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Salaam Baalak Trust closes another year - Annual Report 2011- 12
These children are special
You only have to look at them to see it in their shining eyes.
Listen to their stories, and you hear it in their incredible resilience.
And consider this – how many children look at their life, say "This isn't good
enough; I deserve better", and strike out for the city, the magnet of their dreams?
Only one in a thousand.
We are privileged to work with these children, to show them that dreams must be
nurtured, that their fate can be crafted by their own hearts and hands, and that
the crowded, sometimes threatening world makes way for those with a firm
resolve.
Sometimes, the stories of children we have worked with sound like fairy tales – a
boy from the railway tracks selected to spend 6 months photographing the
reconstruction of New York's World Trade Center. But it is not alchemy. The gold
was always there, but buried by the grime of poverty, tarnished by the acid of
mistrust and prejudice.
Over the years, we have learned to combat the prejudice, and replace it with
displays of talent, whether in theater, dance, sports or academic study. If here is
a magic in our work, it lies in the fact that the simplest of provisions – a safe
place to sleep, a kind word at lunch – can transform injured souls into soaring
lives.
Our work has expanded well beyond our early plans, driven by the courage and
promise of these young people. And yet, we have only scratched the surface.
Millions of dreams need our help to stay aloft. Be with us.
click here to view complete report
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