Gujarat to Rajasthan:
After a few days off in Diu, a tiny island of limestone cliffs and rocky coves in south Gujarat, we decided to venture north to Rajasthan. Sadly, Balthasar and Patrick announced to me (15 minutes prior to departure) that we were leaving....just as I had proudly washed the majority of my wardrobe - not exactly ideal before a 24 hour bus journey!
The advantage of taking local buses in India is there's no need to book ahead. In fact, as we discovered upon boarding our interconnecting bus in Rajkot at 1.30am, there's no word for 'full' in Hindi! Balthasar commanded, 'we HAVE to get in the bus'. So we clambered on, backpacks secured like tortoises, to find many bemused, if slightly sleepy, faces looking up at us. No seats available but 'no problem' the gangway was a fitting alternative (and in fact the most comfortable of the night). We also sampled lying in the cockpit behind the driver, and contemplated the roof but it was already taken up with hessian sacks brimming with fresh green chilies.
As the sun rose, I glimpsed my first sights of Rajasthan. Cattle-drawn carts were replaced by tall camels and the lush green landscape became much more arid and stark. This is of course the state of the Great Thar Desert. Our visit was to start in the blue city of Jodhpur, where I met my companion Jen. I'll leave Jen to introduce herself...
Jen's Journey: Jodhpur
Arriving in an unknown city at 4am wouldn't normally be on my wish list, but I was extremely happy sipping masala chai at a roadside dhaba just outside Jodhpur. YES, I had arrived! As the morning sunshine warmed Olivia, me and the fort of Jodhpur on a mountain just behind us, we met Radhe. Radhe, Jodhpur’s DRC coordinator, coordinates projects in all of the 1617 villages in the district. Through our conversations on Rajasthan and Pratham’s history there, we discovered a lot about Radhe. Starting as a volunteer librarian 7 years ago, he had been promoted rapidly and now has been recommended for a part time MBA to begin alongside his Pratham work. Throughout the day we saw the importance of such opportunities to the volunteers who contributed to Pratham.
Rajasthan is an extremely interesting district; not only is Hindi rarely spoken but we found that their educational possibilities are also highly dependent on the agricultural conditions. Sufficient rain brings wealth to the region. However poor monsoons over the past 4 years meant children having to drop out of school to help their parents, particularly in the dry North West. Pratham is extremely busy; running Read to Learn, Learn to Read (see Olivia’s blog) and Balwadi programs. 10 days previously, Pratham had launched ‘Navjeevan Yojna’, a project in collaboration with the local government providing an education and board scheme for female child labourers. When we showed interest in this programme, Radhe arranged for this to be included in our visit within minutes.
Our visit began at ‘Navjeeva Yojna' where 45 girls had been selected by Pratham’s survey of Bastis (urban slum areas constituting 250 families). These girls between 6 to 16 years received full boarding and lodging as well as lessons in Marwadi, Hindi, Mathematics and English over a six month period with the objective of enrolling them in a government school. There we met Santosh - her father was a shoe maker on the streets of Jodhpur. She worked as a rag-picker, a seemingly excruciating occupation given her severely handicapped nature – she was stunted and one leg did not function. Wondering what her future may hold, having never been to school at the age of 15, she now at least has a chance of some education. Whether she will ever get one of the few government jobs reserved for India’s large handicapped population, is however uncertain.
On our way to the villages we stopped off at the DRC office where we met 12 young students working on their computer skills and two MBA students working with Pratham on their MBA internship. We had fun testing the volunteer teaching materials, using the 'purchasing game(Bazaar)' to learn the Hindi names of choice fruits.....very helpful for our haggling back in Jodhpur! Another hot and dusty ride later through rural Rajasthan, we arrive at the first village school, Devaliya. This was a prime example of Pratham’s growth in its focus bloc; it had been open just 10 days but had 20 children already on its register. The single village volunteer offered the Balwadi program: play to learn and health education. Jadiwal Kallum, our second village, had four volunteers and decidedly more lessons, but was again brand new. We met two of the volunteer sisters, Sumitra and Anita Choudhary teaching a class of 31 children of 4 - 6 years. We loved the children in this class, they were so well behaved. When we asked them in Hindi, if they wanted chocolate sweeties none put up their hands. We had to reassure them that we really wanted to give them away!
The day rounded up with a great cup of Masala chai (yes I think you note the theme) in the DRC office and chats with Radhe and some of the other Pratham workers. It had been an amazing experience - seeing the projects, the children, the effectiveness and energy of the Pratham organisation. I was impressed and keen to see more. Delhi will be the next stop - we'll catch up then.....
By Olivia and Jen (UK)
After a few days off in Diu, a tiny island of limestone cliffs and rocky coves in south Gujarat, we decided to venture north to Rajasthan. Sadly, Balthasar and Patrick announced to me (15 minutes prior to departure) that we were leaving....just as I had proudly washed the majority of my wardrobe - not exactly ideal before a 24 hour bus journey!
The advantage of taking local buses in India is there's no need to book ahead. In fact, as we discovered upon boarding our interconnecting bus in Rajkot at 1.30am, there's no word for 'full' in Hindi! Balthasar commanded, 'we HAVE to get in the bus'. So we clambered on, backpacks secured like tortoises, to find many bemused, if slightly sleepy, faces looking up at us. No seats available but 'no problem' the gangway was a fitting alternative (and in fact the most comfortable of the night). We also sampled lying in the cockpit behind the driver, and contemplated the roof but it was already taken up with hessian sacks brimming with fresh green chilies.
As the sun rose, I glimpsed my first sights of Rajasthan. Cattle-drawn carts were replaced by tall camels and the lush green landscape became much more arid and stark. This is of course the state of the Great Thar Desert. Our visit was to start in the blue city of Jodhpur, where I met my companion Jen. I'll leave Jen to introduce herself...
Jen's Journey: Jodhpur
Arriving in an unknown city at 4am wouldn't normally be on my wish list, but I was extremely happy sipping masala chai at a roadside dhaba just outside Jodhpur. YES, I had arrived! As the morning sunshine warmed Olivia, me and the fort of Jodhpur on a mountain just behind us, we met Radhe. Radhe, Jodhpur’s DRC coordinator, coordinates projects in all of the 1617 villages in the district. Through our conversations on Rajasthan and Pratham’s history there, we discovered a lot about Radhe. Starting as a volunteer librarian 7 years ago, he had been promoted rapidly and now has been recommended for a part time MBA to begin alongside his Pratham work. Throughout the day we saw the importance of such opportunities to the volunteers who contributed to Pratham.
Rajasthan is an extremely interesting district; not only is Hindi rarely spoken but we found that their educational possibilities are also highly dependent on the agricultural conditions. Sufficient rain brings wealth to the region. However poor monsoons over the past 4 years meant children having to drop out of school to help their parents, particularly in the dry North West. Pratham is extremely busy; running Read to Learn, Learn to Read (see Olivia’s blog) and Balwadi programs. 10 days previously, Pratham had launched ‘Navjeevan Yojna’, a project in collaboration with the local government providing an education and board scheme for female child labourers. When we showed interest in this programme, Radhe arranged for this to be included in our visit within minutes.
Our visit began at ‘Navjeeva Yojna' where 45 girls had been selected by Pratham’s survey of Bastis (urban slum areas constituting 250 families). These girls between 6 to 16 years received full boarding and lodging as well as lessons in Marwadi, Hindi, Mathematics and English over a six month period with the objective of enrolling them in a government school. There we met Santosh - her father was a shoe maker on the streets of Jodhpur. She worked as a rag-picker, a seemingly excruciating occupation given her severely handicapped nature – she was stunted and one leg did not function. Wondering what her future may hold, having never been to school at the age of 15, she now at least has a chance of some education. Whether she will ever get one of the few government jobs reserved for India’s large handicapped population, is however uncertain.
On our way to the villages we stopped off at the DRC office where we met 12 young students working on their computer skills and two MBA students working with Pratham on their MBA internship. We had fun testing the volunteer teaching materials, using the 'purchasing game(Bazaar)' to learn the Hindi names of choice fruits.....very helpful for our haggling back in Jodhpur! Another hot and dusty ride later through rural Rajasthan, we arrive at the first village school, Devaliya. This was a prime example of Pratham’s growth in its focus bloc; it had been open just 10 days but had 20 children already on its register. The single village volunteer offered the Balwadi program: play to learn and health education. Jadiwal Kallum, our second village, had four volunteers and decidedly more lessons, but was again brand new. We met two of the volunteer sisters, Sumitra and Anita Choudhary teaching a class of 31 children of 4 - 6 years. We loved the children in this class, they were so well behaved. When we asked them in Hindi, if they wanted chocolate sweeties none put up their hands. We had to reassure them that we really wanted to give them away!
The day rounded up with a great cup of Masala chai (yes I think you note the theme) in the DRC office and chats with Radhe and some of the other Pratham workers. It had been an amazing experience - seeing the projects, the children, the effectiveness and energy of the Pratham organisation. I was impressed and keen to see more. Delhi will be the next stop - we'll catch up then.....
By Olivia and Jen (UK)
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