By Shrutikantha | Qualitative researcher, writer
Make an impact with a story.
Asha (name changed) a student of Grade 9 has been reading stories and learning skills at school. She has read 11 books in the Going to School class and her favourite story out of them is ‘Getting to the bottom of it’. She drew a map of her locality and identified the problems around her.
“I identified the problems in my locality through my project. I saw them around me, in the news and my elders talking about them. The gravest issues are of child marriage, female foeticide and naxal attacks. There are the everyday problems of water and electricity too in my village.”
Connecting every element that was a problem, the cause of it and how it could be solved, her project had a strong message how stories read in classrooms had so much impact on children’s minds.
Asha is reading stories every Saturday in the Going to School class and has learnt entrepreneurial skills. Her teacher, Sujit Kumar Singh says, “I am very proud of the work Going to School has been doing. The skills if incorporated properly can make the top notch of entrepreneurs from amongst these children.”
Asha Kumari goes to her school Lalpari Devi Girls High School on her pink cycle pink bicycle in and out on the bumpy lanes for four kilometers everyday. Her father works in Kolkata and her mother stays with him due to her poor health. While her parents her away, her elder sister is her guardian who is married and lives with her kids.
A proud sister, Sandhya Kumari says, “Asha has always been dedicated to her studies and also does a lot of art and crafts. We want her to excel in the field she is good at.”
She knows the objective behind the Going to School program and has helped her younger sister with identifying problems around her.
Sandhya doesn’t mind her sister going for extra classes to learn skills at school and is glad she is learning so much.
“I want her to grow up to become whatever she wishes to and I will always support my little sister in every step.”
Asha, a happy-go-lucky 14 year old says she loves her village and her home means more fun when her sister and nephews are around. However, she says, “I have the skill to identify problems and taking a risk now. I know the seriousness of the problems in my village. The schools are really far and the smaller schools do not give good education.”
Her elder sister adds, “Lack of public transportation and poor medical centers is another problem. Asha’s project made me realize these things. She is taking the right step. To solve a problem, first we need to identify its root causes.”
She believes her sister and the generation to come can make a huge impact in the development of her village if they study hard and have a comfortable living.
Asha is reading stories and learning skills to make her village develop and make it a better place to live comfortably. She has taken the first step of identifying the problems and her skills will help her solve them ahead. Meanwhile, one story at a time, Kiran is learning great entrepreneurial skills which are already developing a hero entrepreneur in her.
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