Discussion about entry: Magic Bus Sport for Development Programme through Experiential Learning.

The Magic Bus and Childlink India Foundation have accomplished much in just a few years, Meena. I'm impressed by the number of children who have been served since the late-Nineties/early 2000s. You and Matthew certainly have undertaken an essential service on behalf of some of the poorest children in Mumbai.

More distinctive than numbers, though, is the emphasis that you place on your own graduates continuing in the program in the role of mentors/facilitators. As you say, all children have a right to play. For the least fortunate ones, it's a release from the horrors that often accompany their lives. Even absent this condition, however, play assists all children in making the transition from childhood to adulthood and to do so with some measure of enjoyment and happiness. We owe it to all of our young ones to insure that they have this chance, and you have shown us one successful way of doing so.

Steve Byars
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California