Dealing with suicides
The students of Panchayat Union Middle School in Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu, were disturbed by the alarming suicide rate in their village. They tried to understand the problem and realized that because of unemployment, people were feeling hopeless and suicidal. To be able to deal with this challenging problem, the children did the following:
Created awareness through street plays and rallies in their own community
Arranged counselling for the villagers
Arranged for a one-week basket-weaving training
Conducted community gatherings with games to spread joy and humour
Went to each house in their village and spread the message of the Bible, the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita's words for not committing suicide
This story was shared by Design For Change (DFC), a global movement designed to give children an opportunity to express and action their ideas for a better world. Since 2009 over 1,70,000 children have participated in the DFC India School Challenge and have submitted over 3000+ compelling stories, 100 of which were recognized at the 'I CAN' awards in Ahmedabad on November 22, 2014. Learn more at www.dfcworld.com.