Let Us Make Every Child’s Dreams Count!

Samson is 12 years old.
His dream is to become a PM.
He wants to do his graduation in Political science
No one knows about his dream. No one has asked him.

Divya is 13 yrs old.
Her mom is a construction worker.
Her dad is a drunkard by profession.
She wants to study well. But she has a question. “Why should I study hard and then become a house maid?”
She does not dream about a future. She does not know if she will have a future.
No one knows about her dream. No one has asked her.

Suresh is a 6 year old child and Deepa is a 5 yr old child.
They do not know what it is to dream.
They still have not faced the possibility of a bleak future.
No one will know their dreams. No one will ask them.

Samson, Divya, Deepa and Suresh – These children are just a sample of a larger set of children. There are 100s of Samsons and Deepas, 1000s of Sureshs and Divyas in and around Chemmenchery who look only at a possible future of surviving in life and cannot even dream of being an achiever in their lives.

We have a choice. We can all go about our ways leaving them to fend for themselves and hopefully, in another few years, a few of them would go on to pursue education while some others would move to the default path that is set for them i.e., getting into daily wage work, jobs at construction site , getting married at an early age and doing what their parents are currently doing. Some of them will dwelve into drugs or alcoholism and would go into the lucrative business of being an anti social.

On the other hand, we also have the choice of taking a stand for their future, for their lives and for the future of this community, this state, this country and ultimately this world. We can make a change in their lives for the better. They have a lot of possibilities for their entire life in front of them and we have a chance of helping them find what they want and walk along with them at the start of their journey, a journey that can be made as a joyful and a happy journey.

We have a choice. You have a choice. What are we gonna choose?

This blog is written by Karthik Parthasarathy for AWARE’s Dreams Of Chemmenchery Campaign.

 

Let’s Make Dreams Come True!

“Deep within each heart, there lies a magic spark that lights the fire of our imagination…”

Do you remember your childhood?

Playing with your friends, playing games, playing hide and seek?

Dreaming of what you would be when you grew up?

Remember dreaming of the home you would build, the family you would raise?

In Chemmenchery today, there are thousands of children, whose only dream is to enjoy their childhood without pain. Because of the socio-economic problems from Child labor, trafficking, early marriage and child abuse, they are hopeless and don’t know of what they become.

Through our “Dreams Of Chemmenchery“, We are striving to unlock and fulfill the dreams of these children .

Our team believes in inspiring hope and fulfilling dreams. Childhood should be the most magical phase of one’s life. For children who are prone to the problems within the community, the magic is easily lost. We try our best to alleviate some of the emotional, physical and financial strain of dealing with their problems by creating magical moments that last their lifetime.

“The power of a dream is the faith in things unseen. It is the courage to embrace your fear, no matter where you are, to reach your star and to realize the power of your dream…”

Making all their dreams a truly memorable and magical experience is the most important aspect to us.

We will be engaged with every child and enable them to learn through our dream centers, to make sure that the dream execution is tailored to the child’s personality and interests.

We allow the child to “Dream Big” so that we can ensure that the dream experience is unforgettable.

We include their parents, teacher and community in the journey of unleashing their dream and we all are going together out to make this a truly memorable and inspiring experience.

Anyone can contribute to a dream for a child who do not have a dream. The fulfillment of these dreams has the positive effect of inspiring hope and courage in the dreamer and helps them believe tomorrow is worth enough to change their community.
https://milaap.org/campaigns/feeding-the-dreams

Help us to inspire our children and give them hope – One dream at a time – Do it through Dreams Of Chemmenchery.

Be the Hope for someone’s dreams!

Chemmenchery is a resettlement area for slum dwellers and Tsunami affected people. It was constructed by Tamil Nadu slum clearance board and is situated 30 kms away from the Chennai City. The inhabitants are people relocated from the coastal areas of Santhome and other city Slums and comprises over 6700 families with around 25000 inhabitants. After relocation the inhabitants need to be provided with basic facilities like education, employment, healthcare, recreation and sanitation. The distance from the city being so great coupled with poor transportation facilities has caused most of the inhabitants to lose their traditional means of livelihood. This has caused many to indulge in anti-social activities.

The area is prone to problems like violence against women and children, child trafficking, child abuse & child labor. There is a high prevalence of drug & alcohol abuse and high level of school drop-outs to add to the problems. Though the government and the non – government organizations take up various measures and interventions the results are not satisfactory. Based on the above facts, AWARE has been working in the area to sensitize people about the need of protection of children and is currently running activities in 5 activity centers, 2 Formal education (FE) centers and 5 child friendly clubs in this area.
Before intervention, education was not their prime attribute and did not give much focus to it. After Intervention the perception has changed for the better. Apart from education we have initiated health programs and economic empowerment programs for the benefit of the community. Having closely worked in the community for almost a year, we come up with below findings;

Every boy in Chemmenchery grows in the ill conditions within small congested houses. He sees around him, negative conditions of all kind; sometimes a drunkard father, quarreling parents and neighbors, obscenities being mouthed endlessly, physical fights and combats between neighbors. Education is a far cry for him. He doesn’t even know what the word means.

All these conditions socially programme him in a negative way. They have adverse effects on his health, especially mental health. He has seen life in all its filth and he knows no other way. He knows no other world than his miserable one. He has no sense of ambition, dreams, opportunities out there. He is ignorant to the core and that is indeed a sorry state of affairs.

All his life he has seen his parents and elders do odd jobs like hawking, street vending, daily waging, working in construction sites; sometimes even begging.

Since he knows nothing of education and opportunities out there when he grows up he thinks these are the only jobs he could do.

The time of adolescence brings other thoughts and emotions to him along with the heavy responsibility of supporting the family on his meek shoulders. This time is full of scathing self-critical thoughts and emotions like hopelessness, thinking the world out there is too harsh, that there seems to be no hope at all; that there’s no job, no money, no food, no support from family and friends; that nobody cares; that one is worthless, etc. These disturbing emotions often make him take to other courses of action like substance abuse and drugs.

This negative wrestling going on in ones already burdened mind can lead to negative external reactions like being too aggressive, remaining irritated all the time and creating chaos and mess in homes and the community. These conditions can make these underprivileged – of which the above mentioned child is a microcosm – thieves and criminals as well. This blatantly is very harmful for the society.

Since they are devoid of all basic exposure to the kind of slightly better world of opportunities than theirs, they are forced to carry on the tradition of doing odd jobs and menial work.

So, it is the immense need of the hour to help such young minds come out of these ever-indulging messy and chaotic waters, we from AWARE is conducting “Dreams Of Chemmenchery” – an initiative to provide an opportunity to envision their dreams and directing them the right way to accomplish their dreams on their own.

We aim at creating a pool of young and independent children, from this marginalized section, through our Dream Centers to inspire, mentor and lead their community.

Don’t miss out this chance of building a better tomorrow. Small steps you take will have big impact in these little lives. We will use your contribution towards helping realize the dreams of the children.

Contribute here –  https://milaap.org/campaigns/feeding-the-dreams

For any queries, kindly reach out to Abdul – 9884854572 | Rajesh – 9042812057

With Great Hopes & Dreams!
Sandhiyan Thilagavathy