by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 20, 2005 | okhla
look at the picture.. this is a project why classroom..
many of you may have conjured a ‘glam’ picture of project why.. yet this how we began in giri nagar five years ago, and this is what our new class room in okhla phase I, next to the railway tracks looks like…
we cleared part of a garbage dump, and set up our classroom and slowly the childen began to come in droves, and now there are more than 150 and our two spirited ladies who teach them…
maybe 5 years down the line, we would have found space in the umpteen factories that surround us… but now we need to carry on right here.. in this dump because that is how we manage to stop childen being used by uncaring adults to steal from the rail bogies or peddle drugs.. and hope to guide them back to a school, though there is no primaryschool close by..
of course no one likes us yet..we disturb the prevailing scenario.. and often on monday mornings our teachers find our classroom destroyed… but they valiantly rebuild it and carry on..
but the rains are around the corner and we need to repair the classroom..
maybe some kinds souls will come and helps us do so..
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 16, 2005 | Uncategorized
funding is the one constant source of anguish to anyone engaged in work like ours.. there are many sources but we decided to take the long way home..
this is primarily because our commitment to empowerment only makes sense if its has a duration in time and remains rooted in a people steered approach..
we could have taken one of the oh so tempting short cuts, but they all end in mirages or dead ends: a big donor leaves town and bye bye children… india tests a nuclear device and some countries stop all aid so bye bye children… suddenely education is no more the flavour of the day so bye bye children again… the list is endless
and the poor unsuspecting beneficiary is the ultimate victim: the child loses its support system, women lose a job that had brought dignity and respect…
so we chose a the long road home, where home is the day the local community would steer such efforts by emulating the model we set.. a model based on large numbers and small sums of money.. the famous one rupee idea!
what is a rupee a day, or 365 rupee a year in today’s reality: a large pizza at the fast food joint, a movie for two, something each one could give up without even realising it..
then why is the long way home such a difficult one…
all you need is to look at the smile of this child who suffered third degree burns and who was left for dead.. he smiles because of those who walked the long way with us..
don’t you think it is worth it….
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 16, 2005 | Uncategorized
main hoon na! or here I am is what each tiny project why tot proudly says every morning at roll call!
these three little words are overflowing with meaning… they are not simply an affirmation or act of presence, they hold all their still unformulated dreams.. dreams that can only be fulfilled if people find their hearts and reach out to help..
and when they fold their hands in prayer and look up, it is the same three words they say to the invisible one!
to help us fulfill their dreams we need caring souls to part with a rupee a day! easier said than done particularly in this city where people seem to have lost their heart somewhere…
everyone wants to know what they would get in return.. and you stoically retort in a soft voice: the satisfaction of helping educate children – but it does not cut the ice… you get a curt – all NGOs are crooks– and you want to scream – but come and see our work.. – but who has the time..
many friends say – go find a celebrity – but where does one find one who would be willing to associate with a down to earth effort like ours…
never mind if we get children new hearts, or give employment to destitute mothers, or even arrest drop out rates in school.. we cannot get you a place in page 3.. we never learnt how… and the question is – do we really want to…
i think you know the answer..
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 16, 2005 | Uncategorized
meet sophiya and pushpa.. one is a tribal from ranchi the other a dalit..
sophiya and pushpa run our okhla primary extension programme..
it was about a year ago that we decided to start this centre, and these two ladies were the chosen ones to go and set it up from scratch and they did, to our utter amazement: found a dump, cleared it and cleaned it, set up a shack, negotiated with the cops and local politicos, handled the local goons, found the children and today teach over 100 kids, in conditions that would scare off many…
and they do it with a smile, without a word of complaint..
to me these two women of substance epitomise the spirit of project why, which only makes sense if community members can learn the skills and gain the ability to set up extension centres in different places learning to deal with local problems and find support within.
Women are like stars…only one can make your dreams come true!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 14, 2005 | lohars
you are going to ask what is it that makes project why different.. so to borrow one of neruda’s poem titles i will say: i’m explaining a few things
look at the picture, a simple one of a teacher and a handful of children…
now listen:
the teacher is a gadiya lohar, the gypsy blacksmiths that many of you have passed by on the busy roads of the capital, often beating the iron with poised grace. they are almost invisible, for the see them you have to look with your heart and listen to the centuries of history that brought this proud tribe where it is today. Most of her peers would by now be mothers of many. Sarika managed to study till class IX in spite of all odds and we decided to giver her a new identity, that of a teacher… she has proved worthy of every bit of trust we put in her..
little manju who sits in the middle is one of the most neglected child one has come across. she is the youngest of three siblings who were abandonned by a cowardly father..
the other kids also have stories that would melt the coldest heart, they belong to diverse communities , religions, castes… does it matter
normally they would have been playing on unsafe streets, or been used by adults to fetch and carry, or even be sent across busy roads to buy a pouch of chewing tobacco..
but they sit every day and learn to live, to share, to sing, to play, to laugh.. under the loving eye and hearwarming dedication of a young woman of substance
they learn to love trees, to save water, to respect the environment..
they learn about other lands and people..
they learn that duties come before rights…
they will one day have to face the world, a world ridden by problems and ugly realities, but we hope that by then they will have ben infused by the spirit of project why that would have taught them to be simply human beings!
So of you if you wonder what project why is all about: come and see the children on our street!
