Slum kids dream of their own home

CHENNAI: A drawing competition organised by Slum Children Sports Talent and Education Development Society (SCSTEDS) among school-going children in and around Vyasarpadi locality on ‘My dream home’ saw a tremendous response.As a culmination of the two-week long competition drive, SCSTEDS a few days ago had exhibited all the entries in a mega exhibition held at a community hall in Satyamurthi Nagar. Hundreds of local residents witnessed the children’s dreams of having a home for their families.“The aim of the competition was to rekindle the slum children’s mind on owning a home and about 800 students expressed their dream home through nice paintings,” N Thangaraj, coordinator of the SCSTEDS, an NGO working for the betterment of slum children in Vyasarpadi and surrounding areas, told City Express. Based on visitors’ feedback at the exhibition, a plain sketch showing the facade of a home by Umega Anjali, a resident of Udayasooriyan Nagar, was selected for the first prize while a drawing by Ajit Kumar, a resident of Samanthipoo Colony, fetched the second prize. Another painting by Kannan Deva, a resident of Jega Jeevan Nagar, won the third prize.“Barring a few, most of the participants (through the drawings) wanted their home to be located near a play ground (for activities), park (for greenery) and school (for education),” said Thangaraj. The ironical part of the whole competition was that most of the participants – more than 90 per cent to be more precise — do not own a home and live in rented houses in the locality, he added.Child rights NGO, CRY- Child Rights and You, had sponsored the competition. CRY also planned to give away consolation prizes to 100 participants to boost their morale. Children from Samanthipoo Colony, Kalyanapuram (A, B and C), Jega Jeevan Nagar, Udaya Sooriyan Nagar, Kennedy Nagar, MGR Nagar, Malligaipoo Colony and Debar Nagar participated in the competition.