Open Kindergarten Centres in 40 villages in 2013

As Venkatesh directed the driver through the bumpy and windy streets of Kodihalli village in rural Karnataka, a rush of excitement hit me as I recognized the Hippocampus logo flapping in the wind outside a blue house in a particularly quiet street. Venkatesh is an area manager for Hippocampus Learning Center--an organization based in Bangalore that works for rural education where me and three other students were interning this summer. We parked the car and smiled at the row of small bright shoes lining the entrance to the Hippocampus Learning Center Venkatesh was about to show us. A few women looked at my fellow interns and I curiously as they sat on the sidewalk across the street.

As my eyes became adjusted inside the house I heard the 4 year old children greeting my fellow interns in English and asking for their name. I liked the feeling of the dark cool house, the simply carved wooden pillars, the stone floor and dark beams across the roof. An old women greeted me standing nearby and Venkatesh told me that this was her house. She is the fourth generation in her family living in Kodihalli and the house is more than 100 years old, she tells Venkatesh. She then called a young boy over who guided me through hallways and living rooms toward the back of the house, where he introduced me to his young grandmother, Nalabak and her husband, Parajuta K.S.   I was offered rice and coconut with a cup of coffee while Nalabak looked around for pictures of her son to show me. A few families inhabit this house where HLC rents a couple of rooms for its Kindergarden and Primary after-school programs. In this small village of 5,000 people, it is heartening to see Hippocampus settle in a space that has such deep generational roots to Kodihalli village.

And the space is only one way in which HLC is integrating to the Kodihalli community. Usha, one of the Kindergarden teachers at HLC was born and raised in Kodihalli where she finished 10th standard but could not continue her studies after she was married at 16. By working with HLC Usha helps support her two children, her pair of sisters, her nephew and her recently widowed mother, who actually played an important part in setting up HLC. Usha’s excitement and passion for teaching not only attracts children to the Center, but other local women as well, who are interested in helping with the children and becoming familiar with HLC’s activities and curriculum. Usha and her fellow school teachers go through training in English, Math and Kannada through the HLC training program, that they then teach the children through fun activities and songs.

After spending the day playing with the Kindergardeners at HLC and talking with Usha and her fellow teachers, we were invited to Usha’s house to meet her family and have some coffee and dessert. I again noticed the community’s cohesion as Usha’s friends walked with us over from the Center pointing out the shops and houses which they have relations to. People yelled out who the group of foreigners was and where they were coming from, to which they responded “America” and “they are visiting the Center” answers by which the questioners seemed content. I appreciate the sense of community that HLC is forming part of in  Kodihalli, where it joins rural education for children as well as women empowerment by way of education and a paid job.

Links:

• Guest post by Alexandra Tsiolas, Oslo University, Norway