With the opening of the Unnati Open School in Ahmedabad, India, World Vision now offers street children - many of whom have run away from home - with an alternative to rag picking as a way of earning a living.

The school teaches the teenaged boys how to sing and play a variety of musical instruments, including the piano and dhol (Indian drum). Such musical skills are in demand in this cosmopolitan city, home to a growing number of marriage parties and religious gatherings.

The youths enrolled in the six-week course and began playing in the school band. They are excited about the new opportunities they now have and their new status in mainstream Indian society. In the past, these children were shunned, but now they are accepted - and even welcomed - because of their musical abilities.

Proving that boys will be boys anywhere, though, all are talking about becoming professional entertainers when they are older and have polished their musical skills.