The Red Dust India Foundation was recently invited to conduct its Lifestyle Education Program for the children at Jan Vikas Society (JVS) Trust, held at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. This program was conducted on 6 March and was attended by 103 street-children and also children forced to work as rag pickers.

Jan Vikas Society (JVS) is a charitable trust that has committed itself to the care and development of street-children and rag pickers in Navi Mumbai. The mission of the society is to; ‘rescue, redress, rehabilitation through empowerment and self reliance, generated by awareness and achievement, made possible by legal assistance and capacity building, in co-ordination with competent authorities and networking with specialised agencies.’

The first half of day was dedicated to sports. The Role Models conducted sessions in cricket, football, athletics and stretching. During the session the Role Models and children discussed the importance of physical exercise and the benefits of playing a sport.

Next the participants were taken to DY Patil Medical College Auditorium for an audio visual presentation was conducted by a team of doctors. The aim of the presentation was to stress the importance of healthy eating habits, basic nutrition needs and dental & personal hygiene.

The presentation was followed by a nutritious lunch for all the children with Role Models highlighting the importance of washing hands before meals and how chewing food properly will aid digestion.

The last session of the day was a painting and colouring session. The children were asked to base their drawings on what they had learnt during the day – the results were encouraging; with pictures of things like brushing their teeth daily, eating healthy and finding easily available and affordable food.

Following the success of the event, the Red Dust India Foundation wishes to conduct regular Lifestyle Education Programs for the children at JVS. The next session being a thorough health checkups for all the in attendance children at DY Patil Hospital, on 7th April 2011, which also happens to be the World Health Day.