Street Children Projects

India is home to the world’s largest population of street children, estimated at 18 million. With acceleration in economic growth, India has become one of the fastest growing developing countries. This has created a rift between poor and rich; 22 percent of the population lives below the income poverty line. Owing to unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, attraction of city life and a lack of political will, India now has one of the largest numbers of child laborers in the world.

Street children are subject to malnutrition, hunger, health problems, substance abuse, theft, commercial sexual exploitation, harassment by the city police and railway authorities, as well as physical and sexual abuse, although the Government of India has taken some corrective measures and declared child labor illegal.

Children may end up on the streets for several basic reasons, they may have no choice – they are abandoned, orphaned, or disowned by their parents. Secondly, they may choose to live in the streets because of mistreatment or neglect or because their homes do not or cannot provide them with basic necessities. Many children also work in the streets because their earnings are needed by their families. But homes and families are part of the larger society and the underlying reasons for the poverty or breakdown of homes and families may be social, economic, political or environmental or any combination of these.

Volunteer’s role and tasks:

-    Volunteers will undertake informal education classes with these children, play games, introduce them with different activities like creative arts, drawing, painting and create environment which gives children the opportunity to experience innocence and  childhood, which otherwise is not possible while living on streets.

-    Teach children basic habits like, cleanliness, hygiene, greetings and importance of education in their life.

-     Help them learn some vocational course, which will help them earn a respectable earning in future.

-    Teach them English language, mathematics, general awareness, geography and computers. This basic education will help them broaden their horizons.

-    Volunteers can plan educational or fun trips with children to picnics in gardens, zoo, museums and so many other places of interest and learning.

-     Most important aspect of volunteering with street children will be giving them your love, care and concern. Most of the children have faced lot of abuse and harassment, your love and affection will make a lot of difference in building their self confidence.