Hyderabad's underprivileged kids have a gala time at carnival

Aware of the COVID-19 risks, the Foundation organized a 4 hour offline event within the premises of children's homes rather than its usual practice of bringing together children from different parts of the city. The Carnival was jam-packed with music and dance, outdoor games, storytelling sessions, a theatre play and delicious snacks.

The children enthusiastically played an interesting series of games conducted by Issac and Sundeep.

Young singer JB Akshan inspired the children with his melodious voice and prompted the audience to sing along. While Arun Yellamaty, Kenny and Joseph engaged the children with rhymes and songs at the other location.

Every year the organisers introduce a new art form to the children. This year, they invited Vimal (Train Door Storytellers) and Megha (accompanied by her sons/actors), two professional storytellers, who engaged the young audience with their exceptional skill and left them with important life lessons on hard work, perseverance, and contentment.

In addition, actors from one of India's largest theatre groups, Samahaara, were also invited. The children were awestruck with their versatile performance and were sad to see the play end. Humanity triumphed over money and riches in the play, a valuable lesson for the young audience.

Afterwards, children grooved to music and had a ball learning dance moves with professional choreographers, Akshay and Sandeep.

The day concluded with a delicious plate of home-baked cupcakes, and Ikea-sponsored blueberry danish and croissants provided by the Foundation.

Interacting with the children about the event, Srinu, a 13 year old said, "Two of my personal favorites are- 1) The Games Jockey who made us play good games. 2) Drama where all the Anna's acted really well. Through this play, I understood that humanity is greater than money. I'll also act like that one day." Raji, a 9 year old girl said, "I had a very great day today. I enjoyed my cupcake, Storytelling session and games a lot. I want to meet these Akkas and Annas every year."

This event is a culmination of an entire year's hard work of the organization's education program and gender sensitization awareness campaigns. The carnival is a day where children are felicitated with medals and recognized for their social-emotional skills as well as positive learning attitudes that they have displayed throughout the year.

Speaking on the same, the Founder of Youngistaan Foundation, Arun Daniel Yellamaty said, "Due to COVID-19 pandemic, we were worried whether we would be able to organise our carnival this year at all. Fortunately, with an amazing volunteer team, we were able to follow a proper sanitization process at each location. All of us were so happy to see the joy in every child's face. We shall continue to work with the children in a sustainable way in the future."