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Section 80G Explained- Boost Your Tax Savings with Eligible Donations

Discerning, well-intentioned, and passionate donors like you, contribute immensely towards tangible change and upliftment in marginalized communities. Whether it’s the varied health camps held in bastis or the much-loved school bag distribution drives, RCI’s goal of leaving impactful imprints in communities is not possible without generous, heartfelt donations from you, readers. A donation is a step in the right direction, yes. It is also a means of reducing your tax burden.
Read on to learn mo...

Understanding Mental Health in Youth – Insights from the Frontlines

Fifteen-year-old Nilam (name changed) lived with her parents in a crowded basti. Her days so far were cheery despite the myriad challenges. Since the past couple months, though, she had become increasingly irritable and restless. Conversations with her parents had turned argumentative, and her teacher expressed concern over her dwindling concentration as well.
Mostly, Nilam’s case would be brushed away as regular teenage tantrums, with the proverbial “it’s a phase.” Is it just a phase though? Or...

#WorldDreamDay – Unveiling the Hidden Wisdom of Childhood Dreams With Our Beloved Calvin & Hobbes

Over the years, the timeless duo of Calvin and Hobbes has touched on complex subjects like philosophy, morality, and politics—all with a sweet aftertaste of humour and wit. One look at the origin of their relationship, though, yields an interesting perspective about children and their wild and vibrant imagination.
Remember the playtime when your friends weren’t around, and how you’d spend several hours with a make-believe toy, mumbling away half-baked conversations with an imaginary friend? Or t...

A Child Bride’s Quest for Education and Empowerment

On a June morning, Railway Children India’s outreach team spotted a couple of young girls wandering distressed and trepid at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal (AVBT). Their rescue and intervention revealed a murky, saddening, but also a rampant issue among girls. Read on to know.
Fifteen-year-old Amisha * and her friend Sneha had arrived at AVBT from Patna’s Bairia Bus Stand. After their rescue at the bus terminal, they were led by our team to the Child Help Desk (CHD) where their essential needs of clea...

Steps to Shield Children from the Climate Change Crisis

Diving straight into the deep end, the statistics on the impact of climate change on children reflect the magnitude of the concern at hand. Climate-related poverty, displacement and increased likelihood of conflict pose as immediate threats of the domino effect called climate change.
As per UNICEF and a recent study,
With these worrisome, brutal statistics looming large over children’s and next generation’s future, one is forced to not only educate oneself about the impact fallout of this snowb...

#MenstruationMatters – No More Shackles and Shame

Underprivileged Adolescent Girls Share Experiences of Their First Period, Paving the Way for a New Normal
Taboo
(noun)
something that is not acceptable to say, mention, or do: something that is taboo.
Wonder why/how a normal and vital biological function like menstruation should bear the tag of being a taboo subject?
Patriarchy, persistent social stigma, lack of awareness among women and young girls are some of the factors that have for time immemorial contributed in the branding of menstruatio...

Connecting to Social Schemes, Creating Lasting Impact – the Railway Children India Approach

Railway Children India’s (RCI’s) dedicated teams protect at-risk children from transport hubs, facilitate stays at safe spaces till the time they’re reunited with their families and, eventually, gather strength and help from all corners to reunite children with their family. The more vital role of our teams, however, begins at the next step, where we attempt to fill any visible cracks that could lead children back to the vulnerable situations they found themselves in.
These cracks could be addi...

How Sewing Machines & Parents Groups are Empowering Women in Communities

Picture a woman leaving her home for work in a rapid rush. She locks her home after leaving, pulling the lock to ensure it is indeed locked, and opens it only when she’s back in the evening. Inside the locked door, however, is a young girl—the woman’s daughter—who spends her day locked up all day, hearing her peers playing in the distant, and her girlfriends chatting away, day after day.
This is the reality of several girls and their single working mothers who inhabit the many crowded bastis of...

MenstruationMatters – How a Period Song & Group Discussions are helping Girls understand their bodies

Alarming statistic no. 1: In India, more and more girls are either hesitating to enrol in schools or dropping out of school early.
Alarming statistic no. 2: More and more girls are starting their menses before they turn twelve.
A Dasra report by USAID & Kiawah Trust, along with a report by UNESCO UNFA ASRO report correlate and describe this occurrence by pointing to the 26 million girls glaring at the risk of dropping out of school due to their scarce knowledge about their bodies and its very n...

Inside a Child Activity Centre: Glimpses of Activities Unfolding within a Nurturing Safe Space for Children

Back when the pandemic had hit India, Railway Children India (RCI) had extended its scope of work by reaching out to communities around transport hubs to distribute relief materials. Apart from the glaring gap in equity, RCI realized the dire need of awareness and support within these communities too.
Cases of children dropping out from schools, falling prey to substance abuse, or simply not having a nurturing environment to grow in were rampantly visible within these bastis. This is where the i...

Climate & Children – Cli-Fi & Green Lit – New-Age Literature Genre for New-Gen Eco Warriors

In a world of bamboo toothbrushes, ethical basics, sustainable snacks, organic skincare and vegan pet accessories, we have the interesting entry of green literature in the line up.
Green literature is a contemporary genre that is believed to have stemmed from “ecocriticism”, a branch of literature that studies the relationship between people and nature. Since time immemorial, books have been agents of change, revolutionising thoughts and actions. Bibliophiles and environment enthusiasts are incr...

Climate & Children – 7 Inspirational Insta Handles of Generation Green

Hill stations are enveloped in scorching heat and deserts are witnessing floods. Nope, this isn’t a scene narration from an apocalyptic movie; this is a veritable global reality. The devastating impact of climate change can no longer be described in the future tense. Climate change is leaving its indelible marks on the lives of children, right now, as we speak. Relentless heatwaves across India are causing schools and colleges to shut down. Children are now routinely exposed to pollutants, incre...

Climate & Children – Heatwaves & the Climate Crisis: An Intensifying Threat to Children

More than fifty students faint due to dehydration in Bihar during the state’s fatal heatwave, caused by record-breaking temperatures.
This news comes only two days before the Seventy-Seventh World Health Assembly where a landmark resolution was passed, recognizing climate change as an imminent threat to global health. Soon after, the Bonn Conference was held, a first-of-its-kind meeting focused exclusively on children in global climate negotiations.
For the past couple of months, India’s grappl...

#DayofPlay – How Childhood Play Builds Strong Minds

The word “play” conjures up an amalgamation of vivid memories. For some, it could be the spectacular sensory experiences of propelling paper boats in water and building sand castles, while for some others it may be the mind-boggling stories they weaved when playing ghar ghar or office office.
It is only when one zooms out to take a quick look at the small childhood events that made up their personalities when the role of playtime takes shape. The ingenuity you used to build objects out of scrap...

Protection of Child’s Rights within the Family – Effective Practices & Challenges

– Lopamudra Mullick Senior Manager – Program and Strategic Alliance, Railway Children
Working with families of children protected and transport terminal and vulnerable children living within slum communities settled around transport terminal is an integral part of Railway Children India’s programme. The insights gained from the extensive work with children over a period of 28 years, have guided RCI in shaping its case management approach and identifying key priority areas to establish a robust...

#DayofPlay – Playing it Safe? Addressing the Need for Safe & Accessible Play Areas

I know we’ve come a long way,
We’re changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?
– Cat Stevens
It was 2017, when Delhi High Court’s bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar were hearing a standout plea. The petitioner, then 7-year-old Navya Singh, was demanding a stop on the demolition of her neighborhood’s decades-old children’s park. Calling out the decision of the city’s development authority as an “example of poor planning and wastage of public mo...

#BookReview – I Didn’t Understand!— Your Gateway Into Her World, Through Her Eyes.

In collaboration with Tulika Books, we present book reviews every month of new age stories and age old fables, to preserve and promote the habit of reading amongst all children.
On the cover of I Didn’t Understand! is a child smiling at readers, upside down. For us, this image perfectly describes the essence of the book—the world as viewed by a child with Down’s Syndrome.
I Didn’t Understand! based on award-winning author Mini Shrinivasan’s experiences of working with special schools in multiple...

2023 in Retrospect – Unpacking the Year with News

The past year was a pivotal one for India with milestone events such as Chandrayaan-3 scripting history and the G20 Summit plotting India as a force to reckon with, globally. With new, revolutionary bills being passed, India was set for a journey of evolution and growth. The economic, geopolitical and legal milestones of India saw wide coverage in national and international news, the one aspect that evaded discourse was an overview of the year for children. What were the glaring concerns that pe...

#TheTraffickingTrap – “Be Conscious, So That The Next Girl Does Not Go Missing!” In Conversation With Leena Kejriwal On Tackling Child Trafficking In India

Q1) From a photographer to the founder of Save missing girls, yours has been a journey of empathy, realisation, and action. Please take our readers through your journey. What made you take up the cause?
Ans: I think, as an artist, you are very receptive to the subject of your artwork. What are you trying to say with the art that you are creating? An artist delves in deeper to see as to what moves you, shakes you emotionally, touches you and that is what usually comes out as a form of art. For me...

Meet The Scrappiest News Anchors On The Internet

Devoid of painfully loud anchors and mindless panels with their shoutathons, a quirky news channel discusses pertinent social issues of your city and neighbourhood; all while bringing a smile on your face and being scrappy. The Children’s Scrappy News Service is a makeshift ‘good news’ service run by kids, for kids.
An initiative of the Delhi-based non-profit organisation Going to School, The Children’s Scrappy News Service began as a confidence-building exercise for children that would teach th...

Photographer GMB Akash’s Visual Journey From the Unlawful ‘Before’ to the Rightful ‘After’

It is both ironic and amazing how a still image holds the power to move people from within. Whether it’s the heartbreaking photograph of the 3-year-old Syrian refugee, Alan Kurdi, washed ashore or the captive photograph of the piercing-green-eyed Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula, a powerful image can bring the world’s attention to otherwise neglected issues.
Philanthropic photographer GMB Akash’s before-and-after portraits of children who escaped child labour are more than powerful images; they are j...

#BookReview – Lila’s Loose Tooth—A Tale of a Tooth Lost & Found

In collaboration with Tulika Books, we present book reviews every month of new age stories and age old fables, to preserve and promote the habit of reading amongst all children.
All of us have a sweet memory attached to the loss of our first milk tooth. Having read tales about keeping our fallen tooth under the pillow and having it replaced with a small fortune by Fairy Godmother, we eagerly waited for our first milk tooth to fall.
In Lila’s Loose Tooth, written by Delhi-based author Mamta Nainy...

7 Photographers Changing The Narrative On Child Rights

Whether through digital channels, print or on exhibit, the impact, influence and reach of visuals has never been greater. But with so many images fighting for our attention, how do photographers create visuals that most effectively stand out and connect with us?
Here’s 7 photographers who have helped bring our attention to the rights of children, in an ever-evolving environment, media landscape and culture now ruled by visuals.
1.STEPHANIE SINCLAIR
Stephanie Sinclair is an American photograph...

#WheresMyPlayground – Ghosts Of Good Things – Playgrounds Of Mumbai, A Thought-Provoking Book On Shrinking Spaces To Play

The Father of Play Therapy, Charles E. Schaefer, describes the essence of play in our lives most succinctly, ‘We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.’ In more affluent housing societies with dedicated spaces for a clubhouse, playground, gym, et al. one may fairly assume that play time and play space is aplenty. One simply needs to step out and play. However, for those children who must share the local ground with de...
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