November 2002

From the Editor's Desk

Hello Readers!
Meeting you after a long time. Last month was a festive month in our city. There were holidays in between working days for which some of our activities had to be suspended for the time being. So I decided not to bring out the newsletter in October. This month there were some memorable experiences which, I hope, would make for an interesting reading for all of you. Enjoy!
- Basundhara (Editor)

Here’s a little bit of unusual news to start it off. Ariel Rubanenko, an aerospace engineer from Israel, always nurtured a dream of working for deprived children. He got attracted to the Nabadisha programme, a joint venture of Kolkata Police, CRY and Vikramshila for the street and slum children of this city, and showed a great interest in teaching juggling, his hobby, to the children. For the last two months he has been imparting this skill in some centres. In the cultural programme on Children’s Day, we got a glimpse of his jugglery. His students too, gave a wonderful performance on what they have learnt so far. It is a challenge for Ariel to make his students professional jugglers within six months. His motivation is very encouraging for the children as well as the teachers of the centres. …… More and more well-wishers like him are becoming a part of the Nabadisha programme and ensuring its sustenance in the years to come.

A makeshift NFE centre in a garage changed the life of Mohammed Shakil forever. Shakil’s father earns his living by picking scarps from the garbage in the streets and his mother works as a domestic help. They live on pavements and have no fixed residence – getting evicted and uprooted is a daily routine. School was never a part of their plan or dream. Young Shakil spent his days helping his father picking iron scarps from streets. Then one day he heard that the Bowbazar Police Station had started a school within their premises for children like him. So far, their only relationship with the police was the dread of facing their "danda" (police ruler) which is intricately related to their eviction and loss of shelter. Intrigued, Shakil joined this school. He liked the activities and the warm behaviour of the teacher at the Nabadisha centre. Shakil’s mother was greatly impressed with the teachers’ concern about her son. Overwhelmed with emotion, she requested them to take charge of her son so that he could be ‘his own person’……

This is not an isolated case. Many such events are an integral part of Nabadisha. Fifteen education centres are located in some of the most crime-prone areas of the city. So naturally the children hail from vulnerable communities where they do not have the least scope to see the brighter side of life and enjoy the childhood. In this programme, therefore, the biggest challenge is to develop among them the habit of going to school, a sense of discipline and cleanliness and generating awareness on education among the community people.

Celebration of Children’s Day on 14th November at the Nabadisha centers ranged from sit and draw competition to cultural programme and film festival. It was a scope for many children like Shakil to unleash their wildest imagination through colourful drawings, to show their talents in cultural activities like song and dance, mime, drama and role-play, and to be a part of an International Film Festival held in the city. The children who came first, second and third in the sit and draw competition, were given soft toys in the cultural programme. Never in their thoughts did they expect such prize as recognition of their talent. One of the recipients was so young that she had to be helped to reach the stage! And when she received the prize, she clung to it like a lifetime treasure. The parents were very excited to see their children perform for the first time in front of a good gathering.

As a part of the week-long celebration of Children’s Day, some adolescents were taken to see a children’s film in Hindi that was being shown in the film festival. They enjoyed the film, but they were more excited for being able to share the same space with the mainstream audience.

Vikramshila’s Diary

There was annual cultural programme in a few Kolkata Corporation schools we have been working with. Children gave wonderful performances of mime, action song, drama, dance, rhymes, etc. There were weeks of rehearsal before the event, where our Education Volunteers tried to give some guidance to the children. Local community people attended the programmes in large number. More such participation from parents would ensure better relationship between the schools and the communities.

Vikramshila was entrusted by GTZ with the privilege of bringing out a document on the experimental work at READ in West Champaran, Bihar. Though we were a part of this project from its inception, it was a paramount task to document the entire process involving so many people and events and spanning over five years. We have published the document in this month. It has been named : "READ – An Experiment in Non-Formal Education". The funding agency GTZ has highly appreciated the document. It was a pleasure to be associated with such an honourable work.