School: St. Lawrence High School Borivli West
    Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

4 students, ages 14-16 worked together to complete this Doors to Diplomacy project on March 8, 2009. They have participated in Doors to Diplomacy in the following year(s): 2007, 2008

Classes and Teachers: Doris Rawal (Teacher), Siddharth, Adeesh, Praniti and Karan

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.stlawrenceborivali.com/

1. Description of Our Team

This can be found on this page in our website

http://giftmefreedom.synthasite.com/about-us.php

2. Summary of Our Project

Every child in the world fears to fall prey to evil hands which would exploit them. After two consecutive years of making projects on social issues like foeticide and juvenile delinquency, St. Lawrence High School Borivli again returns with a promising project which will contribute to extinguishing this fire of child labour and especially its darkest form- CHILD TRAFFICKING. Looking at the increase in the number of cases of child trafficking,four students of St. Lawrence High School Borivli (West) have decided to shed light on this topic which has conjured many minds but still remains untouched and hidden under the vexing face of child labour. Our Project aims at arousing global minds and abolishing this social stigma.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:4-6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The problems were trivial but unfortunately they started growing. At first we were in search of just-the-right topic. Going through loads of subjects and researching on various social issues we thought of CHILD TRAFFICKING. We also were going around taking permission to take interviews and get testimonials. We were lucky to meet the Mayor of Mumbai, Ward Corporator and the founder of an NGO who gave their testimonials. We also tried to connect to the children who were trafficked and then freed but no one was ready to comment on the topic. Once also during the project the computer hung and for a moment we thought that we lost all the information but fortunately one of us had the entire backup. There were goof-ups but we enjoyed every moment of it!

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The participation in the Doors to Diplomacy has not only given us the greed for knowledge but also forced us to think about social issues.

6. How did your activities and research for this Doors to Diplomacy Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

We had an interactive talk with Brother John Abraham who readily gave his inputs to the project. We also met the Mayor and the Corporator who readily helped us out. We wrote a letter to the United Nations Organization and we received an affirmative feedback. We thought of not only going national but International. We were shocked to read about the problems the trafficked children faced but at the end of the project we knew it was because of us people will be more aware about the ill effects of child labour especially child trafficking. We also got to meet the students of 'Ryan Radiant School' which is a non profitable organization initiated by our school itself. We also realized how important it was to introduce the problem in school curriculum as it would create awareness. We also went around telling everyone we met about the project we received an astounding response from everyone.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your Doors to Diplomacy project?

Our project was done on the internet as well by practical research. We divided our work in such a way that Siddharth and Adeesh worked on the computer while Praniti and Karan focused on interviews and other matters. We went to many NGO's so that we get relative information about the topic and it was possible only because of our teacher in-charge Mrs. Doris Rawal. We used the scanner, Telephone, camera, camcorder and even a recording machine during the interview. It was very difficult to get information from the horse’s mouth itself but we realized that only because we tried we became successful.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your Doors to Diplomacy project both on-line and in person.

When we started off we did not know the head or tail of Child Trafficking and today after 2 months of extensive research we know almost everything about the topic. When we went to meet different people and joy on their faces to see the youth being so inquisitive felt very nice. When we know something more than others on a topic it always feels good and today we feel like AMBASSADORS of our school and our project. Our project was also considered by the United Nations when we wrote a letter to them. We also plan to continue to keep the website hosted so that many more would be educated and if we get a chance we would take the project on a global level.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

We are very sure that our project will have a great impact on the community because when terms are hard to understand and explain people don't know what to do. But our project explained the problem in simple words and also provided solutions to it. We received feedback from the Mayor and nothing could be better than that. We also have a testimonial page on our website:

http://giftmefreedom.synthasite.com/testimonials.php

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

Our project is not a one man's show. It has different contributions like testimonials and information. People have contributed to our project in great way. Moreover the United Nations themselves sent us information when we asked them for it. It feels great when the World Council body supports you. We also had our friends spreading the message to others to see the website.