by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 29, 2007 | Uncategorized
Yesterday morning Mehajabi came by project why with her mom. Today she will be going to the hospital and if all goes well, should be admitted for her open heart surgery.
It has been a long journey for this little girl and her family. She was born a year ago in the well protected world of a madrassa where her father eked out a living as a helper in the kitchen. Her mother and four siblings lived in the precinct of this place of learning. Her older siblings even attended classes. Life would have continued placidly had little Mehajabi been hale and hearty. But that was not the case as from her early days the little girl seemed in poor health. The local doctors could not do much and even the doctors of close by towns advised a visit to Delhi. The family had no choice but to pack up their life and come to the big and uncaring city.
Mehajabi was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect needing expensive surgery and the little family waited for a miracle. The father took on work as a daily wage labourer and the mother carried on surviving, while praying for the life of her last born.
This week, in all probabilities, Mehajabi’s heart will be fixed and a new life will begin for her. As I watched the almost picture perfect mother and child, I wondered what lay in store for them. I listened to mariam, Mehajabi’s mom, as she shared her life plans with candid simplicity. They had plans to return to the madrassa and its sheltered life as soon as Mehajabi would be well. There they would resume the life they had left on hold. The father would continue helping in the kicthen and she would bring up her children within those walls for years to come.
I looked at little Mehajabi as she sat on her mother’s lap and wondered what her life would be like. Would she too be married at a young age and live a life akin to her mother’s or would she be able to break free. The question is almost redundant. The options for little Mehajabi and millions of little girls like her are few. The shackles of the society they live in will not allow them to go far.
At times like this, I feel utterly helpless. What can one do to change things and give little girls like Mehajabi a brighter tomorrow and a right to live and not just survive?
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 27, 2007 | Uncategorized
A few minutes back an email from a dear friend entitled: the silence is killing dropped by my mailbox.
It is true that it has been over 20 days since I last wrote a post. The reason: a nasty viral flu that got the better of me.
The last three weeks were spent between bouts of high fever and waves of exhaustion as I waited impatiently for the clock to strike four as that is when the girls got back from pwhy with the news of the day.
July has been a hectic month a pwhy with three dynamic young volunteers who have infused their own brand of charm in more ways than one: brand new activities in the special section thanks to Lucy, a dose of vitality at the somewhat slow Okhla centre courtesy Firdaush and new ways of learning at Govindpuri with Xiong.
4pm became the highlight of each day as the girls and the three volunteers sat around me and shared the spoils of the day: young Komal barely 10 months old now holds a pencil, the special kids made a scrumptious fruit salad, the new centre at Sanjay colony has over 70 kids now and so much more.
As I sat every afternoon getting the news of the day, I felt a sense of pride as I saw that pwhy had somewhat come of age and could carry on without my daily presence.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 7, 2007 | Uncategorized
It is always with a tinge of sadness that a parent sees his child walk out of the parental home with confidence and determination. And yet it is something every wishes for its child and strives for.
Seven years ago, when we seeded project why, our dream was to one day see simple illiterate or semi-literate parents understand that education was an inherent part of their children’s future. That is when we set out to show then how and empower them.
It is true that the objective we set for ourselves was to contain drop out rates and enhance the school performance of slum kids, and it is also true that that what we often set forth as a measure of our success, but the dream loomed in our minds and we surreptitiously worked towards it, something forgetting that its fulfillment would mean our having to move away. And being human, we somehow found hard to accept that reality, and hence turned a blind eye to many glaring hints.
But how long could we ignore the writing on the wall? The number of kids in our Tilak Khand centre was lessening and many children now stated proudly that they had extra tuition classes ( some often give by our ex-students), and the setting up of 3 NGOs in a place where once not so long ago there was none, said it all. Our dream had come true gently but without any doubt. It was time to move to greener pastures or in our case to another slum where children and parents needed us.
Sanjay Colony was the chosen location and the availability of a small two floor jhuggi made the transition almost immediate. The new centre opened on July 5th and in just one day there were already 40 children!
Somehow we felt all grown up!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 2, 2007 | Uncategorized
I am now convinced that all activities of project why seem to be ordained in some way. At every step that led us from barely 50 kids to over 500 in 7 short years via open heart surgeries and more, we felt guided by some invisible spirit. To the unordained and oft cynical outsider we may have seemed harebrained as we took on problems larger than us with cocky confidence and empty pockets.
And yet no matter how huge or daunting the issue, solutions and answers have always appeared making the words miracle and angels almost common place in project why parlance. Our virtual begging bowl crafted in a moment of despair had stood us through many a crises and is still going strong and has somewhat proved far more reliable than complex forms and formalities. The reason I guess is that it has always been held out by hands that have a heart.
As we set out on a larger dream a bit out of league for us at it requires time and planning and garnering a huge amount of funds, a two-pronged crisis hit us and needed a solution. Our woman of substance now back home after her surgery needed to be shifted out of her tiny room and our little mr p’s mom needed a safe haven, as 15 months of being locked up were taking their toll and she was yearning for a semblance of homecoming. Well we just put two and two together and decided to find a three room set which would somehow be a midway place till planet why became a reality.
For this no huge amounts were needed so the virtual begging bowl carrying its new message was set out and as always an Angel passed by. So we now have our midway refuge that can take care of any urgent crisis and also be a learning experience for us till the day another miracle makes planet why a reality.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 29, 2007 | Uncategorized
This is not a painting or a touched up photograph. It is s snapshot of our ‘class in a box’ – a.k.a as our manav kalyan creche – and was taken by a visiting friend.
What makes this class so special is that it is the initiative of two barely literate slum housewives who decided to keep this class going even when we moved out of the area. As it is a little far away from our normal beat we tend to neglect it a bit but both Seema and Sarita run it with extreme efficiency.
Most of the decorations are made with recycled objects (such as toffee wrappers) and the little ones are even taught yoga. Though this may seem common place in ‘our world’, it is remarkable as Seema on her own initiative joined some craft and other courses to gain new skills.
A true story of empowerment and one that vindicates what we stand for.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 24, 2007 | Uncategorized
“Trying to save ecosystems has more to do with changing egosystems.” said Don Rittner
Last week a visitor from Europe shared his dilemma about choosing a new car. His main concern was carbon emissions and thus his choice a small car though he was a person who could afford the biggest on the market.
Yesterday night as we drove back from a late dinner, we were fishtailed by a speeding sports spewing smoke. The driver was obviously showing off his vehicle as he broke every rule in the book.
It is evident from the above that whereas our European friend has a deep concern for the environment, our young home lad has a long way to go. This is a sad reflection on education as and awareness as the young sports car driver was definitely from a good home.
We have been trying at pwhy to sensitize staff and children on environment issues and we even held a staff workshop on global warming, in the hope that they in turn will take on the issue in their respective classes. And the idea bore fruit as yesterday a day-long programme was held in our secondary section with debates and a painting competition.
The day was spent sharing and exchanging information and trying to find out what children living in slums could do as when one browses sites on global warming most of the remedial measures do not apply to kids in slums. Awareness is needed but is in no way sufficient. One has to give children concrete steps that they can follow. This is not an easy task as we are here faced with people who have come to cities to access new and modern amenities and are loathe to give them up.
And herein lies the challenge. The first step is undoubtedly to show them how critical matters have become and how the sheer numbers in India make it vital for us to act. The battle is far from won but it has begun.
