Learning does not necessarily happen only through books. It is important to open minds of children to learn from the environment around them which would include interacting with community members, local traditions and culture as well as from each other.A lot of learning can happen because of the context. This precisely was the idea behind Library Program which was started around in the past year.
In January, a discussion about reviewing the program and its impact came up. As all geared up to review it, we all were oriented with the program and its format. 100 odd people travelling to all corners of India and working in groups! The JOSH and eagerness to visit and understand was manifold. Moreover, the way we were put in groups was interesting too- each one was from a different team, a unique profile and a different location. This ensured that the same thing was looked from different lenses.
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| Parent-volunteers in the community |
The guidelines were clear and concrete. We were told that in any library village, children from std. 3 to 8 (or in that age group) are divided into small groups of 5-6 each. We were told that the groups are formed mohalla-wise so that children do not have to go far from their homes to be a part of these learning activities. For each children’s group, volunteers or guardians are identified. The volunteers/guardians take responsibility of giving different worksheets to the group every day and encouraging the group of children to work together and learn. The tasks of each stake-holder were explained to us and we were asked to see how the processes were followed, what was the impact in the terms the communities’ engagement and children’s learning. Mumbai Urban Program was the visit location for me. We worked in a group of three where I was with an MME Associate (they assess the impact of programs) and a State Head from Pratham (he/she is the senior most person in the state who coordinates all the programs run in the state). As we started our visit, however, a very different yet delightful picture emerged.
Mumbai, from the point of view of Governance, is divided into zones. It has been Pratham’s field area since 1995. The location we visited is one of the oldest; M-Zone, Mankhurd. Mankhurd, a very populated region of Central Mumbai; is a tough working space. Narrow lanes, garbage dumps of Mumbai on all sides of the communities, and very noisy surroundings; was all that I saw as we entered. This however, was way less powerful than the impact of our Library Program.The library program that we visited here was conceptualized and implemented about 12 years back. Here, the teacher goes door-to-door and distributes the books at home. On an average, one teacher reaches out to about 150-200 households- about 20-25 household per day. A Baseline assessment is done in March which helps understand the learning levels of children. These results help decide the books that are to be taken. Around August, the Library begins wherein for six days of the week, the Teacher goes and distributes the books. There are about 250-300 books that the team has selected which are suitable for students of different levels. The teacher divides her days among all the children depending on the learning levels of children. The child selects the books and when these books are returned, the teacher does a gup-shup with the child. This is done in order to understand if the child has read the book and whether he/she has comprehended- did you read the book?, what was there in the book/ which characters?, what was the story about? - are the questions asked. On the last day of the week, children sit in groups and do activities. Mumbai had an absolutely different model as the Libraries are mobile, it was not a group intervention; the teacher went to every household and interacted.
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| Our Team at M-Zone |
As we were moving from one household to the other and the teacher was trying to explain her activities; there was one point where she got a bit confused. As this happened, a lady making garlands, sitting out of the house we visited started sharing. She shared about program and the details of the teacher’s schedule. I started interacting with her; her name was Sushila. She is a parent of two children - her daughter being in class 7 and her son in class 4. She emphatically spoke about the program and the impact its having. She spoke how her children have got this taste for reading now and that they look forward for Lalita tai (our teacher). She said, “हम लोग दरवाजे पर खड़े रहते है ललिता ताई के लिए! As I was interacting with her, she said, “मैडम, यह किताबें तो ठीक है पर आप वो डिक्शनरी होता है ना, वो भी दो| बच्चों को और हमको नए शब्द पढ़ने मिलेंगे!” As she spoke, a few others gathered and the other parents too started speaking about our work; they were a part of the parent’s group/committee who in a way hold and support the program with our teacher. It was indeed delightful to see these empowered women who want to think about their children and are facilitating our teacher's work in the community.
We saw the same model at Worli, Jijamatanagar on the next day and also got to know the similar library there. Here, we tried to explore if there are spaces where the students interact in groups on the basis of the reading they do. To this, the teachers and TMs shared that in different communities in Mumbai, there are two major problems- The space and Safety. Because of these, parents at times do not allow children to go to other households.
We had realized that the Libraries here were absolutely different; however, we also realized that the learning was not affected by that. Children were reading and they wanted new books. More so, the impact in terms of ownership in parents and eagerness to read in children was very visible. Mothers and other family members also started getting engaged in reading the books that are delivered at home and taking things up; leading to some discussions and ‘group learning’ at home. However, one thing that amazed us strongly was that; it was a Teacher-Intensive model- everything depends upon the teacher. She is going to all the households and distributing books. When the teachers were asked about the challenges they face, they shared about how it takes time to convince parents when they go door to door, face rejection and reach out to all members/households of the community. Moreover, they shared that they need some more skills for doing this and also in the process reaching out to the children effectively.
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| An activity underway |
With these experiences and reflections, on the last day, we visited Govandi; in M-Zone again; where a pilot of the new model of Library (the model we were oriented about) was being done.A Trainer Monitor, Chaya tai took us around and facilitated the visit. There are five locations in Govandi where Pratham is working using this model since September. In this time period, the team has made 291 strong volunteers. From these, 61 volunteers are there in Gautam Nagar- where we visited. ‘High energy, commitment to do as much as they could and consistency’; were my major observations about the volunteers here. Moreover, the team has tapped different stake-holders as volunteers and this is very interesting. Along with the mothers and the youth in the community, tuition teachers and such other professionals have joined the process. Our books are distributed through them. While I was there asking the students about the books they have read, the teacher got into a natural dialogue with the students on the books- he had read it and the way he spoke showed that he did it regularly.
It was indeed an encouraging visit which helped us get a comparative of the two models. So here, in Mumbai we experienced a 'different library' – in fact two different libraries. In this process, I gathered a lot of learnings on my way; but the major one was that of valuing the context! I think those four days in Mumbai made me feel Gratitude for all our teachers and volunteers who are doing their bit each day so that our children learn. I think they helped me realize, ‘what Empathy actually looks like..’ Understanding people, their needs, their scenarios and then framing an Intervention- Isn’t that called REACHING OUT effectively?
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