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Articles and write ups- |
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The Story of 'Bare' Minimum |
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It makes for a very nice, interesting and self satisfying story. I have heard so many say "oh! begging is a racket. These beggars have more money than many of us". The reality is different.
A devout (self considering) person goes to a temple or a pilgrimage and wants to feed 5 or 10 or 50 hungry people and there are ready people available, people expert at having 5 meals at one time. And the person is satisfied he did a religious duty.
Recently a friend of mine asked some such people that you get food on Tuesday and Saturday (shanidev the extorter) but what about other days. The person said "no problem, we keep extra food in a refrigerator for the rest of the days"
There are times people have said to me with a mocking laugh "khaana baatne se kuchh nahin hota" (you can't achieve anything by distributing food. I will ask you to look at the pic on the right and tell me if we should do it or not.
Come on, when I go to help, I should have the IQ to see who needs it. We at ADAA have a principle of helping the most needy first.
There are a large number of beggar children, who are sent to beg and collect money. They are kept in pathetic conditions (no, they don't use makeup before they come to beg, they are kept in that condition, to gain your sympathy. Who will give money to a neat, tidy and well fed child? The money these kids collect is taken away from them. They are only given enough to survive. |
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In the sheds of plastic sheets, a beggar settlement we named "hope/asha" we were distributing small food packet to children twice a week. One day my friend Sunita said that she wants to celebrate her friends birthday with these kids and we went there. It had been raining 2-3 days and when the kids came we noticed that a very fowl smell was coming from them (they had been wet for 2-3 days, the sheds hardly being any shelter). We distributed the cake and sweets and went after spending sometime, as the rain came we dispersed.
Two days later when I went with a help to distribute some food packets (we give only to kids) and I was met by a big group of stark naked kids. With the rains continuing they did not have anything to wear at all. As the kids settled for the small packet of negligibles we can afford to give, my mind was suddenly full of anger. Why? 1. Why is the society silent and indifferent? 2. Why is the society, more often than not, so skeptical and discouraging about anything you may want to do in this direction. 3. Why are people so eager to make you stop what ever you are doing or trying to do? I might have well stopped but the thing is that i am not working for the society, i am working for these kids and that I will continue to do ir-respective of the hurdles. |
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I have a dream that children do not have to beg
and be exploited and abused like this. To begin with, in this city and if
possible, anywhere/everywhere and I don't think it is an unjustified or
unreasonable dream.. ADAA - agenda and line of work - a) Food and medical help to street kids/beggar kids. b) Checking and preventing (with or without administration's help) child abuse of all kinds (primarily labor and begging) c) Setting up home for extremely physically challenged, abandoned or orphaned kids who don't have anywhere to go. d) Generating awareness among people in society about child abuse and what they can do to prevent it. |
My request to every one is that do what ever little you can if you can, but at least do not contribute negative energy. Not here, not anywhere. Let us only motivate each other for doing our best.
The Problem
It has been observed that a large number of kids are being used for begging purpose by those who are not the parents/guardians of the kids. We are trying to find more facts and information.
1. There are a lot of nomadic settlements around Gurgaon and Delhi which provide a source of cheap labour for the construction industry. The people living in these settlements believe in having as many children as possible because every child can fetch an additional 100Rs by begging or doing hard labour.
2. You can find the children begging at traffic signals and market places. The infants and babies from the age of one month to one year are sent along with these children to gain the sympathy factor for begging. The children carrying these babies have neither the ability, nor the intention to care for them.
3. The children are deliberately kept in torn and tattered clothes, unclean, unbathed, dirty, naked/semi naked, with dirty used bandages tied on body parts. The coins which people give are immediately collected by an elder sitting somewhere nearby (not visible)
4. The clothing and other items given to these kids are taken away because that would remove the sympathy factor that helps in begging.
5. The parents who produce ten kids because they can fetch money by begging and who lose at an average 5 out of those 10 kids to disease and malnutrition, don’t really care much for the welfare of these kids.
6. The children involved in hard physical work are exploited because of their lack of education and options. They need education and better work opportunities and better working conditions.
The Solution
1. The authorities and police help will be taken to prevent exploitation of these children and their misuse in form of begging machines. The police help will be taken to warn the parents sending their children for begging and if they don’t comply they will be prosecuted. Stronger action will be taken in case of babies being used.
2. The common public will be made aware of the problem and how they can help.
3. The children will be given help first hand. They will be given clothing which is not resalable and we will ensure that no one takes the clothing away from them.
4. Arrangements will be made to provide food to these children where they are and possibly we will make food a part of the educative classes so that he children have more motivation to come to these classes.
5. Begging will be stopped.
6. Education, educative toys and health camps for these children will be organised.
Why will ADAA make a difference?
Answer:- Right now there is no one to check and stop
these activities. There is no agency which is providing relief to these
children. When the begging activities will be checked and questioned, it will no
longer remain easy money for those people and they would stop exploiting these
kids. ADAA will bring direct relief to these kids in the form of food, clothes,
shelter, medical help (already two medical specialist doctors have volunteered
to assist) and education.
“Because only efforts can make a difference”
ADAA Welfare Society
Registered under the societies registration act 1860, Reg. no. DR/GGN/001, year 2007-2008
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ADAA
