CINI ASHA

Last Monday we visited CINI ASHA which cares for urban deprived children. They run all sorts of projects to help children affected by poverty, drugs, abuse and exploitation. It was a very humbling experience to visit areas where families survive in little shacks and to witness the health care and education CINI provides for these children and mothers. We also visited a night shelter near Sealdah train station which provides safe shelter and education for deprived children in Calcutta. Some of these children were as young as 6 years old and it really is heartbreaking to think that they have no home or that home, for whatever reason, is too unbearable for them to stay. It made me realise how lucky I’ve been throughout my life to have had a safe, comfortable place to sleep at night; a quiet, safe place to study; access to education; and a chance to be a child. These are luxuries that many of the children I met have never had, but now through the projects of CINI ASHA, they are able to experience some of the stability taken for granted by so many of us in the Western world.