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Underprivileged children…what comes to your mind when you see or hear those 2 words? Poverty? Lack of education? Maybe even health issues? All of these are right on point. Today, I am going to talk about the underprivileged children in India, mainly because I am currently living here.

To start off, 40% of India’s population(400 million people) are below the age of 18, and this is the world’s largest child population. 58% of children below the age of 2 years are not fully vaccinated. The number of problems go on and on but I am here not to talk about the problems, but to talk about the solutions.

The underprivileged children of India need help. These children lose their right to emotional, physical and social development and are more likely to have depression, low self-esteem, lack of sleep and nutrition, etc. Poverty is undoubtedly one of the major causes of this plight. Lack of education being the second culprit. There are a few ways through which we can help.

Identification of Cause- We need to identify the causes of poverty and try to eliminate them.
Spread awareness- There are many social welfares but not everyone is aware of them Our job is to provide such information to the target audiences so that poor can raise their children in a better way.
Give back to society- Provide basic needs to the people whom you think are in need of it. Provide school supplies to children so that they can go to school as well.

The change won’t show immediately, but it will definitely show in the near future!

-Ronisha Nanjiani

"A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”

As you think about the poor, the helpless, what is the compassion that can best help you with? It takes only a few minutes to know the requirements in slums, the refugee camps, etc. It is true that an individual alone cannot solve the needs of the world. But we can do something together.

Every child has the right to health, education and protection, and every society has a stake in expanding children’s opportunities in life. Yet, around the world, millions of children are denied a fair chance for no reason other than the country, gender or circumstances into which they are born. Poverty affects children disproportionately. Around the world, 1 out of 5 children live in extreme poverty.

Nearly 250 million children live in countries and areas affected by armed conflict. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the nine-year conflict has caused the deaths of 400,000 people. In Somalia, children continue to be the most affected by crises. More than 5,200 children were victims of grave violations, alone in 2018, and that is just the number of reported cases. More than 60 million primary school-aged children will be out of school – roughly the same number as are out of school today. More than half will be from sub-Saharan Africa.

This is not just in happening in 1 corner of the world. It’s happening all over. It is true that we can’t solve this problem with a blink of an eye, but slowly, if each and every one of you contribute, it can be done.

-Ronisha Nanjiani

“Child labor is devastation, they should concentrate on education.”

In this post, I will be talking about the last major problem that children in the world face today, which is child labor. As bad as it sounds, it is true and has been going on for many years.

In the past, children were used as laborers because of their size. They were able to move in spaces that adults couldn’t. They were also easy to discipline compared to adults. They were paid very less, worked most of the day, and risked their lives every day since the factory conditions were dangerous.

This problem of child labor exists even today, and it all ties back to the 1st major problem- lack of education. Some of the children are not allowed to have an education and therefore are forced to work in such conditions. Being a laborer is bad enough; not having an education on top of that is even worse.

All the problems (hunger, labor, etc.) tie back to the fact of not having an education. If these children had access to education, they would have a secure job instead of risking their lives working in dangerous factories and would be able to supply themselves as well as their families with sufficient amount of food. Create Hope is all about giving, and this is why this organization stresses so much on education. You may not be seeing these problems in your day-to-day life, but it exists, and it exists in a huge number.

-Ronisha Nanjiani

“I am happy to be here and share my story with you.” -Leo Bretholz

Over the past few weeks, I have been writing and posting about children and the many problems that are going on around the world. Today, I thought of sharing my story.

I never had a viewpoint of how to look at the world and never followed up with what was going around. However, when I went to came to India for a visit, my thoughts completely changed! I couldn’t believe it myself! I started to pay more attention to what was going on around me. I saw people who were struggling to live, starving, and homeless, and I couldn’t help but cry. I went back to the US that’s when I decided that I wanted to do something for the people who live in the same manner as what I had seen. I knew that there was no point in just feeling bad for them.

That year, Create Hope was born. It finally felt so good to do something for others rather than just having people do things for me. I started doing community services such as having baking classes and holding bake sales. I collected school supplies instead of money and donated them to Classroom Central- a non-profit organization that tied up with Create Hope.

Currently, I am living in India and I still continue to create hope for the children here. A few months ago, I held a bake sale and donated supplies to the underprivileged children of the community. It feels nice to give others and see a smile on their faces. Through this tough time of Covid 19, I still strive to make an impact in the community.

-Ronisha Nanjiani

The lives of children due to the second wave of COVID are nonetheless being changed in profound ways. As families lose their sources of income due to COVID-19 and the global economy has been plunged into a recession, more households are falling into monetary poverty.

The global socio-economic crisis caused by the pandemic pushed 135 million more children into monetary poor households in developing countries. These children are living in multidimensional poverty – without access to education. Schools for millions of children in India itself have been completely closed for almost an entire year due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Furthermore, these children have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning.

You all might not be aware of these facts, but Covid has impacted the lives of people more than you can imagine! Help to create hope for those who are in need!

- Ronisha Nanjiani

“That’s right, from India. A third-world country. A country of cheap labor. But for just a moment, think: Who is the worldwide head of PepsiCo? Who is running Unilever? Who’s running MasterCard, Vodafone, Deutsche Bank? In case you don’t know, just Google it. While you are at it, ask Google who’s the head of Google? Well, he’s also an Indian.” ~Super 30

India has developed a tremendous amount and has heads/CEO of companies worldwide. But something India has yet to resolve is the stereotypes related to education.

In rural areas, we still have girls getting married at the age they should be playing with toys, holding a broom in their hands when they should be holding textbooks, cooking food when they should be finishing their homework, and some are even being killed the second they take their first breath because of their gender. Boys work to earn a living when they should be learning to earn in the future and carrying the burden to run the family when they should be carrying the burden of books in a backpack.

The illiteracy rate in India as of 2021 is 74.37%, making India one of the most illiterate countries in the world. How do we decrease that number? The Urban world holds a lot of power in its hands. Most people like you and I have social media, an advanced mindset, and education, three powerful forces; put them together, and we have an unbeatable force. We could spread awareness about the requirement of education for life, volunteer in organizations like Create Hope or others helping the world or simply change our mindset to change those around us. Make people understand the importance of education.

This might seem like it's nothing, but when humanity works together as a whole, then even the slightest change can make the biggest difference. When these stereotypes will end, every child will be going to school, carrying a backpack, holding a textbook. They will grow up sitting on a desk in an office or in a conference room developing the world through their minds instead of cleaning the floors of those companies.