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!
