After almost 20 months of closure, the phased return of children into Indian schools, with new COVID protocols in place, is almost complete. We’re still awaiting authorisation and capacity to resume the pop-up nature schools in the rural villages without access to schools but that is in hand. Thanks to your generosity over the last few months we are now in a position to help up to 300 children with education packs containing essential writing materials so they can finally return access learning.
An Almost Impossible Choice
We are now faced with the near impossible task of choosing which 300 children to help first. With many of the poorest children having no access to remote learning during the schools’ lockdown we want to prioritise getting them into/back to school as a matter of urgency. Many families have suffered financial hardship during the pandemic due to a combination of factors including: lack of paid work, loss of crops due to herbivores and elephants raiding or destroying them; loss of livestock and even a combination of all three. For some children the help will be too late, they will have already reached 14 years old and thus no longer qualify for free state driven education; if their parents can’t afford to pay then they will never complete their education. All around India, charities are concerned about this “lost generation” of young adults. The impact on their lives, their families and the wildlife habitat will surely be felt for many years to come.
Some villages have suffered more than others with monkeys entering the fields before the harvest of fruit and vegetables to feast on the spoils. The same villages lose the new shoots of their crops to grazing herbivores and when the crops are established, many have been trampled and crushed overnight by rampaging wild elephants. If the loss of crops to eat or sell wasn’t hard enough, some farmers have lost their livestock to habitual predators such as wild tigers and leopards too. The compensation from the forest department hasn’t been the quickest to arrive or in many cases has been insufficient to cover the losses which fuels the problem and leads to unrest. Desperate villagers enter the forest and send their children in to gather food for their families to eat or to sell. As they go deeper into wildlife habitat, they risk human-wildlife conflict, even their own lives and those of their children in the process.
The Fortunate Few
Although we can’t help the “lost generation” at this stage, we can help to prevent further youngsters falling into the same trap by ensuring that the education packs we distribute will benefit children in three key age groups:
We will aim to split the education packs with around one third for each age group and with around 175 packs overall distributed in the hardest hit villages with roughly 125 set aside for the pop-up schools if we receive the news that these can recommence. In the absence of authorisation, we will look to distribute all education packs in the hardest hit villages, and will try to raise further funds so that we can help the pop-up schools next time. (https://goto.gg/32565).
Making a Difference
Around 300 children who haven’t had access to remote learning due to poverty, no electricity and lack of technology throughout the schools’ lockdown will soon have the opportunity to start or resume their education, thanks to your generosity. In our next newsletter, we will share some of the images of the smiling children’s faces who you have helped. In the meantime, if you are able to help us help more children to have an education and become tiger protectors rather than foragers, please consider a new monthly donation as part of your new year’s resolutions. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring).
We will continue to work hard with our Indian based education partner, GTCS, to try to restart the pop-up schools in the most remote villages as soon as the latest COVID restrictions and funding allow. Thankfully, due to your amazing support and donations we will be able to provide education packs to support the learning of at least 300 children with education packs, this time. Sadly, there will be thousands of other children also needing basic writing materials and books who we won’t be able to help until we raise more funds. Thus, we anticipate that the impact of lost schooling together with the economic effects of COVID19 will be felt by the forest and its wild tigers for many years to come.
Long Term Impact - Help is Still Needed
Our experience has shown us over the last 11 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, etc., from the forest to sell; and to clearing forest habitat to create land for crops. The children from the poorest families had no access to online learning facilities, as they live simple lives without electricity or access to technology.
Throughout the pandemic, your support for our work has been amazing. We definitely couldn’t have kept wild tigers safe without it. Now, as the latest wave of infection brings further challenges, India’s people are trying to rebuild their former lives. We hope that we can help, in a small way, to provide a brighter future for some of the poorest children around Bandhavgarh. If you want to support the education of the poorest rural children in Bandhavgarh, you can make a huge difference by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, which will ensure that we can offer educational resources for at least 15 children in a year: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, many people have faced the biggest challenges of their lives with no work and the schools having been closed since 25 March 2020. For the thousands of young children with no access to schooling at all, there is the question as to whether they will ever return to education. These children without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, are the children which Tigers4Ever has always tried to help. By giving these children books and basic writing materials we give them hope, we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have.
If We Could Make a Difference We Would
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education too. We still hope to do more in the future, but in the meantime, we need your help to provide education packs to enable children to return to the state schools right now. You can help to make that happen with every donation of £25 (US$40) we can send 5 children to schoolhttps://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have previously helped to get an education (and their families who will have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. We’d like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. Stay Safe.
Links:
In June this year, we didn’t know when the schools around Bandhavgarh National Park would start to reopen. India was still in the grip of the Delta variant of COVID19 and there seemed no possibility of reopening the schools, which had remained closed since March 2020, in the near future. Three months on and there is a small light at the end of this long tunnel. Just last week, we received news that India was beginning to re-open its schools for the year 9 and above students. These students are in the age group where their parents must pay school fees for them to continue their education; and the children are in the age group where India has rolled out its vaccination programme. Success will be monitored and the remaining younger children will have a phased return to school subject to appropriate distancing measures and other COVID safe protocols being in place. We don’t know at this point when the phased returns will complete, but the schools reopening will bring new hope for Bandhavgarh’s children: Those desperate to see their friends, those who haven’t been fortunate enough to have remote schooling, and those desperate to get the qualifications they need to follow the career of their dreams.
Long Term Impact and Your Amazing Support
We still worry about the long term impacts of no schooling for more than 18 months for Bandhavgarh’s poorest children, some of whom will now be too old to return to school for free education so will not return unless their parents can afford their school fees. These children will most likely need scholarships to fund their education, but the funds are simply not there. We will work hard with our Indian based education partners, GTCS, to try to restart the pop-up schools in the most remote villages as soon as COVID restrictions allow. Thankfully, due to your amazing support and donations we will be able to provide education packs to support the learning of at least 125 children with education packs via the pop-up schools, but there will be thousands of other children also needing assistance with basic writing materials and books who we won’t be able to help until we raise more funds. We anticipate that the impact of lost schooling together with the economic effects of COVID19 will be felt by the forest and its wild tigers for many years to come.
Our experience has shown us over the last 11 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, etc., from the forest to sell; and to clearing forest habitat to create land for crops. The children from the poorest families had no access to online learning facilities, as they live simple lives without electricity or access to technology.
Help is Still Needed….
Throughout the pandemic, your support for our work has been amazing. We definitely couldn’t have kept wild tigers safe without your help. Now, as the latest wave of infection seems to be under control, India’s people will try to rebuild their former lives, and we hope that we can help to provide a brighter future for some of the poorest children around Bandhavgarh. If you’d like to be involved in supporting the education of the poorest rural children in Bandhavgarh, you can make a huge difference by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, which will ensure that we can offer educational resources for at least 15 children: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, many people have faced the biggest challenges of their lives with no work and the schools having been closed since 25 March 2020. For the thousands of young children with no access to schooling at all, there is the question as to whether they will ever return to education. These children without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, are the children which Tigers4Ever has always tried to help. By giving these children books and basic writing materials we give them hope, we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have.
If We Could Make a Difference We Would
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education too. We’re still hoping to fund scholarships at a new school in Bandhavgarh, when this reopens. In the meantime, we need your help so we can provide education packs to enable children to return to the state schools when their chances arrive.
The sense of despair and uncertainty which has been brought about by COVID19 has to end sometime, hopefully soon. So it would be truly amazing if out of this despair we are able to give at least 200 more children a chance to return to school and learn the skills which they will need if they are to become tiger protectors, teachers, nurses or doctors in the future. You can help to make that happen with every donation of £25 (US$40) we can send 5 children to schoolhttps://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have previously helped to get an education (and their families who will have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe.
Links:
In February 2021, we hoped that the schools around Bandhavgarh which had remained closed since March 2020 we reopen in April 2021. Our hope faded as March 2021 progressed and hundreds of thousands of new COVID cases were reported across India each day. Once again Bandhavgarh was in total lockdown and there was no hope of the schools reopening before 01 July 2021.
Long Term Impact and Your Amazing Support
We continue to worry about the long term impacts of no schooling for more than a year for Bandhavgarh’s poorest children. These impacts will be felt by the forest and its wild tigers not only in the short term but also for many years to come. Without education, the prospects for many of these children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, etc., from the forest to sell; and to clearing forest habitat to create land to grow food to live. Whilst the children of the wealthier families have had access to online learning facilities, there are no such opportunities in the poorest families who live simple lives without electricity.
Throughout the pandemic, your support for our work has been amazing. We definitely couldn’t have kept wild tigers safe without your help. Now, as the latest wave of infection decimates India’s people regardless of who they are or where they are from, the hope for a brighter future for some of the poorest children in rural India has faded.
Help was and is Still Needed….
In Bandhavgarh, many people have faced the biggest challenges of their lives with no work and the schools having been closed since 25 March 2020. For the thousands of young children with no access to schooling at all, there is the question as to whether they will ever return to education. These children without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, are the children which Tigers4Ever has always tried to help. By giving these children books and basic writing materials we give them hope, we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have. That is impossible right now. In September 2020, we were approached by another NGO in Bandhavgarh which wanted to set up classes for these children in a rented room with a few computers and two teachers, so these children could access online learning. The project would cost £17000 (US$24150) including renting the property and its utility bills, equipment and teachers’ wages, but we couldn’t help beyond providing writing materials and books, as we simply didn’t have the funds. Nine months later, the same funds are still needed but we don’t have the means to help.
For Children like Sonali, Hope Faded
In our last report, we told you Sonali’s story, and how COVID19 has impacted her dreams. Sonali turned 13 years old just a few weeks after our last report. Her chances of returning to the state school she attended in a neighbouring village fade each day. Sonali liked school; she had learned to count, to read and to write and had started to dream. With each passing day her hope of completing her education and getting a job as a teacher or nurse or wildlife ranger fade away. Now Sonali faces the very real prospect of being married and never completing her education. When Sonali reaches 14 years old, her parents will try to get a dowry together so that Sonali can get married and have a family of her own. These days Sonali spends most of her days planting seeds in the field for the next vegetable crop, she must wonders if she will ever see her friends from school again, let alone fulfil her dreams. Sonali isn’t alone in this situation; there are thousands of children just like her, desperate for a chance in life but facing the reality that it probably won’t come.
If We Could Make a Difference We Would
We want to help families like Sonali’s to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education too. So when this COVID19 nightmare ends we’ll be looking to fund scholarships at a new school in Bandhavgarh too, in the meantime, we’d still like to provide education packs for when the schools reopen too. If you’d like to be continually involved in supporting the education of rural children in Bandhavgarh like Sonali and those who are younger than her, you can start a monthly recurring donation from just £5 per month, which will make a huge difference in offering future education for them. The link to start a recurring donation is: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring. If we can find funds for some computers to help the NGO set up a learning centre for the poorest children, we would like to make a difference for those children too.
Imagine the Difference
The sense of despair and uncertainty which has been brought about by COVID19 has to end sometime, hopefully soon. So it would be truly amazing if out of this despair we were able to give at least 100 children, like Sonali, a chance to return to school and learn the skills which they will need if they are to become tiger protectors, teachers, nurses or doctors in the future? You can make that happen too with a donation of £25 (US$36) we can send 5 children to schoolhttps://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have previously helped to get an education (and their families who will have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe in these challenging times.
Links:
Over the last year we’ve faced some of the biggest challenges of our lives. No matter where we live or work we’ve all felt the impact of COVID19, some more than others admittedly, but the pandemic nature of this disease has truly had global impacts beyond what we could have imagined a few years ago. Throughout this time, we have been amazed and truly grateful for your help, we definitely couldn’t have kept wild tigers safe without your help. Now, as the vaccination programme continues, families all over the world hope for some kind of normality to return. We have no real idea what the new normal will be, and in some cases, no idea when this may begin, but we all cling onto the hope that there will be a safe, healthy new normal soon.
Those of you who have young children will no doubt appreciate the challenges of home schooling coupled with home working whilst fighting for space have brought, but in rural India many people have faced even bigger challenges with no work and the schools closed since 25 March 2020. For thousands of young children, this has meant no schooling at all; these children don’t have access to either a computer or mobile phone so remote learning is not an option for them. These are the children which Tigers4Ever usually tries to help. When we give these children books and basic writing materials we give them hope, we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have. We want to tell you Sonali’s story, as an example of how COVID19 has impacted her dreams. Sonali is just an ordinary young girl living in one of the villages around Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, where many families don’t have electricity, computers or mobile phones. Her story could be the story of thousands of young children living with wild tigers and facing an uncertain future after missing a year of learning.
Sonali, is 12 years old now, before the COVID19 pandemic she attended the state school in a neighbouring village five miles from her home. Each day she would walk along the forest trails where wild animals including tigers and leopards roam, just to follow her dream of a different life. When she got her first education pack from Tigers4Ever, she had never been to school. Sonali’s parents are farmers with a small holding, but often lose up to 65% of their crops to deer, monkeys and other wild animals with a voracious appetite for the new shoots of grain crops and the seasonal fruit and vegetables grown. Recently, wild elephants destroyed 50% of their rice crops too, thus there is little hope of buying the school books and writing materials which Sonali and her siblings desperately need. Sonali really enjoyed going to school, she had learnt to count, to read and to write; she had started to dream. Like most young girls of her age, she changed her mind about what she wanted to do when she is older, but teacher, nurse and wildlife ranger were amongst her favourite ideas. To have any hope of doing any of these jobs, Sonali will need to complete her education; she already lost the first three years of schooling because her parents couldn’t afford to send her to school, now COVID19 has robbed Sonali of another year.
If children like Sonali, can’t return to school when they reopen (hopefully) in April 2021, it is likely that they will never return. We could then face a lost generation of young people who could have been future protectors of wild tigers but will be more likely to threaten the future existence of tigers in the wild due to the need for more space for crops to feed bigger families and more destruction of the vulnerable ecosystem which is the tigers’ forest home
Sonali’s parents don’t want a life of poverty and struggles for the daughter and her five siblings; they simply can’t find the funds to send their children to school. Each day starts at 5 a.m. for Sonali and her siblings right now, if there is enough food in the house they may have breakfast before going into the fields to remove the weeds which threaten the growth of the wheat crop, and to harvest some vegetables to eat and sell. Sonali is big enough now to carry the water urn so at 7 a.m. she walks to the river with her mother and sister to get the water they need for the day. Sonali will have to carry 5 litres (just over a gallon) of water for a mile every day or the family will go short. Sonali is learning to cook on the open fire outside her home, so she must also go into the forest to collect wood to burn so she can learn this life skill too. When Sonali is 14, her parents will try to get a dowry together so that Sonali can get married and have a family of her own. As Sonali plants seeds in the field for the next vegetable crop, she wonders if she will ever see her friends in the school again, let alone fulfil her dream of becoming a teacher, nurse or wildlife ranger. Night falls, and Sonali goes to sleep on the single bed which she shares with three of her siblings, tomorrow is another day and she needs to help her father build a new fence around the vegetable patch to try to stop the monkeys taking them all.
We want to help families like Sonali’s to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education too. So when this COVID19 nightmare ends we’ll be looking to fund scholarships at a new school in Bandhavgarh too, in the meantime, we’d still like to provide education packs for when the schools reopen too. If you’d like to be continually involved in supporting the education of rural children in Bandhavgarh like Sonali, you can start a monthly recurring donation from just £5 per month, which will make a huge difference in offering future education for them. The link to start a recurring donation is: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
Imagine the Difference
The sense of despair and uncertainty which has been brought about by COVID19 has to end sometime, hopefully soon. So it would be truly amazing if out of this despair we were able to give at least 100 children, like Sonali, a chance to return to school and learn the skills which they will need if they are to become tiger protectors, teachers, nurses or doctors in the future? You can make that happen too with a donation of £25 (US$34) we can send 5 children to schoolhttps://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have previously helped to get an education (and their families who will have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe in these challenging times.
Links:
In the last seven months, families all over the world have faced new challenges due to COVID19, lockdown measures, home-schooling, etc. The list still seems endless as does the ongoing threat of this disease which has blighted every corner of the earth. In rural India these challenges have perhaps been more devastating than elsewhere as the people are already isolated, dependent on daily work being available to subsidise their subsistence existence and help their families to have a better future than they had.
In our last project newsletter we asked you to imagine the challenge of home schooling without a computer, without the internet, without even books or a desk where your children or grandchildren can work – did you have that thought in your mind? How did you cope? We suspect that the prospect was one which you wouldn’t want to face?
In rural India, around Bandhavgarh, families are faced with all of the above challenges and no work, no food, no electricity, no running water and everyone being locked down together in a single room for over seven months. Now that is unimaginable isn’t it? Sadly, it is a reality for the majority of families living around Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, and what is worse is that the schools in rural India have been closed for 7 months and have no plans to reopen yet! So you must be wondering why we are writing another appeal for educational resources when the children can’t even go to school. Let me share a real life experience of someone living in Bandhavgarh right now, with you:
Sandip is a 7th grade student in Manpur, a village several kilometres (miles) from his home in Ranccha village, Bandhavgarh. Sandip's mother Diya owns a sewing machine and makes clothes to sell to the people in her village so she can put food on the table for her family and send her children to school. Sandip’s father, Rajesh, was a farmer like his family had been for hundreds of years, but one day in 2019, whilst he was harvesting his sugar cane crop, Rajesh was bitten by a venomous snake and died in his field. Diya was left with 2 young children, Sandip and Durga. Durga is only 4 so still too young for school. Sandip, devastated by the loss of his father, wants to be a doctor so he needs his mother to sell clothes so he can go to school. Diya said “Since the lockdown, I can earn little or nothing. My usual customers have not been able to earn money and are therefore unable to spend any. I am finding it difficult to make ends meet – we are even falling short of food for Sandip and Durga. We are grateful for the food parcel which Tigers4Ever sent, but that is mostly gone now and I desperately want to sell clothes so that I can send Sandip to school when they reopen. I want him to study well, but we don’t have a computer or electricity so I hope that he will be able to go to the special classes in Tala where he can use a computer to continue his studies and learn to speak English too. I want Durga to go to school next year too; it would make me so happy to see my children learning new things. If Sandip can study well and become a doctor one day, this would fulfil his dream and my dream for him too”. Diya says that she has an empty purse but her heart is filled with ambition for her son and daughter too.
Parents like Diya have great hopes and ambitions for their children, they want them to have a better life than they have had, it is only natural really as most parents want this for their children, the world over, too.
We would like to help families like Diya’s to ensure that their children get a chance to complete their education too. So when this COVID19 nightmare ends we’ll be looking to fund scholarships at a new school in Bandhavgarh too, in the meantime, we’d still like to provide materials for the special classes too. If you’d like to be continually involved in supporting the education of rural children in Bandhavgarh like Sandip and Durga, you can start a monthly recurring donation for a small amount, which will make a huge difference in offering future education for them. The link to start a recurring donation is: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
Imagine the Difference
Cast your mind back to the beginning of this report, the sense of despair and uncertainty brought about by COVID19, sensations which sadly are all too familiar right now. So wouldn’t it be truly amazing if out of this despair we were able to give at least 30 children the chance to speak English, a skill which they will need if they are to become tiger protectors or doctors in the future? You could make that happen too.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have helped to get an education (and their families who will have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe in these challenging times.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
Make a monthly donation & get 
