Arha G and Gehna R of Vidhya Niketan Public School were on their way back home from school one day, when they saw three children begging on the street near Thadagam Road. “They looked like they were of our age. While we were in our uniform and at school, they wore torn clothes and roamed the streets.” The friends could not get that image out of their heads and wondered if they could do something to help. So along with two other friends, Rifaah M and Farhaan of the same school, they decided to organise, Walk It Like You Talk It, a fund raising walkathon for the education of children from underprivileged backgrounds.“We call ourselves, Sociela. We chose to conduct a walkathon as it is easy and can be done by people of all ages,” says Arha.

Walk It Like You Talk has already received around 350 registrations. “One of my cousins did a similar event to spread awareness on child labour in the city last year. I got some idea of how to go about organising this event from her.”

They began to work on the idea on April 21 and posted the information on social media. “Our parents helped us with the government permissions,” she says.

The five-km-walk will start from Cosmopolitian Club, Race Course and go through Avinashi Road before it ends at the Stanes School ground. There will be music and dance performances by volunteers to entertain the participants. “We have also arranged for breakfast and the menu includes idli, dosa, pongal, sambar, chutney and fruit juice.” Sociela has also created a documentary on the lives of street children that will be screened as part of the walkathon. “We spoke to a few kids from Meena Estate and in R S Puram. Most of them dream of attending school and getting good jobs. It is sad that they miss out on so many things in their lives because of their financial condition. We hope to sponsor the education of at least 10 kids through this event.”