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Deprived Children and an Open Memorandum to the City Mayors

by' Shamima Islam
LAST year. Kolorob. the Weekly Education Pro-। gramme for deprived ten arranged an interesting Health Education Fair in the form of a class at Gulshan No. 1 market. It was the fits! df Its kipd in Bangladesh. .The . ' newness of the fair was nbt Omy' Un its concept, but also in its approach where deprived children, helped by Kolorob teachers participated In every possible way. Outsider audience was limited. But one display attracted visitors’ attention in that Health Education Fair where girls and boys pretended to be the city Mayors who were giving patient hearing to childrens' demands in their respective city areas. The children with s tickers on their chest, each with a demand’ were displaying their demands and the children, in rotation, were reading a memorandum to the City Mayors. The fair also displayed a simple model which can easily eater to many needs of the deprived Ill-fed. ill-clad, tortured and exploited children who spend major parts of their waking hours and for street children the 24 hours outside their homes.
The memorandum's messages carry tremendous health implications. Considering the
urgency of needs experienced bv children under difficult circumstances in the cities, chil-' dren's voices are communi-
cated to the Mayors through the newspapers concerned on the World Health Day this year.
; Unless support services are provided, it is useless to throw educational messages, to the de: prived children who are constantly faced with the concern of how to feed the empty stomach! Thus, the open memorandum. prepared at Kolorob in children's voices is presented to the Mayors for urgent consider-
Demands of the Deprived Children to the City Mayors
Respected mayors.
We are children of this country and we belong to your city. You must have noticed that we move and stay in the city streets due to varied occupations. Our poverty drives us out of our homes, but we cannot continue any more. We are simply helpless:
Eveiyday we stay outside and walk miles after miles but we cannot find water taps for drinking pure water. Please give us water taps In close distance, on the street.
Toilets are virtually absent on the streets. Where do we go for the whole day when we need it? Please provide separate toilets for children on the streets ■ on urgent basts I •
Our situations throw us on the strtets ,and we burn ourselves under the scorching heat for the whole day. The big trees which can provide shade are found nowhere. Where do we sit and rest? Please give us shady trees on the roads.
Most of us eat on the streets. There is no clean food on the road. Where do we eat? What food shall we eat? Please arrange for clean food on the streets.
We walk on the streets, we have no othe'r alternative but to walk. We suffer tremendously due to bad smell and pollution arising out of dirty dust-bins and unhealthy polluted atmosphere and unnygenic situations on the streets. Please keep the roads and dust-bins clean.
We are street children and the deprived minor citizens. Don't you know that all the footpaths are unpassable due to extra stuff and additional work and repairs all occupying the footpaths? How do we walk? You affluents are concerned
about traffic jams, but we have no other alternative but to step on the terrible roads, risking our lives for crossing. Please keep the footpaths clean.
We fail to get water for bath easily. How do we take baths regularly? Please provide separate bathrooms for children in close distance on the streets.
We are poor and deprived children of the city. Street is our home. We have no space to play anywhere. Please arrange for play ground frequently in the city areas.
We, the children are so scared of crossing the roads full of scary automobiles. We cannot cross roads easily. Please take measures so that city children can cross roads easily without being victims of unwanted accidents.
City roads have very insufficient lights. We little children. not only feel scared but also are abused on the streets. Please arrange for good lighting on the streets.
Poverty drives us to dangerous hazardous occupations. For example, please watch the mode of operation of the little tempo-helper who stands on the foot-boara high risk throughout the day and in hales fume.
You please take legal action so that children can work safely for earning their lining.
Because of our poverty, we children are the worst victims of mosquito menace in the city. Please make sure that cleaning campaign^ gr^dpr^ rffgtffirly.
Many of us sleep on the roads. We are children and we suffer badly because of this lack of shelter. Please arrange for some safe shelter arrangement so that we, the shelterless children can have a safe good night sleep and are not abused on your city streets.
Frequently we become victims of varied accidents on the streets. There is no arrangement for provision of first aids or minor treatments on the city roads. Nowhere we easily get treatments. Please arrange for modest dispensary on the streets in close distance where we can easily step in and ask for the services.
We often hear about existence of Child Rights Convention (CRC). we. the children constitute half of the citizens of this country. We Ijelieve that as an efficient Mayor, you have ample scope to provide services to children and contribute significantly to children’s health
and lifesaving matters. We will remain ever grateful !
We remain.
The deprived children
Memorandum;. , Implications
World Health Day brings and renews our concern and pledge for action. We should never forget that children are nation's first priority. Among the poor, children are the poorest. Children's problems should be the first to consider. It is amazing to discover the enormity of problems faced by poor children struggling for survival which have tremendous implications for health services. On World Health Day. we often forget that Municipal Corporations has much to do in implementing children's Right Convention and can take leading role in improving the health services for urban deprived children
Let World Health Day bririg fresh concern among the Mayors. donors, philanthropic persons for healthy up-bringing of deprived urban children.
The author is the Director of Kolorob Weekly Education Model for deprived children in Dhaka city.