Project Reach Out

while working with these children, i realized that the police as well as people in general eyed these boys with a lot of suspicion...they were blamed or picked up by the police for little or no reasons (most of the time they were booked under section 109 i.e. awaragardi - being on the roads without any reason). And the result is that even if these boys want to earn an honest living by polishing, they are not able to do so. I did talk to the police of sector 17 and the response in this regard was quite positive...their only demand was that these children should not disturb the people who come to shop in the plaza and they should stay away from the parking lot.

We also thought that it would be good if these people have some sort of an I-card that talks about these children and the effort that they are participating in. To that effect, we made the following I-card for the children/adults wherein we are requesting people to be considerate towards these guys -

I-card

Name: Anike
Father’s Name: Ramu
Address: Kumhar Colony, Sector 25, Chandigarh

Project Reachout is an endeavour to reach out to the children/adults on the street and to bring an inner change. The motive is to build a trusting relationship with these children and then provide guidance depending on their needs and circumstances.

Most of these children/adults live in the slums of sector 25, chandigarh and earn their living either by polishing shoes or by begging. Life on the street has hardened these boys and has made them quite different from what the *normal* society expects them to be…they are quick to start a fight or use abusive language or make up a story but deep down they are very simple, kind and even innocent.

As part of this effort, we are teaching them to read/write, we use the medium of games, painting, story-telling, meditation etc to bring out the innocence and love buried deep inside them and to improve their concentration. We are also encouraging the older boys to learn some vocation or to start some alternate work like selling corns, balloons, fruits or putting up a stall of tea etc. Some of the boys have already started going to learn stitching and tailoring in sector 37 (Jan Shikshan Sansthan).

This letter is written to request you to support these children/adults in whatever way you can - be polite to them and encourage them to work. I know sometimes these children can be very rude and rowdy but to bring a change in these children, we have to show them a more powerful way of communicating with love and we have to make the beginning.
Kindly co-operate and feel free to call me at 9872469046 for any questions or any complaints that you might have.

Thanks, Liza Tandon Chawla (9872469046 - gagchaw@yahoo.com)