I'm not sure whose courage I am more inspired by. The 7yr old boy or the social workers of India. This boy is just one yr older than my daughter...he has obviously been through more pain than even I have ever been through.

Child turns himself over to social workers
http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2004/march/78911.htm

“I have had enough of roaming around and begging. Please take me to a better place,” whispered seven-year-old Akram, a street child at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to two social workers yesterday afternoon.

Now, his life has changed for the better.

Akram, who turned himself over to the social workers, now has three meals a day, clean clothes and a bath, necessities that had become luxuries since his mother died and he took to begging.

For Sangita Gawali of Prayas and Sakharam Bhosle of Saathi-Raichur, this was the sort of case they had always dreamed of coming across.

The duo do daily rounds in the CST area, where they try to get runaways and street children to shelter homes before the beggar mafia or drugs get them.

The boy’s story echoes the plight of most street children, but it’s his determination to better this lot that sets him apart. “I have been loitering around CST for the past three months.

My father left my mother for another woman. My mummy loved me a lot but after she died, I haven’t seen a good day in my life,” an unkempt Akram, clad in a dirty kurta-pyjama, told Gawali, alternating between a toothy smile and occasional sobs. The boy’s teeth though showed no signs of tobacco abuse.

The social workers discovered that the boy was born in a hutment on the pavement of P D’Mello Road. He was looked after by his mother Kheru, who sold eggs, after her husband Alimbhai left her for another woman.

“Till my mother was alive, it was all right. Once she died, I had no money for food so I started roaming around CST begging. Some stall owners would give me food at night,” said Akram, holding up a fistful of Rs 1 coins he had managed to earn that morning.

His only other possession is an itinerary card of the ongoing Indo-Pakistan cricket series.

“It’s so nice when kids like Akram come up to us asking to be moved to a shelter. Before we can help, a huge number of these kids get into the hands of those running beggary rackets or get addicted to drugs. Then rehabilitation is tough,” said Bhosle, as Akram clung on to his hand.

What next?

Bhosle said he would be shifting Akram to the SPARC shelter near Aaykar Bhavan opposite Churchgate and later to their shelter home at Dadar. “There are lots of kids his age at the Dadar shelter. He will like it there,” said a smiling Bhosle

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Yes indeed it is painful and sad

Thanks for sharing with us !
Regards.
Biomed

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"Change before you have to" : Jack Welch

When a friend of mine was living in Mumbai she used to collect the street children on Sunday near Churchgate station in the afternoon.
Provided was snacks along with a little class in English and prayer.
For her wedding they were all invited and given new clothes.
Homeless and orphaned kids do deserve more. It is not their fault for being bought into this world.