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Young World
Message for everyone
K. JESHI
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This student wants to stop child trafficking by creating awareness among children and parents.
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PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN
Genuine concern: Tharunya
Her dream is to make India the safest place for children by 2020. And she is already working towards it. She started off with a signature campaign, followed it up with regular visits to schools, conducted drawing and slogan writing competitions and participated in group discussions, all to drive home the message on how to stop child trafficking.
“I also want to talk to parents in the rural areas. While working on my project I learnt that parents from poor economical background sell their children for money,” says D. Tharunya, Std. VII student of Vidya Nikethan Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
Set to compete
She is all set to represent Coimbatore at the national level finals of Horlicks WizKids 2007 in Bangalore and will present her project on creating awareness on child trafficking. A total of 27 participants from across the country will compete for the title in the junior category in a series of talent rounds, quizzes and project presentations from November 17 to 21.
For the project, she has joined hands with an NGO called CACT — Campaign Against Child Trafficking. “I have watched a lot of programmes on TV about how children are kidnapped and ill-treated. I chose child trafficking as my project for the competition to create awareness. I was also inspired by a puppetry show conducted by CACT at our school on child trafficking,” she adds.
She visits schools in the city regularly and talks to students of her age group on the issue. “I tie friendship bands, become their friend and talk to them on the seriousness of the issue. I tell them not to disclose personal information to strangers, or accept gifts from them. If you have scored low marks, don’t feel bad, go home,” she adds.
Tharunya has also learnt that India is considered the sixth dangerous place in the world for children and that most of the inter-country adoptees are from India. “I want to conduct a survey among school students to find out their level of awareness on child trafficking,” she adds.
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