Every time I go for a project visit, what gives me an immense high is interacting with our project children who allow me a little window in their lives- their perspectives, ideas, wishesand their whole little world that strike me with the realisation that despite the plethora of challenges that life throws at them, they never stop dreaming, no matter what the circumstances are.
When CRY supported project Pragathi came to know of the impending child marriage of 21 girls from the community, they came up with an innovative idea to prevent it and help the girls live their dreams.
The girls, between 16-17 years of age had dropped out of school and worked as child labourers. The easy solution would have been to help the children back in to school. However, their parents could not send them to high school or junior college as the nearest school / college was anywhere between 3- 15 km away. After missing out significant years of schooling, the girls too were hesitant to join school.
So I watched this movie, Poorna by Rahul Bose which released lately this year. A film, rather an incredible life story of Telangana’s Poorna Malavath, who became the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest at the tender age of 13. Belonging to a tribal family in the district of Nizamabad, Poorna dodges her fate of an early marriage and finds her calling in mountaineering. No, I’m not really up for a movie review here but definitely highlight few points shown in the movie which caught my eyes.
CRY – Child Rights and You has partnered with Marks and Spencers to ensure lasting change in the lives of underprivileged children in the country. While customers of Marks and Spencers are encouraged to donate the change from their billed amount towards the cause of child rights, sometimes, we come across beautiful stories of extraordinary human beings that we cannot resist ourselves from sharing.
The village of Vijayanagar (Patparpali panchayat, Chura block, District Gariyaband) lying near the border of Chattisgarh and Odisha, is inhabited by tribal residents. Rukamani Bai Markam, 28 and her husband, Kaliram Markam, are permanent residents of this village. Rukmini a mother of three, Tankeshwari (9 years), Priti (4 years) and Isa (14 months) gave birth to her first two children at home, and due to prevailing stereotypes they were not fed colostrum (the first milk produced by the mother after giving birth).READ MORE
An internship with an NGO is a great way to play an important role in shaping the way Child Rights progresses in our country. A rewarding opportunity, to work closely with causes that affect humanity in an impactful way. Making a difference by way of an internship is a great way to start working for something meaningful, a trait that helps when making future life choices.
This July, I complete my 3 years of volunteering in CRY, and it feels like I have been associated with them since forever, which is partially true because of my parents association with CRY, I will always be a ‘CRY baby’.
But looking at those 3 years, I know things have changed, in kids, in school, in the PAG and above all in me, myself.
I still remember my first class at Jai Bai school and I ended up with moist eyes. I was sharing the class with Varsha didi, the pioneer of our pag in Kalyan, so being the first day we started with introduction, their daily routine and aspirations. And their answers left us numb.
How collective action in a village helped bring a school back to life.
A small village of 352 families of Karipatti in Salem district teaches us all the power of collective action.
When a well functioning government high school teaching 150+ children was demolished to dust because of a Four Lane National Highway plan, none of the authorities in the education department came in to protect the rights of the students of the school.
A train journey in the 2nd class compartment of a train heading to Salem felt like a reality check. I was brought back from my comfortable job in Bangalore to the real India where people have to struggle for basic day to day needs.
Little did I know that my notion of struggles of real India were soon to change.
It was 6 am and I woke up with excitement. The wait was finally over, there was so much work and preparations put into the event by CRY team from the past couple of months. When I reached the FSV Arena for CRY Soccer for Child Rights, I could sense the anticipation and excitement in everyone .READ MORE
The issue of Child Marriage has plagued rural and urban areas in India for a long time now. The 2011 census revealed that there were more than 15 million girls who had been married before the legal age of 18. Stereotypes and rampant gender bias makes the situation especially difficult for girls. Many continue to be unaware of the consequences of child marriage and lack of action from concerned authorities have led to a worsening of the situation. READ MORE
Child Rights and You (CRY) is an Indian non-profit that believes in every child’s right to a childhood – to live, learn, grow and play. For nearly 4 decades, CRY and its 200 partner NGOs have worked with parents and communities across 23 states to ensure sustainable change in the live of over 2 million underprivileged children.