Together for a more just and caring society

The region of Anantapur will remember the last 30 years as the generational change ones. In the 60s, nobody gave importance to education. Now it is one of the main goals of families.

"Without education, what is left is poverty," say Lakhsmidevi and Adinaera. Both were born in a time in which only people with money could study. Adinaera, like many boys then, stopped going to school at the age of eight to help in family finances. “I am a tailor since I was 13 years old; those who have studied have gotten better jobs, but I could not study..." sighs Adinaera. Lakhsmidevi, just for being a woman, never went to school. Like most girls in those times, her place was to be at home, caring her siblings and doing household chores.

This tendency is changing. An example is Haritha, their daughter. At 18, she has finished high school and this year begins the career of Civil Engineering. Like many of her friends, she studies and does not think to marry "until I reach 28 years old, at least".

Thanks to the awareness work carried out by the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, families give more importance to education. Many parents, who a few years ago had left their children at home, have understood the benefits of schooling. "Thirty years ago, when our oldest daughter was born, we were not aware of the importance of have an education, but with Haritha it is different. Nowadays all families want educate their children," says Lakhsmidevi.

"At my parents' time the circumstances were distinct, there weren’t many opportunities. Now it is quite different and my generation must take advantage of it. Today we are the ones that makes our parents be aware of the value of education," Haritha says. "Better educated children will help to improve not our village alone, but the entire region," adds Adinaera.

The road of change

Long distances between villages and the schools, together with gender discrimination, explain why the literacy rate was so low in Anantapur, few decades ago. "It simply could not understand: Educated girls? What for? The main goal for young girls is marry a caring man, having children and a house to take care. This was the parents used to say," explains Anna Ferrer, President of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, in the book 'A pact of love'.

"Haritha went to high school in Vijayawada, which is 500 kilometers away from here. And our oldest daughter didn't went to school because I was only five kilometers from home, so you can see how everything has changed!" Adinaera says, laughing.

Since 2004, the Foundation has provided 2,449 scholarships to students who, as Haritha, have achieved top marks in public examinations at the end of high school. The student gets 100% of financial support to pay for tuition center, accommodation and meals.

"I do not know how my life would have been without the Foundation’s support," muses the young student. "My education has highly motivated me and I know much more things than my parents. They even did not know that they had to go to hospital when they were sick, in poor health condition. Now we know the reason of things," says proudly Haritha.