Dubai
This year, the theme of International Youth Day, which was marked last week, is youth civic engagement. I think that the participation and engagement of youth is essential for sustainable human development, as it not only benefits individuals, but also the society.
There is a need for a greater number of initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of youth civic engagement, and to promote the participation of youth in the political and public sphere. This will empower young people to contribute to the peace and development of society.
Every year, I visit India during my summer vacations, and observe hungry children begging on the street. Instead of giving them money, which provides them with a short term solution, I wanted to make a lasting impact on their lives.
So, I began my ‘Education for All’ campaign in 2012. Through this initiative, I spoke about the importance of education to children who live in a slum area in Nasik, Maharashtra. In order to spread positive messages about education, I conducted a drawing competition for all the children living in the slum area. With the help of a few local art teachers, I invited 200 students to take part in the competition and supplied them with stationery.
The competition had three categories, based on age-groups — under six, under ten and under 14. The judges were art teachers and the prize was a full year’s scholarship to Sketching Club, a local art school. For me, the purpose of this competition was to make the children feel special and realise that all of them have a unique quality that they can use for the betterment of society. The children were excited to display their art work and seized the opportunity to develop their drawing skills at the art school. One of the winners even said that he hoped to become an artist in the future.
I also visited schools in a different slum area, called Jabalpur, and distributed books and stationery to the students of the Navin Primary School. Through my campaign, I have gained a better understanding of the need for education, especially for the less well-off, in India.
I hope to inspire other people to join this initiative so that we can work towards ensuring education for children around the world. I am so thankful to my family; relatives and local teachers in Nashik who have offered to help and support my campaign. I hope that it will spread to other poverty-stricken communities.
— The reader is a grade 7 student of Delhi Private School, Sharjah.
Be a community reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com
