Young visionaries

``We can make the difference'', said the banner on the dais at Church Park Convent on Saturday last. That precisely conveyed the upbeat mood of the 2,500-odd school children from Chennai, who participated in the Operation Rescue organised by World Vision of India, a Chennai-based NGO with a national presence.

The day-long programme aimed at creating awareness among school children about the ills of poverty and also how they can help i.e. children helping children, as the organisers put it.

The day began early at 7 a.m. with a silent run and culminated in a series of competitions for children with themes based on freeing children trapped in poverty.

Reuben Paul, a Ranji Trophy cricketer, flagged off the run from Anita Methodist School, Vepery. Children, mostly boys (in fact the girls were conspicuous by their absence) from St. Joseph's School, Don Bosco, Egmore and Perambur, and the World Vision New Hope Project joined the run, holding placards carrying messages against poverty. A little boy's slogan read ``I may be a flyweight, but I fight mighty hunger''.

World Vision began working in India in 1962 and is currently involved in 170 projects across 24 States. The focus is on child and community development projects. WV is an international partnership of over 100 countries and the U.N. has granted it consultative status, Category II with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It also has official relations with agencies such as the WHO, UNICEF, UNCTAD, UNHCR and the ILO.

After the run, the participants made over to Church Park Convent. The inaugural function was presided over by V. G. Santhosham, chairman of the VGP Group. The children delineated the theme ``Freedom from bondage'' in a variety of ways. St. Williams Anglo India High School portrayed the eternal conflict of good versus evil, with a patriotic twist. Swamy's Matriculation School walked away with the prize for their depiction of how children can free other children from bondage.

Students from over 20 city schools took part in painting, essay writing, collage, quiz, dumb charades and group dance contests held in the afternoon. The themes included ``Living in harmony'', ``Children helping children'' and ``Children living on the streets''.

The first prize in the painting competition was won by Srihariharan of St. Mary's Matric School, who had sketched a child helping a poor friend to read and write.

``Reaching out'' was the subject of the collage contest and St. Ursula's High School annexed the top position.

The dance competition drew big crowd and also the maximum number of competitors. The overall winners were SBOA Junior College, with Swamy Matric and SBOA Matric sharing the second position. The competitions were conducted and judged by volunteers from the Women's Christian College.

Television personality James Vasanthan and actor Vijay Adiraj lent their support for the cause and added a touch of glamour to the proceedings as they interacted with children. Vasanthan commended the students for taking time out to help other children.

Through the day visitors had the opportunity to lend their voice to the cause either by writing their message in the ``Your shout'' corner or via the dedication corner manned by FM radio jockey Joshu Madhan. The best dedications were aired on FM Radio and all the messages will be posted, we are told, on the website, www.operation rescue.net.

Speaking on the theme of the event ``Children helping children'', Anand Joshua, co-ordinator, Operation Rescue, said, ``This is the beginning of our strategy to recruit students in World Vision's fight against poverty''. He added, ``We will be interacting with the participants regularly to provide them with ammunition for their campaign against poverty.''

The day ended with prize distribution by Joseph Mathai, director, National Resources Development, WVI, who said ``As children are the future of the country we believe in equipping them to combat poverty''.

SELINE AUGUSTINE

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