May 1, 2017

Comments For A Cause – Railway Children

May 1st!

I blinked and April was gone.

Honestly.

My April was short and while I crammed a lot into the month I am sad to bid it adieu. My Comments for a Cause for April was none other than The Little Free Library organization and what a great month we had. My own job as steward of Little Free Library #51049 in Brevard, NC has gone into full speed ahead as we continue to make improvements to our design. Torrential rains managed to blow into the bottom under the door and while no books were damaged my guest book took a bit of a hit so Rod came up with a few additions to help keep the rains out. I have a feeling we will always be adding things and upgrading over time.

But back to the results for April. Thanks to all of the wonderful comments left on It’s Just Life during the past month Chris and I will be making a donation of $173 to The Little Free Library organization to help with their endeavors at increasing literacy in the world. I am thrilled that they are a non profit that continually gives back. I have found that there are wonderful stewards all over the world and am connecting with many of them. Since I put in my library another one has been placed about 8 miles from mine so hopefully the concept is going to grab hold and grow in our area as well.

Chris and I recently watched the film “Lion”. In the beginning I kept saying to him “This is too hard to watch. I don’t think I can watch any more. This is just too sad.” If you have watched the film you know what I am talking about.

Image from railway children.org

Bottom line the movie takes a turn and has an amazingly happy ending. I would highly recommend it to anyone to watch as it made quite an impact on me. Enough of an impact to do a little bit of internet surfing to find out what I could do.

Comments for a Cause for May will focus on the charity Railway Children specifically targeted to the population in India. All of the following information was taken from their website which is rich in information and resources.

According to their website:

Children running away from abuse, violence and poverty use India’s extensive railway network to get to the cities, where they hope to find a better life. Thousands of children arrive at India’s vast, chaotic railway stations and find themselves lost, alone and scared, with no idea where to go or what to do. Their dreams brutally shattered, they end up living on the platforms.

Over 11 million children live on the streets of India.

Why do they run away?

Children run away or are forced to leave home for a wide variety of reasons, including violence, abuse, poverty or neglect. Many dream of finding work in the cities and a brighter future. Some intend to return to their families with money for food, but end up lost in the chaotic railway network.

Last year the organization helped 8,762 children through outreach programs. They serve the children in 3 different ways:

1. Street Level

At street level we strive to meet the immediate needs of children at risk on the streets and platforms of India today. We have created a number of ‘child friendly stations’ with the help and engagement of the people who work at them, who now look out for and help children alone and at risk.

2. Community Level

At community level we work to make children on the streets visible to society and to help people understand the issues that cause children to run away and that face them on the streets and on the platforms. We invest time and skills in preventative intervention, with the aim of creating ‘safety nets’ within communities to catch children who are at risk of running away before they do so.

3. Government Level

At government level we work to persuade policy makers that children living on the streets should be higher on India’s political agenda and that government policies should provide greater protection and opportunity for them.

I want to make a small difference in the lives of these children and with your help I will. This month for every comment left on It’s Just Life Chris and I will make a 50 cent donation to this organization. Please comment often and follow this organization on their many social media networks that I have linked to below. Thank YOU to each of you for making a difference with your comments. Every one matters.