Bringing change

S

hweta, a 13-year old from Kuarmunda in Sundargarh district is an active member of the Children’s Parliament since 2009. She was confident when asking her parents about her rights. Since she joined the Children’s Parliament in 2009, Shweta decided to start raising awareness on various issues related to children from her school and community. She participates regularly in the meetings of the Children Parliament and most recently in the Children’s Parliament held on June 5, 2011 at Rourkela. During the session, she confidently asked the representatives about the need to provide children in the age group of 3-6 years, supplementary nutrition in the form of a cooked, nutritious meal at the AWCs.” She supported her questions with examples to show the real situation of children. 

Shweta, a strong advocate of the Children’s Parliament talks about her experiences and realises how far her character has developed throughout the whole- the new skills and experiences with children’s parliament.

I live with my parents in a remote village near a forest and hill called Kalosiria in Kuarmunda block of Sundargarh district. I love to sit with my children’s group. I learned a lot of my rights. I play, sing and dance in my group says Shweta.

Parents sometimes show some sort of bias among their girl and boy children. Earlier my parents were not allowing me to go out except their work. Children’s parliament gave me opportunity to come out and sit with other children and learn. I told my parent to allow me to play in the afternoon like my brother. Now I am playing in the afternoon with my group. They were not allowing me earlier to play. I got the courage to ask them to play as I learnt it from my children’s cadre training of CHILDLINE. I also ask for new copy and book for me in the class which my parent any how gives me. Earlier they were only asking me to manage with the old and borrowed ones. 

“Being a member of the Children’s Parliament is an amazing experience. I have become more confident, people show me respect when they know I am a member of the Children’s Parliament. I really feel empowered and have a role to play in creating change in the situation of children in my village.”

“During last year and now, I participated in trainings carried out by CHILDLINE and trainings have developed my skills in advocating for the rights of the children in my village and learned about Child Rights and Child Protection. I feel I am knowledgeable and more informed about problems encountered by the children in my village.”