Festive fun: Kids treat slum children to special Iftar

This Ramzan, Project Smile, a Bengaluru-based NGO, reached out to children dwelling in slums.
Almost 350 children from nearby slums attended the event  Rishav Bhattacharya
Almost 350 children from nearby slums attended the event  Rishav Bhattacharya

BENGALURU: This Ramzan, Project Smile, a Bengaluru-based NGO, reached out to children dwelling in slums. While most people celebrate the festival with iftar at their home, this organisation ensured that they brought smiles to the faces of slum kids in Avalahalli.

The iftar, called ‘For Children By Children’, was held in the city on Sunday, and was a first-time initiative by the NGO, which is run by professionals from various fields. They brought in their own kids to interact with the underprivileged youngsters. “Since 2015, we have been conducting iftars for people from lower economic backgrounds. But this is the first time we reached out to kids,” said Naseem Akhtar, a volunteer.

The event’s objective was to help children understand the struggles others face and to encourage a sharing mentality. “Children in well-settled families waste their food while many children in slums don’t have any food. These children even struggle to get water for their basic needs. Through this initiative, we want our kids to be more compassionate. At the same time, we want children in slums to learn new things,” said Mohammed Ummer, another volunteer at Project Smile.

Almost 350 children from nearby slums attended the event. The organisation had arranged several activities for children, such as drawing, singing and games. For Soha Shahin, the experience was new and fun. The seventh standard student from The Grandeur International School, Sarjapur Main Road, said: “Today, I made many new friends and we enjoyed a lot. We served food for our new friends.”

Six-year-old Sadique Hussain often has to wait for a festival for a good meals. Like Hussain, all the children at the event were having a good time with their new friends and got a chance to celebrate this iftar with many Ramzan special dishes, such as chicken biriyani, fruits, ice creams and samosas.

In the coming days, Project Smile plans to carry out more such community building activities and are also looking at opening a community health centre for the dwellers in Avalahalli.

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