Suraj

This is Suraj. He is a 19 year old boy who has no parents and is struggling to continue his studies at Polytechnic college Mathura. He lives with his two brothers. In the evenings Suraj goes out with a kirtan party to sing the names of the lord and uplift the spirits of the residents of Radha Kund. Recently, When Suraj was riding on the back of a cycle rickshaw on his way to take grass to feed cows at a local goshala (cow protection shelter), the driver crashed and Suraj's leg hit a wall.

Suraj's leg broke in two places. He was taken to Daresi Hospital Mathura and lays in bed waiting for someone to help with the funds to have an operation on his leg. I hope that the friends and supporters of Food for Life will come through for Suraj. For his operation and hospital costs, Suraj needs Rs18,000 (US$400).

Please help this young boy to get the operation he needs and so that he can continue his studies and look forward to a bright future. You can contact me at Rupa@fflvrindavan.org with messages or pledges of support for Suraj.

Today Sat. 14th is Children's Day!

It's Children's Day Saturday. However, a bulk of the country's kids don't have much reason to celebrate, as they struggle everyday against vices like child labour, sex selection and malnutrition, and education is still a far-fetched dream for many, say civil society representatives.

According to ActionAid, an international charity, almost half of India's children are underfed.

Quoting the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2006, Babu Matthew of ActionAid said 46 percent children under the age of three are underweight. Also, 70 percent of all Indian children under five are anaemic.

Drawing up a report card on the status of children in India, Save the Children, another international charity, said that India scores a dismal two out of 10 on the parameter of health.

Ananthapriya Subramanian of Save the Children said: 'Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) specifically states that member states must recognise every child's inherent right to life. Yet in India two million children below the age of five die every year from preventable and treatable diseases.'

Nov 14-21 is being celebrated across the world as the UNCRC week, however India doesn't have much reason to join in the celebrations, she said.

'Over four lakh (400,000) children die within the first 24 hours of life every year in India. Despite a decade of rapid economic growth, India's record on child mortality at 72 per 1,000 live births is worse than that of neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh,' she added.

India accounts for one-fifth of newborn deaths and ranks 171 out of 175 countries in the world in public health spending, Subramanian added.

http://sify.com/news/39-India-39-s-children-don-39-t-have-much-to-cheer-on-Children-39-s-Day-39-news-jlnqbHhgidh.html