Street life..........

street kid with learning photography

My first encounter with street kids was at Durbarmarg. I was assisting my sister for taking photos for a photography contest. As soon as I saw a group of street kids sniffing Glue, I started to take snaps. I got a quick response, with slangs words from these kids. I thought these are only the kids, whom I can handle easily, so I started to behave in rude manner, and was trying to threaten them. But soon this group of kids started to come with stones in hand, asking reason why you are clicking our photos?  Can you click our photos without giving money?

Watching 3d-movie kunfu panda

To be away from these kids, I tried to give Rs 10 note, but these guys started to bargain, can you click photos only on Rs. 10? They were having stones in their hands. So escape from them, we went to the restaurant behind us. We spent around half an hour at restaurant; still these kids were outside hotel with stones in hand. This was my first interaction with street kids; I was too much scared from them. At last, one of hotel staff convinced the street kids, we have to delete their photos and they let us go.

tea 4 free

From the day onwards, I was too scary to stand nearer to street kids. These kids, who don’t care about their own life, sniffing in Glue, what about their future?? Addicted to Glue, they may encounter many problems in near future, from robbing to gangster they may be, and end up their life at streets with drugs.

In December 2010, I got a chance to meet Maharjan Juju, who was working for street children, to uplift their life. His current campaign “tea for Free”, provides tea to street kids once a week, and building emotional relationships by dealing in their life. Juju da works as an active youth activist, “Organic Farming, tea for free to street kids, was his works. 

After meeting juju da and heart beat members, I gain a lot of information about street life. I started to talk with street kids, my fear was gone away. The most important lesson I got, “changing street people life is really difficult.”

 They love their freedom, their life with glue, they don’t care about their future, they don’t fear of dying. For them they want to get engulf with glue and it was hard to improve their condition.

tea 4 free

Heart-beat team members were the most wonderful people I met, they get enrolled with these kids in their day to day life and started to have emotional attachment. They started to teach street kids photography, understood their feelings, help them with medical care and support, providing umbrella at monsoon season. It is really hard to change the life of street, their effort for changing life is continue, and I feel proud to work with this team, as a “youth messenger”, as a volunteer.I am able to change my own behaviors towards street kids, now I am able to talk with them, about their families, their street life, I don’t give them money but rather provide foods and snacks for them so that they will be happy.