& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Street children enjoy a day of respite in junfair

Staff Correspondents
Underprivileged children selling assortment of items in the traffic intersections is nothing new in Dhaka city.
On the other hand, children going to English medium schools requesting commuters to buy popcorn, flowers or candy does not happen every day.
Some 500 voluntary children from various schools in the city yesterday presented a day of respite to 600 disadvantaged street children by switching places with them.
While the street children enjoyed their day at Wonderland Amusement Park amid festivity, the schoolchildren stood at seven traffic signals on their behalf from 10:00am to 4:00pm selling knick-knacks to pedestrians as well as commuters.
At the end of the day, the proceeds from the sale were distributed among the street children as their daily income.
Jaago Foundation organised the unique one-day recreation event for street children as part of the cele-bration of Universal Children's Day 2009.
Abed Ali, project manager of Jaago Foundation, said the street children were invited from 25 different traffic signal points in the city. Students from Sunbeams, Scholastica, Mastermind, Maple Leaf, London Grace School, Brae University, Buet and Darul Ihsan University volunteered the event.
Volunteers sold their items at Gulshan section one and two intersections, both sides of Bijoy Sarani, traffic signal at Dhanmondi Road No. 27 and at Sonargaon and Bashundhara City traffic ii^riai10' 'r*' 1 ’
Apart from enjoying the rides at Wonderland, the daylongevent also included a dazzling magic show performed by magicians of Giligili and a cultural programme presented by last year's champions of Channel-i Khude Gan Raj. A grand feast of biriyani, snacks and beverage was also part of the merrymaking.
A health camp was set up by Novartis to provide minimum treatment to their ailments. The fun rides of the amusement park were sponsored by Mojo while Pizza Hut and KFC sponsored the grand feast.
Talking to this reporter, Ratna, a five-year-old candy seller from Ramna Park area, said, "I have never been to a place like this in my entire life. It’s even better than Eid.”
Niaz, a 10-year-old pop-corn seller from Kathalbagan, said, "Usually, there is no time for us to have fun. After getting back from school, then having lunch 1 go straight to work. I even have to work on Eid days.”
Niaz enjoyed the train ride most while Ratna wanted to board a plane, unfortunately not available at the park.
Habiba Kibria, a former student of Mastermind volunteering the event, said, "These children lose their childhood too soon. They become like adults working every day to have a meal. The effort was mainly aimed at giving back their childhood at least for a day."
Kaniz Tazia Ahmed of Scholastica said, “We also want to raise awareness among the privileged section of the society. Just one fun-filled day may not change their lives but if we all come forward, maybe they can have the life of a normal kid one day.