The Bal Sabha (Children's Council) - India
Delhi's streetchildren have set up a programme under the auspices of the Delhi NGO Butterflies in which they meet to discuss problems and publish their own newspaper. The forum is run by a group of children between the ages of 7 and 18 who are active in promoting child rights messages.
Communication Strategies
The Bal Sabha (Children's Council) meets on a bi-monthly basis, with average attendance of between 30 and 50. The purpose of these meetings is to provide a forum for participants to discuss issues affecting them, such as child labour. They have set up a Bal Mazdoor Union and use it as another forum to fight for their rights.
This union is active in producing the bi-monthly Hindi newspaper Bal Mazdoor Ki Awaz (The Voice of Child Labour), which gives children a voice in the mainstream media. The first lead of the paper's inaugural issue in August 1996 was an investigative account of child prostitution in the Jama Masjid area. A streetchild named Sanjay was quoted in the article, saying, "Food is the primary concern for street children and one way to have a full tummy is to rely on a homosexual man." A thousand copies of the paper are printed and pasted at different locations in the city. Children who participate in the Bal Sabha pay part of the costs for stationery used in the meetings and for the monthly picnic outings.
The children are supported by a team of eight street educators, who provide space in the city for the children to meet, hold newspaper planning meetings, and to participate in training sessions.
This union is active in producing the bi-monthly Hindi newspaper Bal Mazdoor Ki Awaz (The Voice of Child Labour), which gives children a voice in the mainstream media. The first lead of the paper's inaugural issue in August 1996 was an investigative account of child prostitution in the Jama Masjid area. A streetchild named Sanjay was quoted in the article, saying, "Food is the primary concern for street children and one way to have a full tummy is to rely on a homosexual man." A thousand copies of the paper are printed and pasted at different locations in the city. Children who participate in the Bal Sabha pay part of the costs for stationery used in the meetings and for the monthly picnic outings.
The children are supported by a team of eight street educators, who provide space in the city for the children to meet, hold newspaper planning meetings, and to participate in training sessions.
Development Issues
Children, Youth, Rights.
Key Points
There are 400,000 streetchildren working as rag-pickers in tea-stalls and dhabhas (roadside eateries) or shoeshine boys on the streets and roads of Dehli. Street life can be risky: the children are vulnerable to physical abuse, callous police officers, drug use, and health problems.
By making the children customers of the programmes offered (that is, by making them contribute financially), their criticisms and suggestions yield greater weight with the staff than they would otherwise.
In designing the programme, adult coordinators made a conscious decision not to create centres for streetchildren, instead locating programmes wherever the children live and work.
Butterflies organised a training workshop for 38 child workers from 7 north Indian states on how to produce one's own newspaper. The trained children have started to publish their own wall newspapers. At a follow-up workshop early this year, children proposed the idea of forming a "National Child Journalists Forum". In December, 2002, a follow-up workshop for children in south, east, and north-east states will be held. The hope is that attendees will join the national forum, which would promote both radio and print journalism. [Bal Mazdoor, with the guidance of Butterflies, also participates in a radio programme called Butterflies Broadcasting Children. Click here for a Programme Description.] A National Convention of Child Journalists was scheduled to take place in November, 2002; radio broadcasting will be introduced to this group, some of whom may have a passion for radio and, thus, decide to join the National Child Journalists Forum.
By making the children customers of the programmes offered (that is, by making them contribute financially), their criticisms and suggestions yield greater weight with the staff than they would otherwise.
In designing the programme, adult coordinators made a conscious decision not to create centres for streetchildren, instead locating programmes wherever the children live and work.
Butterflies organised a training workshop for 38 child workers from 7 north Indian states on how to produce one's own newspaper. The trained children have started to publish their own wall newspapers. At a follow-up workshop early this year, children proposed the idea of forming a "National Child Journalists Forum". In December, 2002, a follow-up workshop for children in south, east, and north-east states will be held. The hope is that attendees will join the national forum, which would promote both radio and print journalism. [Bal Mazdoor, with the guidance of Butterflies, also participates in a radio programme called Butterflies Broadcasting Children. Click here for a Programme Description.] A National Convention of Child Journalists was scheduled to take place in November, 2002; radio broadcasting will be introduced to this group, some of whom may have a passion for radio and, thus, decide to join the National Child Journalists Forum.
Sources
InfoChange India site; letter sent from Sarah McNeill to The Communication Initiative site on November 1, 2002.