Children's Day Joy and a Sober thought!

We have one learning center which we were able to retain after the covid wave.  This we began on the demand from the children to 'please begin the school'.  This gave us the indication that we need to turn our attention to the children’s needs.  As you know, most of the people we work with, [the children's parents] are daily wage earners who leave the home in the morning and return in the evening. 

So, when the children spend about three hours in the learning center, they feel both safe and protected and they learn something for life. 

Visiting the children on the 14^th, November, which is Children's day in India, and watching them play musical chairs, their attentiveness to get a chair was amazing.  They simply enjoyed themselves as they were decked up with lipstick and had come to the centre wearing their best clothes. It was a special day after all.

Their joy and happiness was so profound, as they tried to help, and relate to each other.  There isn’t much space in our centre, there was no no big sound system with jarring sound, just the little space outside the garage which serves as their safe space, and the mobile sound was sufficient for them to perform. 

As I returned from the centre, I reflected that it is the sheer denial of opportunities, which is the major hurdle in these kids' progress. Lack of opportunity is what has been keeping the poor where they are. 

If we could only explore ways and means to open our spaces to the less privileged who are crushed in small tiny huts, we can bring a smile on their face.  It takes the little things of everyday life, the contentment in our hearts with what we have and who we are that can make life easier for so many of our people.