The Reality Of Kannagi Nagar – An Interview

What are the crimes children in Kannagi Nagar are involved in?

A large percentage of children in Kannagi Nagar are addicted to drugs. Most of them use marijuana and spend their time at street corners with friends using drugs. If they smoke near my house I often tell them to leave.

Where do they get marijuana from?
Someone will buy it as bulk from the city and distribute it to the children here for various sinister reasons.

What kind of reasons?
Adults use children to steal for them and to sell drugs. The only way they can get them to do this is by paying them with drugs. Adults use children to commit crimes because hiring adults is not cost effective. Therefore they entice children with drugs and alcohol.

At Oasis, our hope is to help youth and children who are caught in this vicious cycle. From the initial survey that we conducted at Kannagi Nagar, we found that almost 50% of children face alcoholism and substance abuse issues. Our combat strategy against this is by beginning a holistic education center for children between the age group of 7-14 years where they will focus on four core areas: academic development, personal development (mentoring, activity-based learning), behaviour modification (sports) and creating change agents. This will help children take ownership of themselves and their community.