Day 5 - Bringing Smiles in the Children

Welcome to the final day of me helping Lotus NGO's impoverished children. Today was an eventful and memorable day where I had the opportunity of allocating school supplies and host a feast for the children. I managed to buy some of the school essentials and basic needs of the NGO, as well as a nutritious meal for everyone. Due to the Purchase Power Parity (PPP) gap, I had more money available to me in Indian rupees than I could have in dollars with the same amount in the USA.


In the previous days, the children had given me a list of supplies they really wanted. Majority of their wishes were supplies for school. I made sure to buy each children a backpack along with notebooks, pencils, erasers, sharpeners and pens. A handful of the children wanted diaries in addition to the given supplies. I purchased all the listed items which cost me roughly 300 in Dollar terms. Few staff members accompanied me. From there, I went straight to the NGO.  


After arriving there, I carried my load of supplies and went to the office. I greeted the staff members and we together arranged the purchased items to be distributed. I could see the excitement in the childrens eyes as they queued up behind the office door. I started passing out the supplies one by one and I could see a glimmer of anticipation in each of the children. They were all overjoyed and that gave me a feeling of satisfaction. When I had enquired with the NGO staff earlier, they mentioned that they badly needed a refrigerator to store food. I gifted them one, so I could see contentment in the staff members too. This would help in storing food and benefit the children in getting fresh food for long hours. 


Today's lunch was special since it was sponsored by me. A second cook was brought in to help with the overabundance of food on the menu. The atmosphere was different since other guests of the NGO were invited as well. I enjoyed personally, passing the food out to the children along with the help of the staff members. I could tell, everyone was really hungry since they all asked for seconds. After serving the food out, I sat down to eat with them and we shared our perspectives of what the last four days had been like and  how fun we all had together. It gave me immense pleasure to bring in smiles from all of them and be able to provide a hearty meal. We all reflected on what we had done together, and retold the memories we had shared. The bonding that developed over the days was about to take a break and that very feeling brought in some heartbroken moments.


As my day in the NGO came to an end, I said goodbye to the children, teachers, and staff with a heavy heart. I was prompted to do something even more for the children. I figured that attempting to make a website would be perfect for them, in which I would list the problems that these children face, and how we could help to solve these problems. On my way back home, I kept in my mind that even though these children have to endure very tough living conditions, they are still very content with the few things they possess. I was in complete awe to know that despite these children not having their parents to take care off them, they still consider themselves lucky and grateful for everything that they do have.


The experience I gained from this project helped me see the struggles that underprivileged children have to go through every day. The basic essentials that we have are considered to be luxury for them. These kids are the same as any other kid, so there is no reason for them to be faced with problems such as lack of proper education, low hygiene, poor sanitation and food shortage. I was able to help a minuscule number of underprivileged children around us with a few school supplies, a day's meal, some knowledge sharing sessions and fun activities which brought in smiles from all of them. The contentment they showed let me think how lucky we all are. The smallest of the things gives them joy. My experience with helping underprivileged children was something that very few people in this world understand today. I am grateful of been having to get an opportunity to see these children smile and find some joy in some of the actions I made. I thank DOC NC for igniting this in me and giving me this opportunity.

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