The name says it all - Balaknama translates to “Voice of Children”; it’s an effort from a bunch of street children sharing great passion to write and reach the crowd. It’s my shame that I didn’t know about this newspaper so far, which has been in circulation since 2003. Happy that I came to know at least by now and I thought I should share it with you all.
Delhi's slum kids are one of the most abandoned people of India. Child marriage, Forced Child labor, begging, drug, sexual abuse, police violence are some of the bad tribulations these street children battle everyday L. Thanks to the efforts of CHETNA ( NGO), now these kids have turned into amateur journalists and reporters who write articles about the struggles of being slum kids and feature them in their newspaper.
Balaknama has a team of 60 reporters, most of them are based in the slums of Delhi and near-by states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. These young writers gets some basic training on story telling and composing articles from Chetna. Most of these children are working on odd jobs during the day to earn for their food, and later in the evening they spend their time to write for the newspaper.
This is a truly inspiring, these children are striving hard to bring their pressing issues into limelight, while empowering themselves through this newspaper. Good efforts like these should definitely be appreciated and supported. #balaknama #delhi #streetkids #chetna
Please see the video to know more:
8 Comments to "Meet "Balaknama" - The World's First Newspaper run by Street Children"
A unique newspaper indeed! Uniquely allows these children to tell their sides of living unlike the typical stereotypes that rotate around street kids.
This is a really inspiring and makes me appreciate all I have been given. This is truly phenomenal. This shows that India as a nation is progressing towards a better future.
A tiny sliver of hope for these children. So heartbreaking that there are so many homeless, parentless, abandoned, throwaway young kids. I hope this project grows by leaps and bounds.
Good article, well written, appreciate your efforts. But I some how not happy with the title "world's FIRST", nobody wants to see more Street children anywhere in the world isn't it?
Thanks for sharing this article. An amazing initiative.
Thank you Adite Banerjie. Hope these kid's efforts will be apreciated and supported.
Thanks for the comment Pranjit, will rename the title.. How about ""Balaknama"- The World's Unique Newspaper run by Street Children" ?
Thanks you all,just saw this, why dont you plan to visit these children? please send email at info@chetnango.org
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