Poor kids' day out

Urchins get a rare opportunity to spend an entire afternoon at Shishu Park yesterday courtesy of Ain O Salish Kendra, a legal aid organisation. In the photo, a number of them are seen enjoying rides on bumper cars. Photo: Star

Shishu Park in the capital's Shahbagh is a place that always buzzes with screams of joy and excitement and laughter, but yesterday it had more of those when visited by some of the most jubilant children.
A hundred urchins, who had all along fallen victim to the harsh reality of the world, were taken to the amusement park by the legal aid organisation Ain o Salish Kendra to bring smiles to their faces for a day.
Their happiness knew no bounds, though the children had to wait from morning until 2:00pm for the rides to be turned on. They did not fidget like other children. Instead, they entertained themselves by singing, dancing, or simply by running around and playing tag.
Even the flower gardens, swings and see-saws were a novelty to them. They rode those with no less excitement.
A five-year-old girl ran up to this correspondent and asked if it would be okay to take her T-shirt off. She introduced herself as Mita.
“I am not used to wearing clothes, and it feels hot,” Mita said.
Another five-year-old told a story of how she had got her feet cut with broken bricks. When asked why she was walking barefoot, the girl answered nonchalantly, “I do not have shoes.”
Aklima Farzana Akhter, aged four, described how her everyday life is very different from the day out.
Her father left her and her mother, she said. Her mother begs to feed her.
“He [the father] does not like me,” Aklima said.
Eight-year-old Babli, who begs for a profession, came up to this correspondent with a grim allegation. “When I come up to rich folks and ask for money, why do they tell me to go live with them and work for them? Why would I leave my parents and live with them?”
Babli's neighbour Kona, who lives in Mohammadpur, said how she was once slapped hard by a man when she begged for money.