Loreto Bowbazar is a special place where shelter and aid for street children goes hand in hand with a renowned private school for children from the highest social circles. Together they follow classes, laying the foundations for a new society, cutting straight through traditional caste lines. I asked one of the girls from Loreto Bowbazar what she wanted to do when she graduated high school.

A short time before, I walked through the slums with this girl. She knows every nook and cranny, every stand, but is also intimately familiar with the dangers. It’s where she comes from. It’s where she wants to get away from. She wants to become a doctor to help the people here, and is already fulfilling an important role. She educates her illiterate surroundings on birth control. She speaks out against organised marriages, against the caste system. And thankfully, she is one of an ever growing group of girls. ‘They are the change agents for a new society’, said Herman Wijffels, member of our Committee of Recommendation. And that shifts things into a broader perspective.

I was deeply moved by this girl. Her strength. Her twinkling eyes. Her vision of the future. The choice to make a difference, the passion and the self-evidence, that’s what we at Net4kids want to show our donors.

If you know what difference you can make, and what is really needed to help underprivileged children, you start thinking differently. You start looking at the aid requirements, instead of considering how much you want to give. The barriers crumble and more children can be helped. This is true for both private individuals and businesses. Together, we must invest in society. This girl is already doing it. Our project partners do it. And so do increasing numbers of donors.

Our model is about individual choice and direct personal involvement. It’s the drive that powers the growth we have been through since the foundation of Net4kids. We can help more and more children to take their future into their own hands. To become agents for change. Because that’s what we want as well.

Loek van den Boog
Chairman

Net4kids © Maart 2007