It was a bright Wednesday afternoon, and we’d just entered El Shaddai Charitable Trust’s Little Acorns Day-Care Centre in Calangute, Goa. We met Mr. Amal, the in-charge, who upon greeting us allowed us to meet and spend time with the children inside. As we went in, the children left their activities in between to turn to us in full excitement, came and said “Hi” and rushed with their tiny hands to give us ‘High Fives’. The gesture brought an instant smile to my face, and the exhilaration that lit up their faces was truly delightful.
As I and my two colleagues decided to split up among groups of children, we opted for playing games, conducting activities, as well as speaking to them about their plans. I met a group of three girls and a boy who were studying in Grade 2 with their eyes beaming with excitement as I went on to talk to them. When I asked them about their future aspirations, two of the girls and the boy said that they wanted to be doctors when they grew up, and the other girl mentioned that she wanted to be a teacher. Her friend nagged her and said, “Arre Pagli, teacher kyu banegi? Doctor banna!”, which meant, “You crazy girl, why do you want to be a teacher? You should aim to become a doctor instead!” It was then when a child studying in Grade 4 jumped into the conversation and said, “Didi, main desh ke liye kuch karna chahta hun, main toh Army me jaunga”, meaning “Didi, I want to do something for my country, I will enrol in the Indian Army.” It was touching to see that they had such high ambitions in life. These children then were rehearsing a chapter from their English textbook, which was due to be a part of their test in their school in a few days. I made them read the lines after me and in a few trials, they started feeling confident about it. They were full of energy and so excited to talk about their lives. They mentioned that they looked forward to coming to the shelter post their school every day as this is where they had their friends, they had fun and enjoyed the environment.
A little further, there was another group of school children, who were being taught poem recitation by a senior girl of their school. The energy these children were radiating, was infectious, and their smiles, contagious. They were so full of affection and were making their best efforts to impress us with the knowledge they had gained in their school. It was so heart-warming to see the impact that the NGO was creating in terms of not only providing the children with such an environment to study and play but also conducting activities that would aid in their mental growth.
At the shelter, a typical day started at 9 am, with children from non-formal school starting to show up. While they were being taught by teachers and served breakfast sometime later, slum schools were carried out by outreach works for children who could not access schools or come to the shelter. Around 1 to 2 pm, school-going children started to arrive and together, all these children
were served mid-day meals, the menu for which was fixed for the week and repeated weekly. Post their lunch breaks, they could play games, and activities would be conducted for them, and between 4 to 5 pm, they started to leave once their parents came and picked them up from the shelter.
The Little Acorns shelter is located in the coastal city of Calangute in Goa which is not only a famous tourist hub in Goa but also houses a lot of labour migrants, especially the ones working in construction labour. Most of these people are daily wage labourers and are unable to spend time with their children in lieu of earning for the household. In such a scenario, the organisation, El Shaddai Charitable Trust is playing a big role in not only empowering these children to grow themselves and their families out of poverty, but also teaching them how to become better people in life. They are helping children in their physical, mental and cognitive development. They are providing them access to nutritious, healthy food and clean washrooms and helping them develop good personal etiquette.
Every shelter, centre or home under their umbrella is helping underprivileged children, men or women from broken families. While they have allocated resources, they update a ‘Needs List’ which lists down any additional resources that they need. They have certain visiting hours wherein volunteers can go educate children, teach them art, music, dance or conduct activities among them.
The organisation is open to collaborating with individual donors, and other organisations, be it corporates or government, to ensure that it can reach out to more children and help them as required. If you’re planning to visit Goa anytime soon for a vacation, do consider paying a visit to a shelter and spending time with these children, it is nothing short of a relaxing therapy.
For information on their projects around the city, please visit their website www.childrescue.net
If you’d like to volunteer or donate, please reach out to [email protected] |[email protected] or at +91 7796082607 | +91 8329372531
Remember, every contribution, no matter how small, makes a meaningful difference to someone’s life. Your generosity, whether it’s a modest donation or a larger gift, has the power to positively impact lives. Please know that whatever you can give will be deeply appreciated and will go a long way in supporting our cause. Thank you for your kindness and support.
Written by Oorja Arora from SPJIMR Institute (Intern)
