Excellent education for 175 kids in Hyderabad!!

September was a great time to learn about mosquitoes. Occasional rains have left water pools everywhere in the community, and hence so many mosquitoes were around.  We brought mosquito larvae to the classroom and with great curiosity, observed its life cycle. But when we learned about mosquito borne diseases, all of us were scared. We read that mosquitoes kill more people than any other animal or insect. Every minute one child is dying because of malaria. To add to our worry, we heard about many incidents of malaria and dengue fever in the community.  

Slowly the fear and anxiety gave way to a strong desire to solve the problem. As we discussed many ideas came up. “Using bed nets”, “Using window screens”, “Keeping water tanks closed”, “cleaning terrace and other places having still water”, “using mosquito repellents” and so on. To prioritise these ideas we conducted a sample survey. We grouped our ideas into three categories “Keep Mosquitoes Away” “Control Breeding” and “Using Mosquito Repellents”. We divided ourselves into three teams and each team studied more about each category.  

  On using mosquito repellents the team came up with interesting findings. A good number of households were using “market bought” repellents which can harm children when used for prolonged time. Since mosquitoes find us by smell, the team proposed the use of natural repellents like “the Lemon and Cloves”.

 The “Control Breeding” team came up with ideas like clearing still water so that mosquitoes can’t lay eggs and breed and also about keeping the surroundings clean.

The team which studied about “Keeping Mosquitoes Away” mainly suggested two ideas. “Use of bed nets” and “Use of window screens”. They also went to the nearby market to understand the cost for fixing window screens.

We then prepared a detailed plan for implementing our ideas.

We prepared pamphlets and posters. Organised awareness campaign and distributed pamphlets in the school and community.

The idea of “Lemon and Cloves” was well accepted by all. But fixing window screens was thought of as expensive and therefore not well received. We came back to our discussion table and then the idea of using “mosquito net as window screen” came up.  We collected old mosquito nets and demonstrated its use as window screen.

We also organised cleanliness drive in the community.

Our story was an entry for the DFC 2014 School Challenge 2014 and has been selected as one of the top 75 winning stories.

I teach a class of about 35 students, among which 16 are girls. I was their first ever teacher, who joined them in second grade. To my surprise, even at such a young age I could see the struggles they have been through.

Let me share with you the story of Saniya. Saniya at 7 was the eldest of three siblings. Saniya was a dream come true for every teacher. She was the most diligent, responsible, punctual, eager to learn child. She was always willing to help her peers and enthusiastic to participate beyond the classroom. After just 8 months of intervention, her perseverance and brilliance made her Glinda, the good witch, in our production of The Wizard of Oz. For me this was an example of how times are changing, how the education of a girl child wasn’t neglected anymore. What I learned later, proved that I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Both her parents and grandparents worked as domestic help in a restaurant. They left for work early in the morning to make it to the breakfast shift. Saniya at 7 took over the responsibility of her younger sister, 6, and her younger brother who was just starting school at 5. She would make sure they got ready, their lunch was packed and walked them to school on time. The family had the means to educate only one child, so they chose to put their resources into their son who was enrolled in a private school. The education of Saniya and her sister was left to chance when they were enrolled in a public school, with no teachers allotted for their grades. So the first year of school Saniya and her sister came to school everyday to a classroom full of chaos in the hopes that a teacher would one day show up to teach them.

In 2013, with the intervention of Teach for India in the school I became Saniya’s first teacher. I saw that she was far ahead of her peers, she knew the english alphabet and could read and write simple words. When I inquired further I learnt that Saniya would learn alphabets from her younger brother and then proceed to help him with his homework. I was amazed to discover that Saniya’s first vocabulary in english consisted of all the items on the menu in the restaurant that her family worked in.

Even though I was her teacher, Saniya taught me how to learn. She learnt responsibility through the burden of taking care of her siblings, she learnt perseverance in her pursuit of learning, she learnt kindness through sharing her knowledge. More than all she learnt resilience in the face of injustice.

The stories of the 15 other little girls I teach, at some point or another coincide with Saniya’s. They are always the least prioritized members of the family, they are expected to take a share of the house hold work from really young ages, their development and education are never a priority. Despite all this they battle on in their own little ways for a chance at equality that is rightfully theirs.

Gender discrimination is the topic of the moment. There is a vehement vocalization across the globe about the repercussions of such discrimination. As a fellow at Teach for India, I’ve always believed that we were battling much more than educational inequity. My experience has made me realize that it is more important than ever to lend our voices to make sure that the struggles of little girls such as Saniya are heard.

At Teach for India we battle sexual abuse, domestic violence, poverty, hunger and gender discrimination all at once through the most powerful tool we possess- Education. We are not satisfied with short term solutions, we aim at a sustainable long term change possible only through a transformed mindset of the society. It is more important than ever to educate our children to be unbiased. Education is the only means through which we can ensure that Saniya’s children do not have to go through the same hardship that she is being subjected to.

*Name changed to protect the identity of the beneficiaries. 

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