In December former Indian cricket captain, Anil Kumble (pictured above) helped ChildFund India launch their new nationwide reading campaign. Kumble kicked off the brand new ‘Books, My Friends’ campaign by presenting tote bags filled with books to children in Karnataka, a state in south-western India. Each bag contained books appropriate for different ages, from 6 to 14.
The program aims to provide books to nearly 115,000 vulnerable students in 14 Indian states this year, with more to come in the next three years. ChildFund India also plans to support the establishment of 30 community libraries throughout the country.
“If you want to get more knowledge, it is important to read books,” Kumble said. “A culture of reading picked up at this age will continue forever.”
The goal of the project is to make reading fun for children while helping them improve their reading, comprehension and learning abilities. ChildFund will also help to remove the barriers to reading. To address poor electricity in rural areas, families will receive solar-powered lamps with chargers that can also be used for mobile phones and torches.
By giving children the opportunity to own books other than school textbooks, it is hoped the ‘Books, My Friends’ program will inspire them to become lifelong readers for fun and enjoyment.
Bursts of rain and wind punctuate an otherwise pleasant day in India’s Nagapattinum district. The scents of a dry fish curry wafts through the air. Govindaraj, though, is impatient and waiting for the rain to stop.
“I don’t like this rain, like the way I hate the sea,” he says, visibly irritated. “Since the morning, I am waiting for this rain to stop. I will get the flowers from the market. Every year, I offer these flowers to my parents on their anniversary.” This isn’t a happy anniversary, though. It’s the 10th anniversary of his parents’ death and the South Asia tsunami, which claimed 230,000 lives in South Asia.
Govindaraj lost his parents, his elder brother and 10 other members of his family in the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 7,000 people in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu alone. He dusts off the photographs of his lost relatives.
“We were fortunate enough that our village is located a bit higher than the other villages. The tsunami water did come to our village but did not sweep us along. We survived. Only those who were near the shore at that time were killed or have gone missing,” says Malakodi, Govindaraj’s wife.
13-year-old Anita is Govindaraj’s cousin, who also lost her parents in the tsunami and is now being taken care of by Govindaraj and Malakodi.
When asked what she remembers about that day, Anita says, “I cannot recall anything about what happened on that day and how the tsunami was. The only thing I know is that it killed my parents and deprived me from the fortune of having parents. ”
“I have only photographs of my parents. I miss them the most when people talk about them and about the tsunami,” she says, pointing at their pictures.
