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Young World
Operation: Reach out
PADMINI. B. PATELL
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A project by children for their underprivileged counterparts.
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Make them smile: Teaching games to the children of the Homes
Student of Std. XI, Nasr School, Afrah Saleem and two of her classmates set out to advocate and defend child rights. Education, nutrition, recreation, sanitation, protection against abuse, exploitation and discrimination are some of the focus issues of their social service project called “Operation Reach out” meant for underprivileged and orphan children.
Having started Operation Reachout in September with three core members and 35 junior volunteers, funds were raised from within Nasr School. They have already carried out repairs and renovation at the Government Elementary School, Punjagutta, ditributed toys and games at the School for Displaced Children at Muradnagar and provided nutritional supplements at the Towlichowki Government School. Awareness is being spread to Nasr Branch Schools and other schools of the twin cities through a documentary film, talks and posters.
How it all started
Young Project Director Afrah Saleem who is responsible for Operation Reachout says, “It was a little underprivileged girl at a traffic signal who first got me thinking about child rights. Winning the Horlicks Wiz Team (Hyderabad) title provided the perfect opportunity that requires each participant to conduct a social service project in his/her city to be presented at the national finals. However, Operation Reachout will not end with the competition as I plan to register as an NGO.”
“When we bought our first items and went to gift them at the institution that houses refugees from Gujarat, we cannot explain the immense surge of happiness that came over us when we saw the faces of those poor children,” say team mates Aishwarya Muralidhar and Mariam Ali.
So how do they juggle school, home and Operation Reachout? The trio admit, “We have received tremendous support and encouragement from our families, friends, school as well as the general public.” Adds Afrah, “We did and still face a lot of setbacks.
We were even told that a bunch of school girls cannot change the world and that we should just study and leave such matters to adults. But many people have been very encouraging and donated generously.”
If you are in school and wish to volunteer, log on to www.operationreachout.org or email operationreachout@gmail.com.
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