Free 750 Indian families from debt and deprivation

Recently, a VST volunteer visited some Arunthathiyar children’s groups in the village of Sankarnagar. Arunthathiyars are a Dalit sub-caste who face discrimination from other communities. There are two groups in this village, one spanning ages 12-14, and the other, ages 15-18. Both groups typically meet separately every month, however if they face a collective issue, then they will all meet and work towards a resolution together. These groups are headed by one child leader and then supervised by an adult who often was a previous member themselves. 

We sat down and spoke with both the groups, hoping to get first hand accounts of their goals and achievements. They first claimed that their objectives were to cultivate various life skills, such as self-confidence and awareness of child rights, alongside monitoring teenagers at risk of marriage under the legal age or child labour. 

They went on to describe their various achievements. For instance, they had a dropout readmitted to school and managed to instigate the building of a new road in the village by lobbying at the local panchayat (council). This is one of the most effective ways to bring improved facilities to poor villages as the collective voices of many are more often listened to than the voice of an individual, especially if they are children. 

The most significant achievement however was their success in ending illegal drugs sales that were taking place under the guise of a teashop in the village, and being sold to both adults and children. The drugs being sold to children included coollip (chewing tobacco), marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes. 

Upon hearing this, staff from VST’s partner working with the groups taught the children various strategies to stand up to the illicit business. First, staff assisted the children to lead a protest around the village, shaming the use and selling of illegal substances. They also contacted the Children’s Welfare Committee and the police, causing the latter to attend the local school to inform the children that if they knew of any people illegally selling these drugs, that they could phone them anonymously. 

Consequently, one of the children’s group phoned the line and identified the shop that was selling the drugs. The police came and arrested the salesman, and he was forced to pay a hefty fine. Now he has reopened his shop for selling tea, and tea alone.

Lastly, the children described their future aspirations as individuals, and their future goals for the groups. They listed a great number of different occupational aspirations, which ranged from being a member of the police, a doctor, lawyer, engineer, to being a soldier. Given the wide variety of these aspirations, it is clear how the activities of children’s groups like these continue to drive meaningful progress, empowering the community toward brighter and more prosperous futures.

One of the children’s groups plans to petition for more toilets in their local colony. Currently 77 homes do not have a toilet, and they are forced to use the local stream.  

There has also been a recent discrimination case against the Arunthathiyar children at their school. In Indian culture, food is eaten with only the right hand as the left is traditionally reserved for personal hygiene. During mealtime, the dominant caste server offered the Arunthathiyar children food with her left hand rather than the right (but not for dominant caste children), signalling that they were ‘dirty’ and inferior. These types of discriminatory practices are still very common for Arunthathiyar communities, and these children are working hard to put a stop to them in their community. The case is due to be investigated. 

*Names of people and places have been changed for privacy and safeguarding reasons. 

Links:

• Read more about children's groups on our website
• Read about another children's group