by anouradha bakshi | Sep 20, 2016 | Uncategorized
A recent UNESCO report states that India could be late by half a century in achieving its global education commitments. It would need to make fundamental changes in the education policy if it were to meet the 2030 goals. At present India is expected to achieve universal primary education in 2050, universal lower secondary education in 2060 and universal upper secondary education in 2085.
That education is the one and only road to transformation is indubitable. Education helps break the poverty cycle and hence should be given centre stage. But that is not the case; hence the delays un meeting the millennium goals.
If we are to go with the stated report then it will take another 34 years for ALL children in India to acceded to primary education.
Let us leave statistics alone and look at the human factor. What this means is that for many millions of children today primary education remains a dream. The reasons are many. From poorly run schools, to lack of teachers, to lack of motivation, to gender bias, to access to schools, to inclusiveness, to poverty etc. Each of this is redressable.
But time is a crucial factor and time is something that children do not have. They grow every minute and before even planning can be done, they have missed the coach.
It is imperative that immediate solutions are found and implemented.
One such solution is Project Why.
Education does not simply mean enrolment in a school. Only if the education is of quality will it help transform a life. In todays education scenario going to school alone does not suffice. What has come to be know as ‘shadow education’ – after school tuition, coaching, extra classes – is a essential to success. This comes at a price the poor cannot pay. This is further compounded by the fact that poor children often have illiterate parents who cannot provide any support.
It is over 1000 children that Project Why helps at no cost for the past 16 years. The fact that the problem is not only real but calamitous is amply demonstrated by the large number of children who have come to Project Why after 3, 4, 5 and even more years of sitting on a school bench and who could barely read or write. Such children drop out often by the end of primary school or when they face their first real exam.
The flip side is that the same child who would have dropped out and been considered a failure needs only a little help to make up for lost years and reach the top of her class. We have many such children. That is what makes the situation so tragic.
Project Why is a minuscule effort but one that bears fruits. At least for these 1000 children education is a reality.
by anouradha bakshi | Sep 15, 2016 | Uncategorized
India has the largest number of stunted children in the world reveals a recent study. For Project Why that is one too many! The main reasons are: lack of toilets, dirty water and poor hygiene. In urban slums and even lower middle class colonies that is a reality. Narrow lanes, unchecked construction and overcrowding spell disaster. Even in the area where Project Why’s main office is located and where property is in 7 or even 8 figures, clean and drain water pipes get mixed and a foul smelling grey water runs in your taps. The reason being unchecked construction where pipes are dug ad infinitum by unskilled workers.
In slums where piped water does not exist, drinking water is collected in recipients of all kind from taps or water trucks. Then it is stored often in unhygienic condition and used for the next 24 hours.
Toilets are scarce. Those that exist are filthy. A brave Project Why teacher undertook the survey of local public toilets and was sick for two days. They were beyond filthy. The problem often was lack of water and budgets for cleaning.
It all comes down to planning.
What no one realised is that the dirty water is drunk by children below 2 who get stunted for life. The damage is irreversible. These children grow to be physically and intellectually weaker than their peers. Some do not make it to age 2 as they succumb to one of the many waterborne diseases. Death is rarer in cities where medical facilities are available but a stunted child is marked forever. Children cannot wait for long term solutions.
The way out is to educate people about the importance of water, about storing it in hygienic conditions, about washing hands before diving in the drinking water pot and about not wasting a drop.
At Project Why we do that relentlessly. Saturday is hand washing day. Regular competitions on water related themes help the children com up with solutions. Project Why even held a photo workshop where the theme was respect and one of the sub topics was RESPECT WATER. Here are some of the pictures taken by the children.
Gayatri
The workshop helped children experience reality and we hope they will carry the message forward.
by anouradha bakshi | Sep 6, 2016 | Uncategorized
When a friend offered to run a healing workshop for Project Why staff so that they in turn could share it with the children we were a little hesitant. The reason being the multitude of faiths and beliefs followed by them. However we had faith in the sixteen years of sharing our views and beliefs and decided to go for it with the caveat of allowing individuals to opt out if they so wished.
Needless to say NO ONE opted out!
This experience, a first for Project Why, was most rewarding and made us wonder why we had not thought of it before. It was deeply empowering and helped everyone address situations and problems that were upsetting them. It also brought a feeling of peace, oneness and above all confidence. The staff enjoyed the experience and has promised to share it with their students.
It is a proud moment for Project Why and a validation of its efforts to bring people together and celebrate difference.
by anouradha bakshi | Aug 30, 2016 | Uncategorized
A young girl was victim of the ubiquitous hit and run syndrome that is a familiar occurrence in cities. Most get reported. Some make front page if a ‘celebrity’ or ‘privileged’ is driving a ‘swanky’ car!
There are some hit and run cases that never make any page. Most often only those close to the victim are the sole witnesses of the ghastly act. Last week a young girl was hit by a car as she crossed the road after finishing class. She was a student of the pilot project run by Project Why for the children of beggars at the Kalkaji Temple. Little S was in many ways the one who by her sheer tenacity compelled us to begin classes. She is alive but her leg has been crushed badly. She is in hospital and has been operated upon.
Her mother A delivered a child just six days before the accident happened yet she was the one who had to ferry the child in an auto to the trauma centre. The only ‘proof’ of the accident is the car number hurriedly copied by a kind stall owner. A is also the one who has been banging on the doors of justice but has not been heard. The police are not interested in a young beggar child and her beggar family. The father remains at the little girl’s side keeping silent vigil. The mother looks after the newborn and the other children and before any brow lifts in despair, A had her tubes tied at a camp. The baby came after the surgery.
At present A lives in the women shelter where she delivered the baby. Habitually the family lives on the ‘street’. Most beggars sleep where they beg.
If you look at the picture above carefully you will see bags and bundles. These are the packed up homes of the very beggars you see. After working hours, they set up house. If you were to pass by early morning you would see them brushing their teeth and sending kids off to school.
This is A and S’s home. This is where S would come back to recover from surgery. Most probably she will be taken to the women’s night shelter but then kept away from her father, the one who sat with her throughout the hospital ordeal. When will she be able to return to school is a question we all ask. We will fight day and night to ensure she returns to school as early as possible.
Come to think of it, in the given circumstances, a maimed child is likely to earn more ‘begging’. And is it not the ‘family’ business; so all within the new child labour laws.
S is just one of umpteen children who beg. In some cases like Arati’s or many of the women in the night shelter, they did not chose to beg but were driven to it by a series of unfortunate circumstances. In some cases they lost their homes as metro stations or malls needed space. Not having all the documents required they were not ‘eligible’ for any alternative scheme so found whatever alternative they could and began their descent to hell. Begging was the last resort. In some cases women are abandoned by husbands and left to seek shelter and beg for survival. That was the story of many of the women in the shelter some having just had babies. They eat at the numerous religious feedings. On days when there is no free food, they beg just enough to buy a meal. Their future seems hopeless.
And yet amidst all this squalor you meet R. R is an imposing and confident woman who is ‘in charge’ of the women’s shelter. She is literate and runs a small tea stall just outside the shelter. She recounts how she too was a beggar many years ago and would have remained one had she not been helped by an organisation that sent her to a residential school where she got educated. She came back and married another vendor and has one son she is determined to educate. She has never looked back.
Listening to her story gives hope, hope for these children who study for a few hours with us. Maybe some of them will follow R’s steps.
We at Project Why will walk the extra mile to ensure that.
S was the victim of a hit and run. We do hope to trace the driver and ensure that the family is helped.
This is Arati with one of her kids!
by anouradha bakshi | Aug 23, 2016 | Uncategorized
Government to enlist gurus for organ donation campaign is a recent headline. The article goes on to say: “The health ministry plans to rope in spiritual gurus to help dispel myths about organ donation“.
This is undoubtedly a good move. Organ donation is a noble cause but so are education, child marriage, gender equality, child abuse and far too many more.
One often wonders why spiritual leaders of all faiths do not raise social issues as theirs is a voice that is always heard. In today’s disturbed world they hold the power to change things.
This is a statement made with responsibility as it is based on experience. Over the years we at Project Why have witnessed time and again the power of religious percepts. Nothing takes precedence over the rituals and religious traditions not even the child’s medical need let alone the school fee.
The importance of religious customs is deeply embedded in the lives of slum dwellers who spend enormous amount of money on ensuring that every one is respected even if money has to be borrowed at mind boggling rates.
In villages in Bihar it is, we are told, customary to ‘feed’ the whole village for three days after the demise of a close relative. We were horrified to learn that a parent who had barely enough money to survive had put up a feeding stall in the slum cluster and was ‘feeding’ everyone. Needless to say he had taken huge loans. When asked later why did he do this, he replied that it was a matter of honour and if he did not comply he would be ostracized.
Over the years we have rarely succeeded in getting people to alter deeply rooted traditions. All logic and even threat fails. So people give huge dowries, marry their girls early and so on. However if a religious leader said the same, things might be different.
At Project Why we hope that the support of such spiritual leaders will be sought for the social change that is paramount to a better world.
by anouradha bakshi | Aug 9, 2016 | Uncategorized
The rains have created havoc in the city for the past days and yet nothing unpredictable as it is monsoon time and a good monsoon is what everyone hopes for. Vladimir Nabokov said: “Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” And fall it does, transforming the world as we know it in a jiffy.
The picture above is our Okhla classroom. Sure the roof was temporarily patched and is holding, but water is seeping through the cracks in the wall and even from outside as here too the word ‘drainage’ is not part of any lexicon.
On rainy days children and staff spend most of the time clearing the water away as best they can. No one asks for a day off. What is needed is a a dry spot to lay out the mats and begin class.
This is but a tiny example of how just one heavy spell of rain can alter one’s day.
The reason is poor construction and absence of planning. Even the best of us forget to plan for the proverbial ‘rainy day’.
Last week’s rain saw the city come to a halt as roads got inundated and one could only wait for the water to recede.
But life goes on and people brave all odds to ensure that it does. Our kids live in homes that bear the brunt of the rain’s fury. Their homes being low lying means they get flooded. School uniforms do not dry and thus they miss school, not to speak of the soaked bedding that means sleeping on the hard floor. But it is all part of the game of life.
Do we ever give a thought of how many challenges are met by those we often take for granted to ensure that our lives do not get affected by the rains?
Do give a thought to those who make our life better, whether the lady who comes to help in our homes or the man who cleans our clogged drain or even the electrician who repairs the lights blown because of the rains.
As for Project Why teachers, they too brave all odds to come and teach the children.
