By Glenn Fawcett | Executive Director, Lotus Outreach
We are delighted to report that we’ve doubled the number of girls in our Blossom Bus program from 327 to more than 600 riders onboard during the first month of the academic session following the Indian school’s summer break.
The Blossom Bus fleet has increased from seven to eleven buses and we may need a few more busses should the tiny alleys and rough roads of rural Rajasthan and Haryana prove too difficult for the larger buses that are currently in service.
Putting another 300 girls on our buses was not at all problematic; in fact we had a waiting list of around 250 girls ready to board as soon as seats became available.
Availability of buses in these remote areas inhabited by minority communities of agrarian farmers is quickly changing local attitudes toward the importance of girl’s education and just what they are capable of. The fact that forty of our riders are enrolled in master’s programs has a deep impact on the collective mindset in villages where very few have completed school above grade eight.
We have included a letter from the Education Department of the Government of Haryana to our local NGO in India, White Lotus. The letter praises our work and assures us support in the communities and schools we are planning to add to those currently being served.
All aboard the Blossom Bus!
By Suraj Kumar | Executive Program Manager, Lotus Outreach Intl.
By Suraj Kumar | Project Manager in India
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