Farzana Khanum and Dilnawaz Sultana are sisters. They live in Azeez Sait Nagar, a well-known area in the city of Mysore. Both of them are Balwadi teachers, and they are associated with Pratham for the past three years. "We wanted to do something for the community here, and both of us like to work with kids", Farzana begins the conversation. "But we did not know that this job demands a lot of attention and efforts", she adds.
Both of them admit that initially, they felt that a Balwadi is a place where children are to be looked after when their parents go to work. But none of them was aware that this 'looking after' is a great responsibility that involves strengthening their fundamentals and creating a learning environment. "We did not know that these years are important and it helps them in their primary school. We came to know that our role is critical", they say.
"As we learned more from Pratham, we understood that activities like shape recognition, colour recognition appear very simple, but we are very important for a child's development", says Dilnawaz. Both of them became happy when they realised the importance of their role and hence decided to involve the parents of these children in the entire process. "There was lack of awareness about the importance of these early years. Hence we decided to establish a dialogue with the parents", says Farzana. "We now ask the parents to participate in simple activities at home. We tell children to narrate a simple story to their parents and then also tell the parents to do the same to the children. It establishes a dialogue between them. It appears simple, but it is vital."
They can see a change in children because of these activities. "Children start to express themselves after a few days. Some of them are shy and less talkative initially. But after a few days or weeks, they open up. These activities make them more cheerful", Dilnawaz points out. The parents also see this visible change, and hence their participation in the Balwadi has increased, and this has made both of them very happy. "Parents come and talk to us about their children. Now we talk to them about the importance of cleanliness and a balanced diet. They listen to us, as they now see a visible change in the children. They believe us", Farzana says with a smile. "During the meeting, we ask the parents to speak about their children, and many mothers, who were quiet in the initial days, now speak and participate", adds Dilnawaz.
Both, Farzana and Dilnawaz feel happy that they could convince parents that nurturing a child at a young age is very important. Both of them think that this awareness should spread in every locality of the city and every child of this age group should be encouraged so that he/she is better prepared for attending primary school.
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| Farzana Khanum and Dilnawaz Sultana |
"As we learned more from Pratham, we understood that activities like shape recognition, colour recognition appear very simple, but we are very important for a child's development", says Dilnawaz. Both of them became happy when they realised the importance of their role and hence decided to involve the parents of these children in the entire process. "There was lack of awareness about the importance of these early years. Hence we decided to establish a dialogue with the parents", says Farzana. "We now ask the parents to participate in simple activities at home. We tell children to narrate a simple story to their parents and then also tell the parents to do the same to the children. It establishes a dialogue between them. It appears simple, but it is vital."
They can see a change in children because of these activities. "Children start to express themselves after a few days. Some of them are shy and less talkative initially. But after a few days or weeks, they open up. These activities make them more cheerful", Dilnawaz points out. The parents also see this visible change, and hence their participation in the Balwadi has increased, and this has made both of them very happy. "Parents come and talk to us about their children. Now we talk to them about the importance of cleanliness and a balanced diet. They listen to us, as they now see a visible change in the children. They believe us", Farzana says with a smile. "During the meeting, we ask the parents to speak about their children, and many mothers, who were quiet in the initial days, now speak and participate", adds Dilnawaz.
Both, Farzana and Dilnawaz feel happy that they could convince parents that nurturing a child at a young age is very important. Both of them think that this awareness should spread in every locality of the city and every child of this age group should be encouraged so that he/she is better prepared for attending primary school.
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