The post title comes from a U2 song of nearly the same name. It seems to best epitomize this sad, yet hopeful story from npr.com. While I can see the benefit of making tourists and citizens more cognizant of and sensitized to India’s vast child homelessness and poverty issues, somehow a walking tour strikes me as a little bit creepy and perhaps too cursory.
Instead of gawking at these poor, unfortunate souls like they are museum pieces or a circus attraction, how about a change of itinerary and volunteering for half a day, a full day, a week, a month, or more. Or, how about taking a shorter trip and donating the remaining funds to an organization that cares for these children.
That being said, it is good to see organizations are trying to improve the lives of these homeless children and that some of the children have successfully escaped a life on the streets. However, with more than 300,000 homeless children just on the streets of Delhi/New Delhi, much, much more assistance is necessary from within India itself and from around the world.