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
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