Editorial
Day to focus on street children
A fillip to spirit of volunteerism
Today is Universal Children's Day. A wing of Jaago Foundation known as Volunteers for Bangladesh (VBD) are celebrating this day with "UCD 2011", a campaign to bring attention to the sufferings and hardships of street children. Jaago Foundation is a youth based organisation that provides for a brighter future for slum children.
Seven thousand volunteers, students from various schools, colleges and universities are wearing yellow T-shirts and replacing street children at traffic lights selling items such as flowers, food, etc. They are also distributing brochures about UCD 2011 and Jaago Foundation in order to raise funds for underprivileged children. The essential idea of this campaign is to raise awareness about the plight of street children, who are obliged to renounce their childhood for a life of begging, vending and supporting their families.
Approximately 1,800 street children are being given a well-deserved day of fun-filled activities at amusement parks, nutritious food and free health check-ups.
There is an overwhelming proportion of youth in the Bangladesh population, and where street children are concerned there is an imperative need for the government to realise that they do not beg and sell items on the streets by choice. They are compelled to do so. Therefore, discouraging begging is no doubt a good thing only if alternatives are provided for these children in terms of education, food, medicine and clothing.
Jaago Foundation has provided such positive alternatives to these children by setting up an English medium school exclusively for approximately 600 underprivileged children free of cost.
We are thankful to Jaago Foundation for their commendable efforts in helping better the lives of street children and also for instilling in school children the spirit of voluntarism and the notion of sacrifice and nation-building.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments