The Blossom Bus: Help Rural Girls Get To School!

Our Blossom Bus program continues to bridge the gap between parents’ concerns for their daughter’s safety and girl’s rights to education. Below is a story about how important education is to these marginalize girls and their families.

Nikita and Babita from Durgapur Village have been travelling on Blossom Bus for last four years and are appearing for their 12^th grade exams this year in March. Babita told us that she has two sisters and two brothers. Her brothers are working and her elder sisters are all married. She is the youngest and first in the family to reach the 12^th grade. Her brothers studied up to the 10^th grade and her sister, Laxmi, was married after she finished the 8^th grade. Laxmi stopped going to school because her father would not allow her to travel the two kilometers to Aharvan High School because of the harassment she received on the way to school. Thanks to the Blossom Bus, Babita has not been forced to drop out of school like her sister.

Laxmi, Babita’s sister, told us that because she wasn’t well educated, she was married to an uneducated man who earns a meager wage and suffers from alcoholism. He spends most of his earnings on alcohol and doesn’t care for his two children. As a mother, she is worried about the education of her children. Laxmi said that she is happy that her sister Babita will not have to face the situation that she has found herself in because she will receive an education and will not be married off young. Babita wants to go to college but her father is apprehensive about her safety and security. Babita told us, “if I can be accommodated on Blossom to College Bus, I will go to College. Otherwise I am afraid my future will be uncertain. I may not get a suitable marriage and have my life ruined like my two elder sisters who are both suffering because of alcoholic husbands.”

Nikita also wants to go to college but is uncertain as she said that her father is an auto driver and spends most of his earnings on alcohol without caring about the impact on his four children. Because he is an alcoholic he can’t drive properly, damages the vehicle frequently, and spends a lot on repairs. Nikita is terrified of not finishing school because she has seen many of her classmates get married after passing eighth grade and become mothers.

Nikita tells us, “I’m waiting for a seat on the Blossom Bus to College and hopeful of better days ahead if only I can get a seat on the bus to College!” Her mother wants her to study further so that she can become independent and earn money to support her own children’s education. She wants her daughter to get married to an educated person which she says is only possible when she receives an education.

Nikita and Babita are so grateful to the donors who have supported them. Thank you for encouraging these young women as they create promising futures for themselves and their families.

The Blossom Bus program continues to grow. Data from the Aharwan secondary school where we have 205 students in the program show that while many schools in the area are losing students, the schools in which we send most of the Blossom Bus girls has increased in numbers of girls from 180 in 2008 to 340 in 2016. These numbers are entirely reliant on Blossom Bus.

The Headmaster of the Aharwan school told us with pride that 45 out of the 54 girls in grade 10 have passed the exams in the 2015-16 school year which is vastly different from the 40% pass rate in the state. Blossom Girls attend school almost 100% of days in a school year which enables these kinds of results. Below is a story about a Blossom Bus GIrl named Suman. 

Suman is from the village of Durgapur and is studying in tenth grade at the Aharwan school. She has been travelling on the Blossom Bus for the last year after passing eigth grade from Durgapur school. She does well at school and wants to study as much as possible.  Suman said that she wants to be independent even after marriage. When asked why she is so keen to study until college she became silent. We asked, “Will your parents send you to school if there is no Blossom Bus?” She did not respond directly but only said, “please do not stop Blossom Bus or many girls will be out of school and will lead a bad life.” It was a serious statement and we wanted to know why Suman was so interested in education.

After a lot of persuasion, Suman opened up and told us, “My mother is illiterate and my father is a drunkard. He does not treat my mother nicely”. We asked her if she is confident that she will get a job after studying until grade 12. She said that she may or may not get a job but if married to a drunkard, she may not have to face domestic violence as it will be difficult for a husband to beat an educated wife. She said further that she knows about the helpline number 1091 for complaints against domestic violence and will call the police if subjected to such behaviour by her husband.

We asked her then why she does not ask her father to stop drinking. She said that she has seen her father drinking since she was a toddler and has many times asked him to stop drinking alcohol but he doesn't listen. He says that he will keep drinking as long as he is alive.

Suman is worried about her family as her two younger sisters are studying in grade three and five in the village school. The whole family is dependent on the earning of one brother and Suman wants to help her brother and earn more so that her sisters can also complete school education. We hope that her younger sisters will ride the Blossom Bus once they are of age.

During this discussion, Suman kept repeating “Please never stop Blossom Bus as this is the only hope for hundreds of girls who have reached grade 10 and 12".

Thank you to all that have supported this program. The beneficiaries are forever grateful!