Joy of Giving brings smiles to kids' faces

KOLKATA: This Viswakarma Puja, little Mintu Das saw a ship for the first time in the Hooghly. On Saturday, Mintu poured out all his imagination into a piece of paper and drew a ship as he had seen that dark evening.
Hundreds of children like Mintu assembled at the Janakalyan school in Mathpukur off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass for the Joy of Giving Week.Volunteers from NGOs, iVolunteers and FXB India Suraksha Project, supported by The Times of India, came together to bring smiles on the faces of the children from the age of four to 12 years staying at the Dhapa slums.
Mintu's father died some years back. His mother Harani Das works at the Janakalyan school, serving midday meals to students.
At the school in Gholpara where Mintu studies in class II, there are no drawing teachers. "I draw at home. I love to draw. My elder sister corrects what I can't get right," Mintu said.
Provided with drawing sheets and colours, the children started putting on paper their future as they imagined. Mintu could only think about the ship that he saw brightly lit on the dark evening.
Like Mintu, many of the children don't have their father. Mothers are the sole earning members for the over-sized families where education is not the priority.
Seven-year-old Kajal Sarkar's father died some years back. Her mother Rina works at a plastic factory. Kajal goes to school but has little support at home.
"It is difficult for us. Kajal also has a sister and a brother. We couldn't go to school. We would like the children to study but it is not going to be easy," said Purnima Das, Kajal's aunt. Kajal started going to school from a year ago.
For the mothers most of them are rag-pickers or domestic helps the volunteers counselled them on the need for education and how they can carry on with their lives.
The FXB India Suraksha Project has been running coaching classes for around 80 students from among the children residing in the nearby slum.
The children put up a dance performance, accompanied by drums, for the bhaiyas' and didis' who had come to interact with them. Dressed in their colourful best, the children gave a spirited performance.
"A lot more has to be done for these children. These are very small steps but we have to carry the work forward," said Arundhati Samal, a home maker and mother of two who has recently started working among with iVolunteers.
Luchi, tarkari and mishti brought an end to the day with a bright smile on the children's faces.