#MealsfromMaa at Raheja Township
Feeding construction workers who earn meagre daily wages
Paid anything between 300 and 400 INR for nine to 10 hours of hard work a day, construction workers often have a big family to take care of. They live in temporary settlements, sometimes provided by the construction company, for the duration of the construction project and then move to another site.
These unskilled labourers have left their native villages to find out a job in big cities to combat extreme rural poverty. Their children are sent to Government schools to make ends meet. Their situation is such that they are forced to take their children to the project sites often littered with wires, pilings, concrete or open pits. Their condition is far from the fundamental requirements of childhood – care, nurturing, protection, and opportunities to develop.
The monsoons are a difficult time for the workers as construction work is slow in this season. A meal given by someone proves to be a blessing for them.
During one of our interaction sessions with the little toddlers there they spoke about their interest in drawing and colouring. At our next visit, we distributed colouring books with crayons.
