Pawan and Bunty, leading their teams!

Pawan (l) and Bunty (r) leading their respective teams

Dear Laurent,

Your generous donation enabled Magic Bus to provide a Sports Kit  including two handballs, two footballs, 20 bibs, six markers and two cones to Praveen, the Community Sports Coach who conducts sports sessions for children in a ground in Lalithabaug, a slum community in Old Hyderabad, India. Bunty and Pawan are two of the 50 children who attend the sessions conducted by Praveen.

Eight year old Bunty loves playing with other kids, in the playground. Kicking the football and throwing hand ball was something he had never done before. He says “my mother had never let me play in this playground because it was always occupied with older children. It is only when Praveen bhaiya [brother] came and spoke to my mother, that she let me come here.’”

Twelve year old Pawan shares that prior to Magic Bus sessions, no girl would play with the boys, neither in the ground nor in the school. He adds “I’m really thankful to Magic Bus anna (brother) for starting a new culture in our area by bringing boys and girls to play together equally without any discrimination. I will continue to support Magic Bus in this gender issue.”

Pawan is very excited about the equipments he gets to play with. He says ‘while watching sports news I used to think, football is a foreigners’ game because I never saw Indians playing football on television. Now I feel proud that I am playing a new game which I used to think is very difficult to play.”

Both Bunty and Pawan are thrilled to learn a new sport through the Magic Bus initiatives.

The sports kit will be used to provide sports sessions for 50 more children like Bunty and Pawan in Lalithabaug, Old Hyderabad.

Thank you, Laurent, for putting your faith in Magic Bus. Your support will go a long way in helping disadvantaged children learn and develop through play and shed their inhibitions and stereotypes that exist in their immediate society!