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Pratham Delhi Education Initiative recently organized a "Bal Mela" in Kalyanpuri, South Shahadra I. The objectives of this function were to create an awareness of education amongst the children in the area and inform the parents about the teaching techniques employed by Pratham. The area has a significant number of out of school children and most of the parents of these children never went to school themselves.
The "Bal Mela" was conducted jointly by Pratham and the local community. The choice of venue was rather interesting, it was a park where all kinds of addicts frequent. The idea to hold the "Mela" there was mooted by the senior Pratham functionaries of the Zone. Some of the community members, though, had great reservations about holding the "Mela" there. After much deliberation, in which the local Municipal officials were also present, the idea of Pratham prevailed. The park was cleared of all debris and junk, that had accumulated over a period of time, by the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) officials and the show was held on the 27th of February, 2004. .
 The occasion was used, both to display the skills acquired by the Pratham children and to showcase the various Pratham community based programmes, including Pratham books and teaching methods employed by Pratham.
About 200 Pratham children participated in various competitions, for which they were awarded certificates. They were viewed by another 5,000, out of which about 3,000 were children. Also present were, the local MLA Mr. Amrish Gautam, the local Municipal Councillor Ms. Vidya Devi, the DGM of VSNL Mr. S.P Singh, Pratham Trustee Mr. V.C. Khanna and representatives from each of the Pratham zones in Delhi.
 The most astounding part of the show was the participation of the addicts, from a distance! They actually helped us clean up the park and thoroughly enjoyed the performance of the children. They really felt great to be of use to the community, children in particular. They even made discreet enquiries about enrolling their children to Pratham classes.
On the whole, we feel we succeeded greatly in our endeavour to stress upon the importance of education to both children and parents alike. In the coming days we envisage a higher enrolment of out of school children and active participation of the community.
* Lajo Sharma is the Pratham Zonal Incharge of South Shahadra I, New Delhi
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