to put them on sale with highest price tag of Rs. 130 for the Large hand bag. Some boutiques have agreed to buy the Paper Bags with an order of 500-1000 bags per shop.
Ok so the “Beggar Rescue Team” again left for 35 to catch hold of some beggars. Making our way through the back lanes of the Showrooms to save parking fee:)
As we parked our bikes, we saw a boy and girl struggling to push their cart laden with stinking garbage from the shops and houses. When we asked their names, pat came an excited reply from the little boy, Shahrukh KhanJ. Then we talked to the girl and asked her name. Well this seemed more realistic, “Sabeena.” Then later he told his name was Ali. They were brother and sisters with no parents and living with their maternal grandmother. The boy went to school once but dropped out due to a beating from the teacher. They get five rupees from their grandmother daily who is a rag picker aswell.
A little more talk about their whereabouts, family and interests.
“Jheel Dekhi hai?...
Nahin dekhi.
Humare saath shanivaar ko chaloge jheel par?
They wanted to go but could not say a yes (after all we were strangers). But they were excited.
We asked them to take us to their grandmother so that we could get her permission and take them for the excursion. They pushed their cart along the busy road, through the cruel traffic and we followed them on our bikes towards their so called “Jhuggi.”
On reaching their habitat, we were aghast, agape and speechless.
If you think that your dustbin stinks and only insects and germs stay in sewerage pipes, then you better get your notions redefined.
Now Jhuggi in my regards is still a better term than the squalor in which they were living.
Residing in huge pipes left waste by the Municipality along the road, smoke rising from their “open kitchen”, flowing stench from the household garbage they collect, heaped all over the area. You will not even notice these souls while riding your bikes or driving your cars and tuning in to the latest FM.
There were some 15 children, an elder woman (the grandmother). She told us that they have been residing in and around Chandigarh since 20 years and still they do not have a house. Wherever they put up their makeshift houses, the Administration razes them to clear away the land. So in these conditions, how can they go to the lake? How can we ask them to study? How did they bear the harsh winters and the rains that swept the city few days back? Answers are disturbing to think.
On being asked, they vented out their names with enthusiasm, smiling over the dark realities they have been living in, with no shelter and not much future. Sabeena, Ali, Mohabbat, Muskan to name a few

So what was shining in India a few years back?
Nothing more to say from my side

Feedback: Need to get them a roof first of all

Ok so finally we seem to be heading towards a more structured approach towards our social cause…”We Volunteer.”

Let’s keep our fingers crossed so that we are able to achieve the ultimate aim and reach out to the masses.

This blog is specifically for the “Project Formulation and Implementation Team.” So if you do not have anything constructive about the cause then please keep your hands off.

As discussed in today’s meeting, the two projects which are already underway are:

“Beggar Rescue Project” and “Alternate Source of Income Project.”

The “Beggar Rescue Project” was initiated a month ago but due to lack of time and unavailability of man-power the follow-up procedures could not be adopted. Anyways, the day starts when you wake up. “The Alternate Source of Income Project” is keeping up good pace and we are about to launch the first hand-made articles into the market. Keep up the good work comrades!!!

Volunteers in the Project Formulation and Implementation Team:

Kavaljeet (T.C.)
Amanpreet
Ankush
Keerti
Karan
Karan Arora
Kanupriya
Meenuka
Manujanshu
Pratik
Rajdeep
Rajeev Sachdeva
Rahul Kadian
Shyam Gupta
Sudheesh
Vasundhara
Williampreet
Yashodhra


Begar Rescue Project Feedback

Week 1:

Talked to three child beggars at Sector 36 market and promised them a trip to lake just to interact and get them into confidence.

Names:

Rakesh: age 10 yrs. Goes to school and is a student in the 3rd grade. Parents do not know that he is a begging. Reason for begging: just wants to spend that money for his appetite. Could be a victim of bullying by another child beggar (elder to rakesh). Begs out of ignorance. Resident of sector 38(shahpur).

Bheem: could be a 7-8 year old. Has a younger brother along with him. Did go to school earlier but dropped out. His mother married a second man after his father expired. That is when he started begging. Seems to be submissive and very much a kid. Does not even have a pair of chappals. Need more information on him. Resident of sector 38(shahpur).

Sonu: Rag picker and beggar and works in some house. Has no father. Mom works as a maid. Has an elder brother. Need more information from him(was not part of the lake excursion due to lack of conveyance.). Resident of sector 38(shahpur).

Pandya(not real name): Suspect of bullying Rakesh and Bheem. Arrogant and Ignorant. Very outspoken and bold. Could be a victim of drugs. Not interested in studies “at all.” Works at some place, Could be candidate for the Child Labor Rescue Team. Tough nut to crack though.

Event for these beggars (3rd March 2007, 5 PM at Sukhna Lake):

Volunteers Present:

Ankush, Prateek, Palak, Roohi, Vikrant, Sumit, Sachin

Event Details:

Had an outing with them at the lake. All of them had come to the lake for the first time. Very much excited.
Talked to Rakesh and Bheem to give up begging. Made them aware about the benefits of studies. Had a good response from them. Promised them goodies to lure them out of begging. Need to keep a watch on them for sometime at 36 market. Need to arrange a teacher for them They admitted of giving money to Pandya.

Shortcomings of the event: Acute shortage of volunteers.