Slum girl Kanaka dreams of becoming scientist
- Kanaka, the slum girl, who delivered a speech about atrocities against children at the Parliament on Children’s Day dreams of becoming a scientist to serve the country
- Kanaka was the lone student from Karnataka, one among the seven children selected to deliver the speech at the Parliament organised by UNICEF
- Other children spoke about nutrition, infant mortality and children’s health. I spoke about atrocities against children as even I was a victim of it, said Kanaka
FollowKanaka, the slum girl, who delivered a speech about atrocities against children at the Parliament on Children’s Day dreams of becoming a scientist to serve the country, reports Kannada Prabha.
Kanaka was the lone student from Karnataka, one among the seven children selected to deliver the speech at the Parliament organised by UNICEF. Her 8-minute speech was much appreciated. A first PUC student at a private college in Hesaraghatta, she dreams of becoming a scientist. Kanaka is adopted by Sparsha an NGO working for the welfare of child labours.
In #India, we have so many laws to protect children, but very few children are aware of these. This means the children are still vulnerable because they don’t know their #rights - Kanaka #KidsTakeOver #WorldChildrensDay #ENDviolence pic.twitter.com/NnCqpvDWmZ
— UNICEF India (@UNICEFIndia) November 20, 2017
Kanaka was born at the Jeevanabhima Nagar slum. She has an elder sister and a younger brother and sister. She lost her mother when she was studying in fourth standard. Her father is differently-abled. Her elder sister is married and lives separately. When her mother died, Kanaka started working as maid in several houses to support the family. In 2011, Sparsha Trust was conducting a survey of the child labours and it spotted Kanaka and adopted her. Trust’s Manjunath is very proud of Kanaka’s growth.
“I was very happy to speak at the Parliament. Other children spoke about nutrition, infant mortality and children’s health. I spoke about atrocities against children as even I was a victim of it,” Kanaka told Kannada Prabha.
“Both my younger siblings are under the care of Sparsha Trust and are studying. My father continues to live at the slum and is a rag picker. His house is dilapidated, may collapse any minute. The people’s representatives are not bothered about the plight of slum people. The atrocities against children must be put to stop. Children must live peacefully. The government must protect the children and solve their problems,” she observed.
