In less than two years, the biggest change that PRAYOG has brought is HOPE: From nowhere to somewhere
A few days ago, I went to the bank to make the first salary transfer of four staffs of PRAYOG. During the process, the Bank Manager whom I know because of a common friend, asked me: “these days you guys (NGOs) must be getting crores of money in the Ganga cleaning program, good days for you”. I usually do not reply instantly but the words came instantly, “Sir, those who work for crores, their works are not even worth lakhs and we have barely put in a couple of lakhs but our work is worth Crores”. Everybody started laughing!
It was an amazing day for me and just a thought that these four youths were doing nothing in their villages, and today we have enabled them to earn respect from the community and they are also able to keep themselves financially strong. I had seen many boys and girls wasting their youth in unproductive works in the villages and girls often been ignored towards education. Our facilitators are learning new things each day and we believe that it is only the rural youth who can bring in change.
We all talk about change, but I always think what is this change about? Change the existing scenario in learning, behaviour, income, lifestyle and what not. We wish to change this world and then again after few years, think to change the changed world. A few days ago, I was looking through a website where some NGOs are members for linkages and was surprised to see the name of a very good NGO who wish were just helpless in their introduction. They had to stop the senior classes for girls education because of paucity of funds and were almost helpless to continue their current level of junior classes. Now, since PRAYOG also aims for education and runs mainly through my own earnings and some fundraising, I was seriously worried. We are also working for a change and what happens if I die tomorrow or some like minded people stop contributing. It takes a hell to get a rupee out of someone’s pocket and how long only a few supporters would keep worrying for the cause. Eventually, the day we stop worrying for this change, everything stops. But should it stop? Should the children in resource deprived areas not get the same level of education and exposure?
Should they not dream?
In less than two years, the biggest change that we have brought is hope. Children look at us curiously, they wait for us, they write for us, they pray for us and what not that motivates the entire team a lot. We have done just done ordinary work: we are just reading the minds of these children and enabling them to do what they wish to do, what they wish to learn, what they wish to unlearn. The two biggest recent achievements have been getting associated with Prajnopaya Foundation and Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital.
While Prajnopaya Foundation is more about technology oriented model for early education amongst kids between 3 – 8 years of age. For the past one month, 50 children have been playing and learning with these apps, the initial phase just to enable them learn basic English, Maths and desire to explore. This is a part of the Global Literacy Project.
What Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital has been doing is incredible for the people of Bihar and north India. The power of bringing in vision into someone’s eye not just ensures the happiness but also their livelihoods. And most of them is done free of cost. When I first visited the hospital at Mastichak two years ago, I was overwhelmed to see young Bihari girls taking charge at the hospital. I have studied at an IIT and have visited a few IIMs and I am not wrong if I say that the auditorium and library at AJEH is better than those. Leave about the infrastructure (that exists in a typical village in Bihar’s Saran district, commonly referred as Chapra), the vision is so empowering. They aim to eradicate all sorts of curable blindness by 2020 and women to actively participate in this process. I was ecstatic when Mritunjay Tiwary, the founder, told me one fine day that girls from Prayog can be a part of this change. All they need to have is the willingness to play football and parents commitment to send their daughters into the AJEH hostel for eight to ten years. They would pursue a B.Sc in optometry and finally emerge as role models in their field! In return, AJEH shall cover all the cost. Well, the big news is that 10 girls from Prayog, all between Class VI – IX, are going to be a part of this change. The girls are excited, their parents are excited, I am excited and the community in confusion! “How can someone do this free of cost?” Well, nothing to worry. People learn with examples and there are quite a handful of such examples around us, people like Mritunjay are creating examples for the generation next!
All these experiences in past couple of years have made me strong and think more practically. Though, there is no standard procedure of being ‘practical’. The charity mode is weaning out of my head now. I am not a millionaire, I am not so well connected, I have left my job to pursue Prayog full time but above all I am a believer in doing. I believe, what happens is for good and what shall happen will also be good. In this phase of nurturing an initiative, many people set promises: few keep their words and most forget. But, why should any initiative depend on any promise of an external person who was impacted by the work for fraction of a second. Fortunately, I know some people who have started the process of change and because of whom I have self belief.
Prayog is two now and am proud of what changes we have been able to bring in the lives of hundreds of children. I have started to believe that any such initiative should go sustainable and the dependency on others to run the initiative should be minimized. May be ten years or twenty years down the line, we would like to be a role model NGO who are sustainable and have created substantial opportunities for youth. This would be the real change for us!
Human brain is such that so many thoughts revolve around on a daily basis. And these depend upon the ‘milieu’. Thoughts develop with exposure to the world be it reading, watching movies and documentaries, attending lectures, hearing stories, going out to see the real world and many more. At PRAYOG, we are helping to shape and construct the thoughts of children. It was during one of the interactions, we learnt that so many children lose the time to darkness and have to depend only on daytime for studies. Even those who could manage through kerosene lamps are prone to health hazards.
And so, a couple of months ago we designed an initiative Light An Ignited Mind, whereby we would provide solar study lamps to 200 of our children. These lamps being more efficient and are multi purpose.
No words can spell out the feelings that we underwent, ours is an initiative that has been run from pocket and arranging for 200 solar lamps became a challenge. It was no easy task but it was the commitment for the initiative that helped us ahead. The story of initial solar study lamp is something that is going to be with us forever. In a morning walk at Patna zoo, when discussed this with Prof. Rajeshwar Mishra, an ex-Prof of AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, his words were encouraging and said that this is possible. Just 3 hours later, he calls: “I want to donate 50 solar lamps on the occasion of my grand daughter’s first birthday”. This was a moment of pride, at that moment it was a relief as someone very close to the initiative volunteered and the sheer numbers. But when you actually think upon this, he has contributed not only towards lighting the nights of 50 children but also towards the future and happiness of his grand daughter, he wants her to be connected to people and not to be carried away in this materialistic world. This is such a noble thought. His grand daughter is an American citizen.
And there was no looking back, Through the help of friends and many unknown people who are now friends, and the support of Milaap and The Better India, we managed to reach our target of 200 solar study lamps. We had budgeted for a low cost lamp but went ahead and purchased a branded Tata Diva solar study lamp (courtesy the additional support of Prof. Mishra).
So, we distributed 50 solar lamps on October 19th to children between 3-8 years of age and 115 solar lamps on October 23. This time it was given to 71 children who are being groomed through write ups and 44 of children between 3-8 years who shall be a part of Global Literacy Project. The remaining 35 would be given soon.
For PRAYOG, this is our vision and we want to explore the behaviour of children and their tendency to help others. It is only after ensuring this, we can think of building a meaningful society.
Can any one open the tight fist of Kishore?This is what I thought to draw
Prof. Mishra gave an incomplete story, Suraj completed it out on his own viewsThe art of keeping quietMaking a story out of newspaper storiesStudents work on newspaper stories
Mukhiya and village elderly distributing the solar study lamps
With 199 kids who got solar study lamps on October 23rd
One fine day, people told me that a young lad comes to the library and teaches children. I was very happy but at the same time wanted to confirm that he doesn’t use this platform for tuitions or making money. When I first interacted with him, I was highly impressed. He had once seen our night class for these children and that impressed him so much that he wanted to teach the children, then onwards.
This is Vijay Kumar Chauhan, a 22 year old extremely talented and laborious guy who is now an active volunteer at PRAYOG. Vijay’s dedication is such that he prefers giving time to children of the village, designs teaching sessions on his own, conducts competitions, quizzes etc to keep the children motivated.
Vijay, with his proteges…
Vijay resembles a rejuvenated Bihari youth, son of a landless daily wage earner. Like most other Bihari migrants to the west, he migrated to Ludhiana when he was just 15 years old to work in a factory. The petty salary that he made was spent as living cost there and he became sad with the living conditions. But, this is how the labour class has survived since memories exist. He returned back and with a will power that he would keep on with his studies. He is the second child and none of the elderly in his house have ever touched a book. He kept on with studies and has encouraged his younger siblings to study.
In Prayog, he has found a support. He says, “recognition is what people of my caste have never got, I feel extremely proud when children of all castes call me ‘bhaiya’ (elder brother) and many in the vicinity commend me for my job here”. In return Prayog is offering him a minimal volunteerism support, bearing his education cost and guiding him towards further higher education.
He is excited about his future and he now dreams of shaping up a model village. It is Vijay’s enthusiasm and hard work that has enabled Prayog to reach out to many. We are guiding more youths like Vijay and supporting them so that they take responsibility of shaping up the society.
PRAYOG’s Story Depicts A ‘Positive India’ Amongst Many Odds
What started as an initiative on June 15th, 2013 with 5 children and 4 motivated souls and guided by an ex – Prof, Rajeshwar Mishra, is now taking a shape!
Prayog’s efforts has been applauded in News Bench’s (http://newsbench.in/) August 2014 issue in the ‘Positive India’ section.
Thank you children, thank you friends and thanks to News Bench team for featuring our efforts in this wonderful new magazine! The journey has just started and we are ready to face all the odds and reach our destiny, someday.
World Environment Day: Thoughts on Ways to Contribute Towards Eco-Friendliness
Today is World Environment Day! Thank you mother earth for giving me such a pleasurable place to stay. Though, I strongly feel that I couldn’t return you even a bit. Let me share one of my major mistakes, which I am forced to commit but because of certain factors.
I stay in Patna and often visit a district named Gopalganj which is ~ 200 kms from here. In doing so, I burn my pockets as well as one of your precious non-renewable resource, petroleum. It takes 30 litres of petrol for a to and fro journey. But, this is wasted not because of comfort but mainly because of the lack of basic transportation facility. I kept on doing this but couldn’t realize this till one fine Sunday a gentleman from Delhi asked me to suggest a route from Patna to Gopalganj by public transport. Instead, my suggestion was centred around hiring a taxi while the gentleman urged to suggest a train route.
Now, just listen to the difficulty a common man has to face in trying to reach there in this era. There is no rail connectivity between our state capital (Patna) and almost all of the 9 districts of north-west Bihar. So, I need to travel to Hajipur, crossing the Ganges over a rickety Gandhi Setu bridge (any stranger feels the trauma but for we Biharis, it is a matter of pride to say that many a times it takes 6 hours or more to cross a ~ 6 km bridge!! So, proud of our patience) whose repair work is on for last 5 years or more and probably a new bridge could have been constructed during this period. If I am lucky, I board a train in which I booked my ticket else board any train to Siwan. An express train takes 2.5-3 hours to reach Siwan. From Siwan, I get local buses plying to Gopalganj over a road that the bus would play a see-saw. After reaching Gopalganj, I need to travel another 24 kms to reach my final destination at Prayog site. So, then I need to change for local transport and the quality of the roads as well as the ease with which the local passengers are picked and dropped, it takes another 2 hours to cover this distance. Wow, if I am lucky, I would cover this 200 kms in a super exciting 10 hours by public transport!
Now comes the train route. I am surprised why have the people not revolted against the poor train connectivity? Why has an ex railway Minister, Sri Lalu ji couldn’t do much? 4 out of 38 districts in Bihar have not been connected to any major rail route and Gopalganj is one of them. The Britishers layed a web of rail connectivity in the district/region because of sugar factories but we couldn’t convert this ahead. People from Gopalganj are forced to travel to a neighboring district, Siwan or Gorakhpur (in Uttar Pradesh) to catch a train! Come on Indian Railways, this is the 21st century India and how come a district headquarter (since 1976) not have a railway junction even??? The narrow gauge existed since pre-independence, the broad gauge came in (2-3 years ago)…but why couldn’t we here have a junction?? Who decides for establishing a junction and connecting to major rail links??
When in 2012, Gaurav Travels started a Mercedes Benz bus service (under Bihar State Road Transport Corporation undertaking) to Gorakhpur via Gopalganj, I was so happy. Alas, this could barely last a couple of months. Reason, NH 28 that connects Lucknow to Barauni in Bihar, and the initial 45 kms section from UP –Bihar border falling in Gopalganj district was in the turmoil. It still is. This is a 4 lane highway but looking at the 45 km section one can easily say, there is a road in the potholes!
NH28 of Gopalganj
Now, mother…tell me, what should I do? Should I travel this distance wasting 10 hours of my time and with no 24 hours public transport facility. If I need to start in the evening from Gopalganj, I shall be trapped and would have to waste another 12 hours during the return journey in addition to the travel time.
I want to save you and I want to save money, but Governance is not allowing me. Ask your other eligible children to take care of this! Hope, next Environment Day I would be sharing another story of change…good or bad, only time to reveal.
A big thanks to Jaspreet Mahal and Dadasaheb Tandale for being such wonderful volunteers at PRAYOG, this Sunday. Both of them are associated with CARE India for a health program in Bihar. Jaspreet had earlier planned to visit PRAYOG but could not come due to sudden other professional commitments. It was Dadasaheb’s second visit to us.
Follow the snaps to traverse their interaction with children. Girls were really fascinated by her presence and there were arguments and discussions on:
“Whether a girl should step out of her home”?
There was an argumentative discussion between the volunteers and children, especially girls who were in favour of the above statement as this is what has been told/instructed by their grandparents. There were some traditional statements which actually came out of a folk song,
“Chahe beti kitni pyaari ho, usey ghar ghar ghumana na chahiye; chahe patni kitni pyari ho usey har baat batana na chahiye” Howsoever dear the daughter may be, she should not be left to go over places; howsoever dear the wife may be, she should not be told any secrets of the household]. Sanya, a bright girl seconded this with a story that was narrated once to her by an elderly of the village to prove this right.
These are the notions that have been constructed over hundreds of years and there needs to be a mechanism to break them. When they were asked to reveal whether their mothers/grandmothers went to school, most of them nodded their head for ‘no’. And what about you, asked Dada. They unanimously said, we go to school and will also pursue higher education. It was then they suddenly realised that how irrelevant the folk song was towards their dreams and aspirations.
There were sessions on songs, both by children and volunteers. Children showed their paintings that they had made sitting at PRAYOG’s library. Towards the end, the girls began to realize that their priority should be on freedom of thoughts as well!
Jaspreet introducing herself to children
Many small kids made up to interact with volunteers in the scorching heatAakanksha, narrating her experience with JaspreetSimilarly. many othersIt’s a boy this time
Jaspreet and Dada
All in Consensus!
Interactions with Jaspreet and DadaDrawings and Paintings by the Children
More of ThemThe Painter, SaniyaChildren with Jaspreet, Dada, local teachers and volunteers
I got a call from one Golu Kumar yesterday night at 11 p.m. Though we often talk but I got scared why was he calling so late at the night.
Golu amidst the hills
He said, “ae Sir, humko navva mei nahi jaana hai, hum aathwa mei hi padhna chahte hain” (Sir, I don’t want to read in Class IX, I want to read in Class VIII only)
Golu has been promoted to Class IX in the Government school but he wants to study in Class VIII. REASON: he says that he looked back at his books and doesn’t understand anything that he read in Class VIII.
My experience with him:
6 months ago: He said that he wants to learn mannerisms and be a good boy in one of PRAYOG’s workshops. Thanks to volunteers like Dr. Sarwar, Rajul, Thirumalai, Dadasaheb and so many who facilitate periodic workshops and create a wonderful atmosphere there!
5 months ago: He started calling me to find him a job in the town and his interest would be working in a factory or being a driver. Golu belongs to a tribal family (Gonds) and his parents are daily wage earners. This request carried on every time he called me or whenever I visited PRAYOG at Gopalganj.
In March, he was one of the fellows who went to West Bengal in an exposure visit, saw the world and interacted with school going children and the natural harshness students face there in the hills.
His thought process has changed and wants to keep learning now. I am happy, at least 1 prospective dropout was saved. But at the same time, our responsibilities have increased.
You can also join us and help us reach out to at-risk children. They have stopped dreaming and this should not die. Let us recreate their thought process and create a platform whereby they chase their dreams! Do send us your feedbacks at contact@prayog.org.in
Golu writing his experiences of visit and interaction with other children (right)A keen observer of the nature. He was very sharp to observe the 2 different aspects of this wood.
As a part of activities, 6 boys and 6 girls were selected as ‘young fellows’ based on the surveys they conducted for education status of children under age 10 in their villages. They also developed a report on this.
These are the children who have also taken the responsibility of nurturing their friends of lesser age, in particular those who have a tendency to leave educational aspirations viz. children of labourers, marginal farmers etc. who have no one to teach at home.
During Mar 29th to Apr 02nd, 11 of these fellows, 2 teachers and a youth volunteer visited West Bengal. We were hosted by a local NGO at Jalpaiguri – Centre for Development of Human Initiatives (CDHI). Children had many wonderful and bitter experiences. Majority of them had not travelled outside their villages and were seeing most of the things for the first time in their life, be it the hills, tea plantations, paddy crop during this period and after all it was also their first international visit – to Bhutan.
They interacted with child labourers at the Child labour school in Chamurchi, adjoining Bhutan border. They also got a chance to see the factory processing of tea leaves to tea production.
In Buxa tiger reserve, children were impressed by the beautiful nature but were sad to learn the tyrannies of local people of 13 villages and their hardships to sustain life. They did group works and have developed stories on the following themes:
nature
people and housing
livelihoods
education
We, at PRAYOG believe that children need to see this world and understand good and bad through personal experiences. This is a way to work towards developing a cadre of motivated youth who understand their role of being socially responsible.
In one of the assignments to children, they were asked to express their personal journey and what they want to do in life. They also identified children between 6 – 10 years of age and their reasons of not attending schools. Based on their essays and views on education of such children, 11 fellows have been identified. These fellows will be nurtured for a period of 6 months and one of the follow up is a visit to Jalpaiguri (West Bengal) where they shall get a chance to interact with other children and see this world through a different perspective. We have planned to continue this on a rotation basis after the first 6 months where other children also get a chance.
Priya
These are the two excerpts from so many responses:
Priya is a Class 8th student in a Government middle school at Gopalganj. She begins her write up with a wish that she keeps good health so that she can do whatever she likes to. She wants to learn dance and music so that she can teach them to other children. She believes in hard work and compares, “Just as we sow saplings and that in turn grow into trees and gives us fruits, in the same manner parents gave me birth, they are nurturing me and when I grow up, I want to give them back happiness”. She then sarcastically raises a question (probably her personal journey): “if all parents take proper care of education for the boys and neglect their girl child, what shall happen to a girl’s dreams? Suppose, if my parents do not teach me further, my dreams will die. But this would be the biggest sin by my parents because boys do not take care of parents but girls worry and take care till the end. So, I should pursue education”
Khushboo
Khusboo is a blessed child. She is a Class 9th student. When I was in that Class, I remember many of my classmate’s ambition was to become an IAS officer but leave about the abbreviation, many would write it as ‘IS’ officer (and some of them were children of bureaucrats). She belongs to a dalit family and has seldom gone out of the village, baring the 3 kms travel to her school. But, her writings speaks of her courage and a desire to excel in life…and for the society.
In the words of Khusboo, “I am studying and want to be an educated girl. I wish to become an IAS officer so that I can do good to the society. I know this is going to be a tough journey for me but those who keep trying, never fail. I will achieve my dreams by trying and working hard. I am born human and this motivates me to do good.”
Priya’s and Khusboo’s dreams are common to millions of girls in our country. But, their dreams are being murdered. A girl is not allowed to go out of her home and study, married at young ages, married not according to their choices and when they give birth to a girl, the innocent kid being left behind or killed. We at PRAYOG, witness around 60 girls in the age group of 5-15.
We want them to fly, we want them to follow their dreams!
Our volunteers this time are from north, south, west and east directions of the country. Children over there are quite excited after hearing this. As Rajeev (one of the brains behind Prayog) points out that its going to be a cultural confluence as well! We thank all the 4 volunteers for confirming their visit to Gopalganj on Feb 22nd. Dr. Sarwar’s and Rajul’s visit in Dec 2013 focused mainly on value addition, ethics through games and stories. Their suggestion was to improvise the same with some concrete outcomes. On Feb 22nd, we expect a presence of more than 100 children.
Dadasaheb Tandale: pursued his masters from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). He has a special interest in dalit issues and has been working with CARE India in Bihar since 2011. Dada hails from Latur in Maharashtra
Jaspreet Mahal:pursued her masters from Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) – Jaipur. She specializes in maternal and child care and is currently working with CARE India since 2011 in Bihar. Jaspreet is a diligent writer and has twice won global awards by CARE for her writings. She can be followed through her blogs at : http://tinystepsoflife.blogspot.in/Jaspreet also writes for a children magazine. She hails from Ambala in Haryana
Sarwar Khan: Sarwar is a unani doctor and has been associated with CARE India since 2011 in Bihar. He initially worked with the Government but was not satisfied with his contributions. Sarwar has motivated some of his friends and started teaching to kids at Leprosy colony in Saharsa, He hails from Darbhanga in Bihar
Thirumalai Narayanan:Thiru is a physiotherapist and a masters from IIHMR – Jaipur. He works with Pathfinder International and is based at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Thiru left a corporate job and entered into the field of public health. He hails from Vellore in Tamil Nadu
Jaspreet will be the first woman representative at PRAYOG. Around 30-40 girls would be participating in the event. She also plans for separate engagement with girls. I am sure, they would dream to follow her footsteps in future.
Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai Leave a Comment
In less than two years, the biggest change that PRAYOG has brought is HOPE: From nowhere to somewhere
In less than two years, the biggest change that PRAYOG has brought is HOPE: From nowhere to somewhere
A few days ago, I went to the bank to make the first salary transfer of four staffs of PRAYOG. During the process, the Bank Manager whom I know because of a common friend, asked me: “these days you guys (NGOs) must be getting crores of money in the Ganga cleaning program, good days for you”. I usually do not reply instantly but the words came instantly, “Sir, those who work for crores, their works are not even worth lakhs and we have barely put in a couple of lakhs but our work is worth Crores”. Everybody started laughing!
It was an amazing day for me and just a thought that these four youths were doing nothing in their villages, and today we have enabled them to earn respect from the community and they are also able to keep themselves financially strong. I had seen many boys and girls wasting their youth in unproductive works in the villages and girls often been ignored towards education. Our facilitators are learning new things each day and we believe that it is only the rural youth who can bring in change.
We all talk about change, but I always think what is this change about? Change the existing scenario in learning, behaviour, income, lifestyle and what not. We wish to change this world and then again after few years, think to change the changed world. A few days ago, I was looking through a website where some NGOs are members for linkages and was surprised to see the name of a very good NGO who wish were just helpless in their introduction. They had to stop the senior classes for girls education because of paucity of funds and were almost helpless to continue their current level of junior classes. Now, since PRAYOG also aims for education and runs mainly through my own earnings and some fundraising, I was seriously worried. We are also working for a change and what happens if I die tomorrow or some like minded people stop contributing. It takes a hell to get a rupee out of someone’s pocket and how long only a few supporters would keep worrying for the cause. Eventually, the day we stop worrying for this change, everything stops. But should it stop? Should the children in resource deprived areas not get the same level of education and exposure?
Should they not dream?
In less than two years, the biggest change that we have brought is hope. Children look at us curiously, they wait for us, they write for us, they pray for us and what not that motivates the entire team a lot. We have done just done ordinary work: we are just reading the minds of these children and enabling them to do what they wish to do, what they wish to learn, what they wish to unlearn. The two biggest recent achievements have been getting associated with Prajnopaya Foundation and Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital.
While Prajnopaya Foundation is more about technology oriented model for early education amongst kids between 3 – 8 years of age. For the past one month, 50 children have been playing and learning with these apps, the initial phase just to enable them learn basic English, Maths and desire to explore. This is a part of the Global Literacy Project.
What Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital has been doing is incredible for the people of Bihar and north India. The power of bringing in vision into someone’s eye not just ensures the happiness but also their livelihoods. And most of them is done free of cost. When I first visited the hospital at Mastichak two years ago, I was overwhelmed to see young Bihari girls taking charge at the hospital. I have studied at an IIT and have visited a few IIMs and I am not wrong if I say that the auditorium and library at AJEH is better than those. Leave about the infrastructure (that exists in a typical village in Bihar’s Saran district, commonly referred as Chapra), the vision is so empowering. They aim to eradicate all sorts of curable blindness by 2020 and women to actively participate in this process. I was ecstatic when Mritunjay Tiwary, the founder, told me one fine day that girls from Prayog can be a part of this change. All they need to have is the willingness to play football and parents commitment to send their daughters into the AJEH hostel for eight to ten years. They would pursue a B.Sc in optometry and finally emerge as role models in their field! In return, AJEH shall cover all the cost. Well, the big news is that 10 girls from Prayog, all between Class VI – IX, are going to be a part of this change. The girls are excited, their parents are excited, I am excited and the community in confusion! “How can someone do this free of cost?” Well, nothing to worry. People learn with examples and there are quite a handful of such examples around us, people like Mritunjay are creating examples for the generation next!
All these experiences in past couple of years have made me strong and think more practically. Though, there is no standard procedure of being ‘practical’. The charity mode is weaning out of my head now. I am not a millionaire, I am not so well connected, I have left my job to pursue Prayog full time but above all I am a believer in doing. I believe, what happens is for good and what shall happen will also be good. In this phase of nurturing an initiative, many people set promises: few keep their words and most forget. But, why should any initiative depend on any promise of an external person who was impacted by the work for fraction of a second. Fortunately, I know some people who have started the process of change and because of whom I have self belief.
Prayog is two now and am proud of what changes we have been able to bring in the lives of hundreds of children. I have started to believe that any such initiative should go sustainable and the dependency on others to run the initiative should be minimized. May be ten years or twenty years down the line, we would like to be a role model NGO who are sustainable and have created substantial opportunities for youth. This would be the real change for us!
Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 5 Comments
Towards A Brighter Night
Towards A Brighter Night
Human brain is such that so many thoughts revolve around on a daily basis. And these depend upon the ‘milieu’. Thoughts develop with exposure to the world be it reading, watching movies and documentaries, attending lectures, hearing stories, going out to see the real world and many more. At PRAYOG, we are helping to shape and construct the thoughts of children. It was during one of the interactions, we learnt that so many children lose the time to darkness and have to depend only on daytime for studies. Even those who could manage through kerosene lamps are prone to health hazards.
And so, a couple of months ago we designed an initiative Light An Ignited Mind, whereby we would provide solar study lamps to 200 of our children. These lamps being more efficient and are multi purpose.
No words can spell out the feelings that we underwent, ours is an initiative that has been run from pocket and arranging for 200 solar lamps became a challenge. It was no easy task but it was the commitment for the initiative that helped us ahead. The story of initial solar study lamp is something that is going to be with us forever. In a morning walk at Patna zoo, when discussed this with Prof. Rajeshwar Mishra, an ex-Prof of AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, his words were encouraging and said that this is possible. Just 3 hours later, he calls: “I want to donate 50 solar lamps on the occasion of my grand daughter’s first birthday”. This was a moment of pride, at that moment it was a relief as someone very close to the initiative volunteered and the sheer numbers. But when you actually think upon this, he has contributed not only towards lighting the nights of 50 children but also towards the future and happiness of his grand daughter, he wants her to be connected to people and not to be carried away in this materialistic world. This is such a noble thought. His grand daughter is an American citizen.
And there was no looking back, Through the help of friends and many unknown people who are now friends, and the support of Milaap and The Better India, we managed to reach our target of 200 solar study lamps. We had budgeted for a low cost lamp but went ahead and purchased a branded Tata Diva solar study lamp (courtesy the additional support of Prof. Mishra).
So, we distributed 50 solar lamps on October 19th to children between 3-8 years of age and 115 solar lamps on October 23. This time it was given to 71 children who are being groomed through write ups and 44 of children between 3-8 years who shall be a part of Global Literacy Project. The remaining 35 would be given soon.
For PRAYOG, this is our vision and we want to explore the behaviour of children and their tendency to help others. It is only after ensuring this, we can think of building a meaningful society.
Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai Leave a Comment
People behind PRAYOG – Vijay
People behind PRAYOG – Vijay
A real hard worker he is…
One fine day, people told me that a young lad comes to the library and teaches children. I was very happy but at the same time wanted to confirm that he doesn’t use this platform for tuitions or making money. When I first interacted with him, I was highly impressed. He had once seen our night class for these children and that impressed him so much that he wanted to teach the children, then onwards.
This is Vijay Kumar Chauhan, a 22 year old extremely talented and laborious guy who is now an active volunteer at PRAYOG. Vijay’s dedication is such that he prefers giving time to children of the village, designs teaching sessions on his own, conducts competitions, quizzes etc to keep the children motivated.
Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai Leave a Comment
PRAYOG’s Story Depicts A ‘Positive India’ Amongst Many Odds
PRAYOG’s Story Depicts A ‘Positive India’ Amongst Many Odds
What started as an initiative on June 15th, 2013 with 5 children and 4 motivated souls and guided by an ex – Prof, Rajeshwar Mishra, is now taking a shape!
Prayog’s efforts has been applauded in News Bench’s (http://newsbench.in/) August 2014 issue in the ‘Positive India’ section.
Thank you children, thank you friends and thanks to News Bench team for featuring our efforts in this wonderful new magazine! The journey has just started and we are ready to face all the odds and reach our destiny, someday.
We shall overcome, definitely!
Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 4 Comments
World Environment Day: Thoughts on Ways to Contribute Towards Eco-Friendliness
World Environment Day: Thoughts on Ways to Contribute Towards Eco-Friendliness
Today is World Environment Day! Thank you mother earth for giving me such a pleasurable place to stay. Though, I strongly feel that I couldn’t return you even a bit. Let me share one of my major mistakes, which I am forced to commit but because of certain factors.
I stay in Patna and often visit a district named Gopalganj which is ~ 200 kms from here. In doing so, I burn my pockets as well as one of your precious non-renewable resource, petroleum. It takes 30 litres of petrol for a to and fro journey. But, this is wasted not because of comfort but mainly because of the lack of basic transportation facility. I kept on doing this but couldn’t realize this till one fine Sunday a gentleman from Delhi asked me to suggest a route from Patna to Gopalganj by public transport. Instead, my suggestion was centred around hiring a taxi while the gentleman urged to suggest a train route.
Now, just listen to the difficulty a common man has to face in trying to reach there in this era. There is no rail connectivity between our state capital (Patna) and almost all of the 9 districts of north-west Bihar. So, I need to travel to Hajipur, crossing the Ganges over a rickety Gandhi Setu bridge (any stranger feels the trauma but for we Biharis, it is a matter of pride to say that many a times it takes 6 hours or more to cross a ~ 6 km bridge!! So, proud of our patience) whose repair work is on for last 5 years or more and probably a new bridge could have been constructed during this period. If I am lucky, I board a train in which I booked my ticket else board any train to Siwan. An express train takes 2.5-3 hours to reach Siwan. From Siwan, I get local buses plying to Gopalganj over a road that the bus would play a see-saw. After reaching Gopalganj, I need to travel another 24 kms to reach my final destination at Prayog site. So, then I need to change for local transport and the quality of the roads as well as the ease with which the local passengers are picked and dropped, it takes another 2 hours to cover this distance. Wow, if I am lucky, I would cover this 200 kms in a super exciting 10 hours by public transport!
Now comes the train route. I am surprised why have the people not revolted against the poor train connectivity? Why has an ex railway Minister, Sri Lalu ji couldn’t do much? 4 out of 38 districts in Bihar have not been connected to any major rail route and Gopalganj is one of them. The Britishers layed a web of rail connectivity in the district/region because of sugar factories but we couldn’t convert this ahead. People from Gopalganj are forced to travel to a neighboring district, Siwan or Gorakhpur (in Uttar Pradesh) to catch a train! Come on Indian Railways, this is the 21st century India and how come a district headquarter (since 1976) not have a railway junction even??? The narrow gauge existed since pre-independence, the broad gauge came in (2-3 years ago)…but why couldn’t we here have a junction?? Who decides for establishing a junction and connecting to major rail links??
When in 2012, Gaurav Travels started a Mercedes Benz bus service (under Bihar State Road Transport Corporation undertaking) to Gorakhpur via Gopalganj, I was so happy. Alas, this could barely last a couple of months. Reason, NH 28 that connects Lucknow to Barauni in Bihar, and the initial 45 kms section from UP –Bihar border falling in Gopalganj district was in the turmoil. It still is. This is a 4 lane highway but looking at the 45 km section one can easily say, there is a road in the potholes!
Now, mother…tell me, what should I do? Should I travel this distance wasting 10 hours of my time and with no 24 hours public transport facility. If I need to start in the evening from Gopalganj, I shall be trapped and would have to waste another 12 hours during the return journey in addition to the travel time.
I want to save you and I want to save money, but Governance is not allowing me. Ask your other eligible children to take care of this! Hope, next Environment Day I would be sharing another story of change…good or bad, only time to reveal.
Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 2 Comments
Let Us Give ‘Freedom Of Thought’ to our children!
Let Us Give ‘Freedom Of Thought’ to our Children!
A big thanks to Jaspreet Mahal and Dadasaheb Tandale for being such wonderful volunteers at PRAYOG, this Sunday. Both of them are associated with CARE India for a health program in Bihar. Jaspreet had earlier planned to visit PRAYOG but could not come due to sudden other professional commitments. It was Dadasaheb’s second visit to us.
Follow the snaps to traverse their interaction with children. Girls were really fascinated by her presence and there were arguments and discussions on:
“Whether a girl should step out of her home”?
There was an argumentative discussion between the volunteers and children, especially girls who were in favour of the above statement as this is what has been told/instructed by their grandparents. There were some traditional statements which actually came out of a folk song,
“Chahe beti kitni pyaari ho, usey ghar ghar ghumana na chahiye; chahe patni kitni pyari ho usey har baat batana na chahiye” Howsoever dear the daughter may be, she should not be left to go over places; howsoever dear the wife may be, she should not be told any secrets of the household]. Sanya, a bright girl seconded this with a story that was narrated once to her by an elderly of the village to prove this right.
These are the notions that have been constructed over hundreds of years and there needs to be a mechanism to break them. When they were asked to reveal whether their mothers/grandmothers went to school, most of them nodded their head for ‘no’. And what about you, asked Dada. They unanimously said, we go to school and will also pursue higher education. It was then they suddenly realised that how irrelevant the folk song was towards their dreams and aspirations.
There were sessions on songs, both by children and volunteers. Children showed their paintings that they had made sitting at PRAYOG’s library. Towards the end, the girls began to realize that their priority should be on freedom of thoughts as well!
Last Updated: April 13, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai Leave a Comment
Reviving The Dreams Of A Child
Reviving The Dreams Of A Child
I got a call from one Golu Kumar yesterday night at 11 p.m. Though we often talk but I got scared why was he calling so late at the night.
He said, “ae Sir, humko navva mei nahi jaana hai, hum aathwa mei hi padhna chahte hain” (Sir, I don’t want to read in Class IX, I want to read in Class VIII only)
Golu has been promoted to Class IX in the Government school but he wants to study in Class VIII. REASON: he says that he looked back at his books and doesn’t understand anything that he read in Class VIII.
My experience with him:
6 months ago: He said that he wants to learn mannerisms and be a good boy in one of PRAYOG’s workshops. Thanks to volunteers like Dr. Sarwar, Rajul, Thirumalai, Dadasaheb and so many who facilitate periodic workshops and create a wonderful atmosphere there!
5 months ago: He started calling me to find him a job in the town and his interest would be working in a factory or being a driver. Golu belongs to a tribal family (Gonds) and his parents are daily wage earners. This request carried on every time he called me or whenever I visited PRAYOG at Gopalganj.
In March, he was one of the fellows who went to West Bengal in an exposure visit, saw the world and interacted with school going children and the natural harshness students face there in the hills.
His thought process has changed and wants to keep learning now. I am happy, at least 1 prospective dropout was saved. But at the same time, our responsibilities have increased.
You can also join us and help us reach out to at-risk children. They have stopped dreaming and this should not die. Let us recreate their thought process and create a platform whereby they chase their dreams! Do send us your feedbacks at contact@prayog.org.in
Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 21 Comments
Youth Exposure Trip To West Bengal And Bhutan
Youth Exposure Trip To West Bengal And Bhutan
As a part of activities, 6 boys and 6 girls were selected as ‘young fellows’ based on the surveys they conducted for education status of children under age 10 in their villages. They also developed a report on this.
These are the children who have also taken the responsibility of nurturing their friends of lesser age, in particular those who have a tendency to leave educational aspirations viz. children of labourers, marginal farmers etc. who have no one to teach at home.
During Mar 29th to Apr 02nd, 11 of these fellows, 2 teachers and a youth volunteer visited West Bengal. We were hosted by a local NGO at Jalpaiguri – Centre for Development of Human Initiatives (CDHI). Children had many wonderful and bitter experiences. Majority of them had not travelled outside their villages and were seeing most of the things for the first time in their life, be it the hills, tea plantations, paddy crop during this period and after all it was also their first international visit – to Bhutan.
They interacted with child labourers at the Child labour school in Chamurchi, adjoining Bhutan border. They also got a chance to see the factory processing of tea leaves to tea production.
In Buxa tiger reserve, children were impressed by the beautiful nature but were sad to learn the tyrannies of local people of 13 villages and their hardships to sustain life. They did group works and have developed stories on the following themes:
We, at PRAYOG believe that children need to see this world and understand good and bad through personal experiences. This is a way to work towards developing a cadre of motivated youth who understand their role of being socially responsible.
Last Updated: April 13, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai Leave a Comment
What Shall Happen To A Girl’s Dreams?
What Shall Happen To A Girl’s Dreams?
In one of the assignments to children, they were asked to express their personal journey and what they want to do in life. They also identified children between 6 – 10 years of age and their reasons of not attending schools. Based on their essays and views on education of such children, 11 fellows have been identified. These fellows will be nurtured for a period of 6 months and one of the follow up is a visit to Jalpaiguri (West Bengal) where they shall get a chance to interact with other children and see this world through a different perspective. We have planned to continue this on a rotation basis after the first 6 months where other children also get a chance.
These are the two excerpts from so many responses:
Priya is a Class 8th student in a Government middle school at Gopalganj. She begins her write up with a wish that she keeps good health so that she can do whatever she likes to. She wants to learn dance and music so that she can teach them to other children. She believes in hard work and compares, “Just as we sow saplings and that in turn grow into trees and gives us fruits, in the same manner parents gave me birth, they are nurturing me and when I grow up, I want to give them back happiness”. She then sarcastically raises a question (probably her personal journey): “if all parents take proper care of education for the boys and neglect their girl child, what shall happen to a girl’s dreams? Suppose, if my parents do not teach me further, my dreams will die. But this would be the biggest sin by my parents because boys do not take care of parents but girls worry and take care till the end. So, I should pursue education”
Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 1 Comment
Cultural Confluence At PRAYOG
Cultural Confluence At PRAYOG
Dadasaheb Tandale: pursued his masters from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). He has a special interest in dalit issues and has been working with CARE India in Bihar since 2011. Dada hails from Latur in Maharashtra
Jaspreet Mahal: pursued her masters from Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) – Jaipur. She specializes in maternal and child care and is currently working with CARE India since 2011 in Bihar. Jaspreet is a diligent writer and has twice won global awards by CARE for her writings. She can be followed through her blogs at : http://tinystepsoflife.blogspot.in/ Jaspreet also writes for a children magazine. She hails from Ambala in Haryana
Sarwar Khan: Sarwar is a unani doctor and has been associated with CARE India since 2011 in Bihar. He initially worked with the Government but was not satisfied with his contributions. Sarwar has motivated some of his friends and started teaching to kids at Leprosy colony in Saharsa, He hails from Darbhanga in Bihar
Thirumalai Narayanan: Thiru is a physiotherapist and a masters from IIHMR – Jaipur. He works with Pathfinder International and is based at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Thiru left a corporate job and entered into the field of public health. He hails from Vellore in Tamil Nadu
Lookup PRAYOG
From the blog