Give Them a Future: Educate a Tribal Girl in India

School children love events and workshops which help to break the monotony of the daily routine. In Agragamee School, children also love to report on the events with lively illustrations which make the whole thing more attractive. We give below the translation of a report of a Writers' Workshop by Ranjita, a student of Class V. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Jitendra Das, awarded by 'Sahitya Academy' for his extensive contribution to children's literature. We also attach the image of her original writing in Odiya, along with an illustration: 

About the Story told to us by Jitendra Sir

On Sunday, 19.3.2017 Jitendra Sir, and his wife, Jayanti Guruma came to our school. Jitendra Sir, Jayanti Guruma, Bado Guruma, Director Sir, Kanaka Guruma and other teachers and Sirs were present.

Jitendra Sir asked Namita what was her name. She said my name is Namita. He asked Gita what she liked; singing, stories, playing or dancing. Gita replied she liked singing songs. Jitendra Sir asked Gita to sing a song. Gita sang ‘Sambalua’ (Caterpillar) song. Sir asked us who wants to be a girl and who wants to be a boy? Panjuri, Namita, Sangita, Dolly, Manisha raised their hands. Sir called them to him, Manjuri said that she would rather be a boy. Dolly said she was happy being a girl. Sangita also said she wanted to be a girl, so also Manisha. Sir asked each one of them to tell a story, Sangita told the story of a Mother and Son, Namita told the story of an Old man and Old woman, Panjuri told the story of a Snake and a Snake Charmer. After that Dolly told the story of a Brahmin and a tiger, Manisha told the story of Rabbit and Fox. Namita sang a song ‘Ehi Mati Ehi Pani Pabana’. Situn sang ‘Sango he Chalo Bano Ku Jiba’.

Then Sir made the picture of a log on a road, and asked us what it was. We identified it. Sir told us to return after lunch. So we returned to the big hall after lunch. Sir asked us to write about any topic we felt like. We wrote. Then he asked us riddles. We answered the ones we knew, and could not answer those we did not know. Then Sir asked us to write out riddles we knew. We wrote.

Then Sir asked us to listen to a story about ‘A lizard and a tiger’. There was a village. In that village, there were an old man and an old woman. The old man went to plough his land one morning. He found a tiger, which had a lizard in its nose. The old man was frightened. However, he told himself, I shall be brave, and not be afraid of this tiger. The tiger told him, I will not eat you, my belly is full. There is a lizard inside my nose, please pull it out. The old man said if I pull it out, you will eat me. The tiger said no I will not eat you. The old man pulled out the lizard. The tiger said do not tell anybody that I had a lizard in my nose. The old man assured that he will not tell anybody. The tiger went off to its cave.

The old woman brought food for the old man. The old man laughed out loudly. Old woman wanted to know why he was laughing. The old man said I had gone to plough the fields. There I found a tiger with a lizard in its nose. The tiger was twitching and tossing, so I removed the lizard from his nose. The old man also told the story to the village. In the night when the old man was sleeping, the tiger came. It lifted the man along with the cot, and was carrying him away to the jungle. The old man suddenly found there were trees around him. He looked down, and found that he was being carried away by the tiger. The old man caught hold of a branch, and managed to slip away and return home. The tiger felt the cot was lighter. He looked up and found the old man was not there. Wondering what to do, he went back to his cave.

And so I finish my tale.

Links:

• http://agragamee.org/what-we-do/education/

Mukta Gyana Kutira, Agragamee Vidyalaya are schools for girls from very poor families in the underdeveloped tribal districts of Odisha in India. These communities have never had school education, and find it very difficult to educate their children, as they cannot even monitor their classroom learning. Children from these communities do go to Government Schools, but they do not even learn to read and write at the end of middle school.

Our schools provide uniform, a wholesome meal, text books, and a stress free learning ambience for children who would have otherwise never had an opportunity for school learning in their life. As part of our commitment towards these lovely but much neglected children, Mukta Gyana Kutira has developed a pedagogy of teaching for first generation school students which helps them learn with ease and fun. We have  been pleasantly surprised time and again at how effective this model is, when little girls of 11, 12 and 13 years write stories and reports detailing things even better than many adults! These stories find place in their newsletter, Danagar Katha or stories from the hills, monthly wall magazines, as also in the Mukta Gyana Kutira Annual Report. 

Given the context of their communities, where the literacy rates are barely above 0%, these are achievements we are really proud and happy to show case. We are giving below a report written by Rasmita from Grade V. We are also attaching along with the images of her original writing in Odiya as this is a translation from the Odiya language. Rasmita's report in Odiya is really a great acheivement for our school, as her mother tongue is Kui and not Odiya. All over the tribal regions of Odisha, schools find it difficult to teach tribal children because of the language barrier. We feel truly happy we have been able to successfuly cross this barrier to help Rasmita and many other tribal girls like her.

What we Learnt In School This Year: Report by Rashmita, Grade V

The name of our School is Mukta Gyana Kutira, Agrgaramee Vidyalaya, Kashipur. The teaching is good in our school. We learn five subjects in our school these are Language, Maths, English, Science, and Social science. Here Prayer is at 9. After finishing prayer, we have general knowledge questions, and newspaper reading. Then the students’ attendance is counted. After the counting we go to our class. The classroom teaching starts at 10.00 ‘o’ clock. First of all language is taught. This was previously taught by Trinath Sir. After he left Kanaka Guruma (head teacher) is teaching us language. The topics include Ama Jatiya Dhwaja Ude Farafara (Our National Flag Is Flying High), Upajukta Besa Pakai Aasa (Come with Proper Dress), Nuakhai (New Rice Celebration), Phula (Flower), Maniaru Madam Curie, Japanara Anubhuti (Experiences in Japan), Dukhidhana Nilamanire (O poor Nilamani), Jethae Para Upakare (One who is in Service to Others), Biswasta Sathi Yantra Mane (Faithful Friendly Machines), Nain` Gala Aape Matha (Our Heads were Bowed), Kal Veria Kanduchhi (Kal Veria is Weeping), Sukhila Patrara Katha (the Story of a dry leaf), Utkalputra Pyari Mohan (the Proud Son of Utkal Province), Dalapati Pada Tumaku Sape (I offer the team-leader position to you), Desabhakta Laxman Nayak (Great Patriot Laxman Nayak), Aame Bharatara Sisu (We Are the Children of India).

I find these topics very interesting. We read the lessons, then we do various exercises which include writing the story, answering questions, and identifying the difficult words, the opposite words and sentence formation. In this way I have learnt many things. At 11.00 clock we have Mathematic lesson. This subject is taught by Kanaka Guruma. The lessons includes introduction to Numbers, addition and subtraction with 7-8 digit numbers, multiplication and division, average, LCM and HCM, simple profit and loss, percentage, interest and decimals, bracket, time and distance, area and perimeter, geometry and circle. I liked all these topics a lot.

Then the English class starts at 12.00 ‘o’ clock. Earlier, this subject was being taught by Trinath Sir and after he left Jyoti Didi is teaching that. First, we read the English story, then we note the difficult words for their meaning. We practice writing these word to remember them. The next day, we write the words with their meaning on the blackboard. If we are not able to spell or read properly, our Didi writes the pronunciation in Odiya, so that we can pick it up easily. All this has helped me learn English quickly.

At 1.00 ‘o’ clock we have our launch. Then we play for sometime and when our teachers have finished their lunch we go to our classrooms. Science is taught every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday. Previously Trinath Sir used to teach us this subject but after he left Kanaka Guruma teaches us. Social science is taught every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Soma Didi teaches this subject. We note down the points, which helps us to remember and recall when asked questions the next day in the classroom by her. The school closes at 4 ‘o’ clock. We celebrate Republic Day, Independence Day, Children’s Day, teachers’ day, Gandhi Jayanti and Annual Function every year.

Rashmita, Class V, Village: Katali, Mukta Gyana Kutir Kashipur, Rayagada