READ
is a non-governmental organisation involved in the education
and integral development of the most deprived sections of
society. They have a variety of activities. This particular
project with girl children has been running for the last
five years with financial support from GTZ. Vikramshila
has been associated with this project right from its inception
in 1997 to provide technical inputs for quality improvement.
At present Vikramshila is involved in doing the Process
Documentation of this successful intervention. The project
started with 125 education centres covering 4000 students.
Just getting so many learners was in itself a huge achievement
– the result of an intensive community mobilisation undertaken
by READ. The project area of READ, was like an ‘island’
in a metaphorical sense… a place locked in time and untouched
by modern civilization …
a
place where girls still got married at the age of 7 or
8, a place where fathers raised their eyebrows sarcastically
when asked to educate their daughters and said "why, is
she going to become a collector?"
a
place where the young girls while grazing cattle or cutting
grass sang in their hearts a mournful song "Kaini hum
Kaun Kasur ho,– parhaia se door kail babuji" (what mistake
have I committed that my father has kept me away from
studies)
a
place where the children of the chamars, mushahars, pasis
and paswans lacked the social sanction to sit in the same
classroom as the children of the thakurs and rajputs..
a
place where the villagers gaped for the first time in
their lives at the national flag which was hoisted by
the teacher of the non formal centre to celebrate the
50th year of independence- because they did not understand
the concept of independence
a
place where dacoits roamed about freely abducting people
at gunpoint
In short,
a place which is hard to conceive in our world of high-tech
computers and cable television. The sad part is there are
many invisible "islands" like this in India waiting to be
connected with the rest of us. Yet, when one gets to see
the other side of the story one is filled with hope .. how
the sincere efforts of a dedicated group can make things
change. As a result of the education programme and intensive
awareness- building by the cultural team of READ called
Sanchaar -winds of change started blowing in these 125 habitations.
The villagers have come out from their culture of silence
to join Sanchaar in singing songs like "Kab talak loot-te
rahoge log mere gaon ko, ab andhera jeet lenge log mere
gaon ki",(how long will you keep looting our village – now
we will conquer the darkness). They have learnt the importance
of collective action in fighting exploitation. They have
understood the need to come together and demand things like
minimum wages... and because of this raised awareness their
mindset towards girls’ education has also changed. Girls
are no longer married off so early and even their fathers
have accepted the need to get them educated. The village
elders nod in approval when the cultural team sings "saath
beta ke, bitiya bhi parhe" (the girl should also study along
with the boy). Strong class prejudices are slowly getting
dissolved. Nirmal Thakur – a teacher belonging to the upper
caste has set the trend by sharing meals with the families
of students belonging to the lower castes. A child from
the Mushahar community no longer hesitates to bring food
from her home and share it with all her classmates. Young
girls openly express their views that they would not like
to get married before completing their studies. Their pattern
of life may not have changed drastically – while pursuing
their studies they still work in the fields or go out to
graze the cattle, but always humming songs taught in their
school "itni shakti humey de na data, man ki biswas kamzor
ho na" (God give me enough strength, so that I do not lose
my conviction). And the fields resonating with the tune
of this song usher in a new era – an era of renewed hope.
