Everybody is creative. Some people are more creative and some less, but everybody is different in their own unique way. Not so long ago, there were four boys and a girl, all siblings, living in a backward area of Jhelum. It was their summer vacation and having done their school assignments, home chores and having visited relatives, now they had a month free till their schools reopened.

They brainstormed and tried to come up with enjoyable ways to spend the remaining time. After a lot of discussions and arguments, they decided upon doing something for their neighbourhood.

They decided to improve things in their colony, one house at a time. They pooled their pocket money and collected some more money from others and painted the boundary walls of houses in camouflage and animal designs, like giraffe/zebra, cheetah, lion, etc. They cleaned the area, spiffed the main unkempt playground and planted native greenery. They also planted flowers in old and used paint/oil pails, put up sculptures made from used and recycled materials.

One of their teachers advised them to motivate the street vendors to arrange their stalls in a better and cleaner way, start a drive to place large dustbins on roadsides so that litter does not get thrown around.

Some people mocked and some humoured the children. Many people of the neighbourhood were not convinced that things would improve as people would not change their habits. So rather than encouraging the children, a few people even told the kids that they were wasting their time and instead of studying they were doing something that will not make any difference in the long run and that they will gain nothing in return.

Even their families were not convinced. They thought that there were better ways to spend time and money, and they should leave these things for adults and the authorities to do.

But the children refused to give up and soon they had other children and some youth joining them in their mission to improve their neighbourhood. Once school restarted, the children still took time out for their neighbourhood activities, but in turns so that their studies would not suffer. They kept on trudging forward towards their goal.

Slowly, the results begin to pour in. The people also started maintaining the improvements the children had done to the area. People started to water and care for the plants planted by the children, took care to only throw litter in the bins, and maintain the other changes the children had brought about.

Now more people and business of the area joined in and there was no shortage of funds and volunteers. Word spread to other areas and people from there started to drop in to enquire about how all the improvements had taken place and wanted to get tips.

When the media got a hint of this, they arrived to cover the remarkable activities of these children and show the world how creative and inspirational youngsters can be.

Giving kids a chance to use their skills to gain experience through their own effort is better than any education. The creative kids had a journey of a lifetime. It added to their experience and broadened their horizons. Thus beating all odds and creating their own path, the creative kids showed the way for a better life to even the adults.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 25th, 2020