Esha is already in her fine red and black dress and the mother is brushing her hair. She is smiling widely when she sees me, and repeats me ABCD. She already knows this much. She can also count: "one, two three, seven".
It starts to rain even heavier when we leave. We will get wet but it does not matter right now. In many cases kids will not go to school if it rains, but we are not gonna miss this just because we dont want to get wet. I see many kids just wondering around and when asking why are they not in school they claim the rain. I think we need a donation for raincoats and umbrellas!
The principal of the school is already waiting. We have a talk about the rules of the school, fill up papers, check birth certificates and add photos. When it is time to pay the admissions, fees and books I notice that Esha has fallen asleep. It has been a day she has been waiting a lot, and with all the exitement she got tired. It does not matter because from tomorrow she will attend the Lower Nursery classes at Krishmont School where already 5 of the kids are studying Thanks to the dear supporters of Responsible Charity. Now all we need to do is to get her the uniform and nice pair of shoes and she is ready to start.
Coming from a country where every single kid, no matter what, is attending the best schools in the world I see this as one of the biggest parts of the work we do. Giving education for children of the families we will give them a better future. As when you get educated, and especially when you really put effort on it, you get good marks, you learn skills and you get a better job. School is a rare luxury for many children in India who come from poor backgrounds.
There is a story i want to share with you. Few years back i met a foreigner who was volunteering in a school for children from the slums here in Kolkata. She had got especially close with one 12 year girl. She was willing to pay the education for this girl for as long as she wanted. The teachers invited the girls parents to the school for meeting to discuss about which school would be best for her. She was a clever girl and could have made it far with proper ecucation. The parents came, listened and then said NO. They had found a husband for the girl, older man from a village who did not want dowry. If the girl would be too wise and clever, this man would not accept her. Nor would any other. When you come from poor background you do not have chance to give much for the grooms family (and ancient custom in India is, that when gettin married the girls family must give usually many, expencive gifts and money for the boys family as they take the girl into their household). Not too much later the girl disappeared, and was never seen again.
In many families they do not have money to educate all the children. The ones who get it are mostly the first sons, and if possible the other sons. Only then comes the girls. This is still true though changing slowly. Education can be free in India, but you still have to pay for the uniforms and books and other items. And usually the government based free schools are not always the best ones. Many times education also fails as families don't pay attention for the homework or studying for the exams. Many of the parents actually are illiterate and so cannot help the kids in their studies. Attending tutoring classes is expencive.
Now that we are willing to find sponsors for as many children as possible from the slums, we are facing another problem. Not many schools want to take in children from the slums. This is because many richer families do not want their children to interfere with poor children. Even though cast system is not legal anymore the attitudes towards poor and "lower" people are there. So far we have placed more than 10 kids in two different schools and hoping to put more soon.
In the future Responsible Charity hopes also to open our own school where everybody would be welcome. It would be same time a center for all the other actions of the NGO. If you are interested, please consider donating for the cause. Let's give these beautiful children a great education, and better future!! (Just an idea for the coming Christmas gifts!)
Ps. Sorry for no photos... both my camera and laptop stopped working, most likely because the huge rains i got into and the humidity (or a virus in the computer) Hoping to get these solved ASAP.
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