Children lend a hand

SELINE AUGUSTINE

The quiz master from Women's Christian College, Chennai, Ms. Deeptha of III Year BBA, shot an easy one: "Does Good Friday come before or after Easter?" and the usually bright Ewart School girls muffed it, and the crowd roared. The quiz was the last in a row of competitions lined up for the day for school children in Chennai by the World Vision of India recently.

The idea was to sensitise students about the gravity of the problem of poverty and get them involved in helping the less privileged children in myriad ways. Under their Special Initiative Projects, WV addresses issues of street children, child labour, children of commercial sex workers, children with special needs, and AIDS victims. Their needs are met through education, health care and economic assistance.

The August 25 programme titled "Operation Rescue" got off to a brisk start with a run by over 200 children, flagged off from Anita Methodist School by cricketer Reuben Paul . Soon after, the venue shifted to Church Park Convent. Competitions in dance, collage-making, essay writing, painting and dumb charades were held for the over 2500 students who had turned out. James Vasantham, TV anchor, challenged the children during the events with ways in which they can help the poverty-stricken in Chennai.

During the valedictory function in the evening, the girls from the CSI Deaf Home presented a dance to the tune of a popular Tamil Christian Keerthanai. Mr. Joseph Mathai, Director, national resources, WV, gave away the prizes; the SBOA Junior College were the overall winners, while Swamy's Matric and SBOA Matric came a joint second.

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