Ruben and I were very excited and were looking forward with anticipation and enthusiasm as it was our first ever visit to a tribal area.
We were really surprised and awed by the amount of hard work, dedication, sincerity and meticulous planning which went into organizing a camp of this scale covering 7 schools and 450 kids in one day.
We were very happy that we could even manage to inaugurate the library at this camp. Knowledge is the stepping stone to success and the joy of reading books and learning will surely help them progress in life. It gave Ruben and me immense joy and satisfaction to see the smiles on faces of children.
Both of us also enjoyed the job of measuring the height and weight of the kids and distributing the goodies (biscuits, laddoo and chivda packets, pencil and eraser, tooth-brush and tooth paste) to the kids. While distributing the goodies, I was asking the children which colour they liked, and they were speechless. I was later given to understand that no one has ever asked them their likes or dislikes and hence they did not know how to react. This really saddened me. This was a stark contrast to the lives our children lead in Mumbai where they are pampered and not only their needs but most of their whims and fancies are also catered to. However, the smiles on the faces of these children on receiving the goodies made up for everything.
It really saddened us to see that most of these children did not have caring and loving families to look after their basic needs. However the silver lining on the cloud is that with the work which is being carried out by organisations like Suhrid foundation, we are sure that all kids will live have basic necessities and will be able to live a life of dignity.
Kudos to all the members of Suhrid foundation for all their hard work and dedication in this field.