Surprisingly India has millions of homeless or less privileged children and the Child Welfare Organisations in India are a dime a dozen. Some of them are fantastic while others can take you for a ride. My focus as a student of child psychology has always been to spend time with special children and since I wanted to do the ‘Golden Triangle’ tourist trip of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, I decided to indulge in some volunteer – cum – study work with a good NGO in Delhi. Lots of Child Welfare Organisation in India offered me grand opportunities and avenues. I was a bit confused and mentioned this to my local travel agent. She merely smiled and said ‘Susan, please access www.lepassagetoindia.com.”
Seems they were travel partners and this Indian agent, one of the biggest in India, had its exclusive Foundation to facilitate good CSR for inbound tourists like me. She was correct. The site gave me knowledgeable inputs of their work and a small mail to the Foundation head brought in prompt multiple options. Need I say that when I landed in Delhi, I was taken to a wonderful school located in the heart of a slum. The special children just walked in or were wheeled in from their homes and what a beautiful time we had. I learnt that you do not need high technology or air-conditioning to look after special children …. love, compassion and a bonding is enough. I was introduced to their parents, most of them earning less than GBP 3 a day and yet content, I visited their homes to understand their lifestyles. By the time I finished, I had a whole notebook worth of observations, I was Susan didi (that’s sister in Hindi) to the entire lot and the families in that slum, both male and female …wow!! …they were so helpful, hospitable and respectful… I felt at home … I am going back to them soon ……….
No comments:
Post a Comment