Our First Post!
-By Anisha Ganguli
-By Anisha Ganguli
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King
Four years ago, a small wish of empowering
underprivileged children translated into a reality with the inception of
Samriddhi. With forty thousand
rupees as seed capital and a local park
in Vaishaili at disposal, a small group of people took an onus to provide
primary education to children aged between five to
twelve years living in the nearby slums of Vaishali.
It was a herculean task
to collect the children at one place and get them to listen to teachers. The
teachers called them everyday at the same time to accumulate at the park.
Uniforms and mid-day meals were distributed to children. But, that was not
enough to gather the children everyday at the park. It took time to set this
motion to routine, because the children did not understand and had not seen of
what life held for them on this greener side of the park and hence they went
back to the streets each day. Teachers interacted with parents to explain
benefits of educating their children.
Slowly, with the diligent efforts from both parents and teachers, the
children realized that the teachers are there for them, and won’t be leaving
them. This resulted in fostering a relationship of trust between the children
and the teachers. Soon more than thirty-five children
started gathering in the park everyday.
A room given on a minimal rent by
Rotary club Delhi proved to be boon for this small group of teachers and
students at the onset of monsoons in June 2009. This allowed continuity of classes and Samriddhi found its
first classroom.
With over three hundred
children enrolled till date, in this open school, Samriddhi has become a sign
of hope for providing a direction to the children’s future. It provides primary
education to the children from UKG to standard three. Then the members
facilitate in admission of children to nearby public and private schools. But
the process has not been that easy. It is very hard to arrange for sponsorships
for the education of children and also ensure that the children continue with
the system. The last day of every month is dedicated to parents–teacher
association, so that parents can gauge how their children are performing and
encourage them to stay at school.
A day at Samriddhi School is same as that of any
other school. Each day starts with an hour filled with exercise, music and
dance. It is followed by classes filled with basic math and science and
sensitize the children about the virtue of
healthy living and basic hygiene.
The midday meal scheme has been a success with the children around here. First
this scheme acted as a pawn to lure the children, but now it is one of the
reasons why parents and the children are introduced to the concept of balanced
diet.
The entire existence of
Samriddhi is not only to give identity to each of these children who are living
on the streets but provide opportunities of what they have been stripped off.
These children are intelligent and filled with potential; Samriddhi just tries
to cater in broadening their horizons with love.
