Over the last three years ESG has been conducting summer workshops for children to sensitize them on various environmental and social justice issues. The summer workshops are a lot of fun not only for children but to all of us at ESG for children bring so much fresh energy and enthusiasm to our work. As every year, once the workshops are announced there are many requests to conduct similar programs in other areas, institutions etc and this year we had a request from a group of young software professionals who have been involved in supporting the educational needs of slum children in the Tilaknagar slum to conduct a three day workshop for these children.
Our theme for the children's workshop this year was called "Combating Climate Change" and we wondered how we could talk to the children in the Tilaknagar slum about such complex issues of Global warming and Climate change for they hardly ever contribute anything to the problem. After a few discussions we decided to call it 'Namma Parisara' where we would discuss some of the basic issues around air, water,land and our City. The first day after a round of introductions I asked the children to name some of their favourite places of the city. I was delighted to hear 'namma mane hathra iro park' meaning the park near our house,madivala kere- Madivala tank, Ediyur Kere- Ediyur tank and Lalbagh. This was such a contrast from what I had heard exactly a year back when working with some urban children coming from privileged homes who had said their favourite places in Bangalore were the Wonder la- A water amusement park, Fun World- Another amusement park, the Forum Mall, Bowling Alleys, and names of other malls in the city which I did not even know.
While showing the children of Tilaknagar some slides of our urban wildlife and urban trees, they identified every tree by the local name, every bird and insect by their local name and knew so much about their nesting and feeding habits. Talking about waste and when asked about the different types of waste generated in their homes,these children could only think of coconut shells, milk sachets and old news paper covers in which they had bought either medicine or some grocery.This was again such a contrast to my experiences with children coming from privileged backgrounds who can think of a laundry list of the types of waste they generate that range from bio-degradable to a large amount of recyclable,hazardous and bio medical waste too!
Talking about our city and walking through a few slides about Bangalore,as the slides changed from the picture of the Kempegowda tower to the Vidhana soudha, they all exclaimed "aunty, Taj Mahal". I realized that out of the 30 odd children not even one had seen the Vidhana Soudha or the High court. Watching the other slides about Bangalore and learning about them was like learning about a completely different country altogether for these children. We finished the last day of the workshop with a field visit to Lalbagh that was filled with excitement. The children were all so neatly dressed in their best and had brought many of their siblings along too.
Although its been a month since this workshop, yet there's something that deeply troubles me, which is that these children hardly generate any waste for they consume so little or sometimes nothing at all, Yet it is so unfortunate that these children live in neighbourhoods where the city's garbage is dumped, sorted and recycled. They are the ones who can relate and be one with nature, yet they are the ones who cannot afford to buy the ticket to a park or a lake. It is their parents who vote without fail in the hope that they will get water,electricity and rations and yet it is they who suffer without these very basic necessities. Sadly, these children don't even know that some of these very major decisions about their access to food, water , electricity and recreation are made within the walls of the Vidhana Soudha, a picture which they happily exclaim in excitement as the 'Taj Mahal.
