You may not know it, but every season in India, 7.5 million migrant children accompany their families to construction sites in major cities in search of work and wages. These families live in difficult conditions, to say the least: without access to health care or housing, they often find themselves grouped together in insalubrious slums around the construction sites. In this context where only one in ten migrant children have access to education, health and nutrition servicesAide et Action is working to change the situation by addressing the obstacles that prevent migrants from claiming their rights. Our project "A haven for migrantssupported by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, has developed 65 Education and childcare centres (Child Care and Learning Centres - CCLCs) to enable at least 10'000 migrant children to access their rights in a healthy, safe and educational environment.
An initiative of the migrant community
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As part of this project, a major cultural and sporting event was held in the suburban centres of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the state of Odisha and one of our intervention cities. These mothers, who through the project also have access to various health care services (especially for pregnant women and young mothers), are workers who regularly spend 10 to 12 hours a day on construction sites, just like their husbands. With part of their modest income, they have decided to contribute to the organisation of Kalika - a children's festival celebrated in Bhubaneswar among the brickworks migrants. This is the first time that the community itself has taken the initiative to organise such an eventThis is a great example of our ability to promote local empowerment, which is the key to sustainability. This is a wonderful example of how our projects promote the empowerment of local actors, the key to sustainability!
Drawing, singing and dancing in the spotlight
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But what activities were organised for these children, most of whom were between 2 and 14 years old, often joined by non-migrant teenage girls living around the construction sites? More than anything else, it was creativity that was emphasised this year: The programme includes a drawing competition with selection and prizes for the best drawings; dance performances with traditional music; songs, prayers and hymns! You could see the joy and good humour on the faces of the children and parents, who in a great celebration of their culture and resilience were able to forget their difficult daily lives. For all the children targeted by our project, the defence of their rights and the monitoring of their health are accompanied by the stimulation of creativity, an essential factor for their psychosocial and cognitive development. Creating is also about expressing one's unique potential in one's own way!
