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as mentioned in an earlier entry, "chotti si asha" was on a look out for a new place...our old place (in sector 38 of chandigarh) was too far off from the new location that the children had moved to (naya Gaon - outskirts of chandigarh) so our attendance had really gone down. Once we started looking for a place, we realized how expensive Chandigarh's real estate and rentals are!! So we gave up the idea of renting our own place and started talking to the chandigarh administration. The response was quite positive from their end. But before they could intervene and help us, we found a place in the heart of the city - a location that works perfectly fine for all the children at NO COST!! It turned out that there is a government building in sector 15 (very close to sector 17 where all the children come to work) where all kind of non-profit activities take place like drug de - addiction center, yoga classes for senior citizens, library, exhibition hall etc. A few years back the...
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Corn selling experiment...

One of the biggest challenge that these children face is that from police...as soon as the police sees these children they don't hesitate throwing their stick at them or chasing these children out of the market area...the police's reason is simple - the children move around the plaza and trouble people by begging...and then if anybody loses anything then their first suspicion is these children. The attitude of the people as well as the police towards these children is quite pathetic. They are always blaming these children without realizing that at some level each of us is to blame for the way these children have become. Anyway, i have been talking to a few constables at the plaza and have been requesting them to change their attitude towards these children....some of the constables have been very understanding and have said that they would give their support while some give me a lecture as to how i am wasting my time etc but since i only request them to be a little polite, they...
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school time...

now that the team is all pepped - up, i am looking for avenues to market the stuff that these boys are making enthusiastically and am also looking for more easy designs for bags, cell phone covers, aprons, wall hangings, file covers etc. please pass on any ideas that you might have on this… meanwhile, i am also trying to send some of the younger boys to school. i have been working with these boys for the last one year but i have never directly talked to them about begging...i knew that the elder boys usually controlled one or two younger boys (generally their siblings) and made sure that the younger ones begged and gave their money to them or their parents at the end of the day...the elders also tried to earn by polishing shoes or begging but of course, are not as successful as the younger ones. i also had quite some idea as to who controls whom. so last week, i thought that it is time to do some plain talking as well as to experiment to send some of the younger ones to school. i start...
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