BHOPAL: “Earlier I was afraid of talking to people but now I can convince anyone. Every time I tried to talk to the big boys near my house, they used to shoo me away and sometimes even beat me up as well but now, I have learnt to stand in front of them”, said Avinash, a grade six student.
Similarly, Sushma feels that after joining ‘Aarambh’, she is more confident and has understood how important education is. “I now understand that people have different perceptions and I have also developed a perception of my own. Now I can see, think and evaluate things independently”, she said.
The children of Aarambh have been working to transform the areas they live in through RTI, by lobbying with the corporators, taking help from the police and other organisations.
They have also taken the initiative of helping the children who got lost at railway stations during Simhastha with the help of coolies and vendors. “They inform us about the children so that we can reach out to them”, said Madhu. Madhu is one of the eldest members of the group, who quit studies after class eighth but after joining Aarambh she took admission in class tenth and is now preparing for her exams.
The students have printed a booklet after taking three-month training in photography. They are distributing these booklets to different police stations and government offices. Ayan, who learnt photography said, “I thought that I will get to click pictures the very first day but I couldn’t even hold the camera properly.”
Madhu said, “I never thought that one has to know physics and mathematics for photography and it was then that I felt bad at leaving studies. Our trainer used different techniques to teach us”.
They have now printed a booklet of the photographs clicked by them depicting different sections related to child rights and are distributing them in government offices, police stations and in their areas to bring awareness among people. “We have learnt how to talk to policemen now. We were very afraid of talking to them earlier but now we can visit any police station and deal with them.
“Just two days ago we were informed that our RTI on street lights has been answered and soon work will start. It is a success for us”, said Madhu and other children unanimously in joy. The other children Sonu Rana, Shweta, Gulafsha, Sonam, Nagma, Rahimee, Muskan and Rubi said that they have decided that they will work for other children and will help them.
