NEW DELHI: Every year, children living in the slums of Harkesh Nagar, Sukhdev Vihar and Ishwar Nagar eagerly wait for the day to come when they can go out and spend a day enjoying eating burgers, fries and pastries.
Every once in a year, Dr Jyoti Anand who runs an NGO Anand, takes 100 children from Delhi’s these slum areas to any of the popular fast food chain outlets for lunch.
“Why shouldn’t slum kids get a chance to eat in any fancy food outlets like any other kids do? They too deserve to enjoy and have a good time. Most of the time we see them at popular places begging for such food,” said Dr Jyoti Anand.
Jyoti has been following this ritual for the past seven years in a row now. Two days ago, she took these 100 slum kids to Wendy’s.
The idea came up seven years ago when Jyoti, near her office area, noticed that slum children would spend hours glaring at these fast food outlets or eagerly wait for someone to woffer them food.
“I decided that at least once in a year they should be taken to either McDonalds or any other place. We try to take new slum kids every year. Before visiting, we pre-book the outlet,” she noted.
Jyoti is now a full time social worker, who through her NGO is trying to bring changes in the lives of slum residents. She is running three schools in the national capital and also helps children get admission in government or private schools.
With more than 200 volunteers, Anand NGO is also involved in providing workshops for women where they create awareness on the need of sanitary pads or the use of condoms.