Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 11 Comments

An Event Essaying Children’s Concerns And Worldview

As mentioned earlier, children at PRAYOG’s baal bagicha wrote essays on three topics: mid day meal tragedy at Chapra, a letter to mother earth and the world of their dreams. We had to meet on August 10 and 11th to share the essays and decide on the best 10 essays as well as select 5 children who would be sent to a week long exposure visit in October.

On 9th evening, I got numerous calls from children whether I am visiting them or not. Their sweet voices echoed throughout the journey next day. 21 children (9 girls and 12 boys) participated in the event. Some of the children were out-of- village for personal work and could not participate.

14 children wrote on the above three topics. While the maximum coverage was on mid-day meal tragedy at Chapra, only one essay was on the world of their dreams. This was by a dalit boy.

Out of all, three essays being the microcosm of all the essays can be read by clicking the link below:

1. The world of my dreams – Pankaj Kumar

2. A letter to mother earth thanking her for the natural resources – Brijesh Kumar

3. Mid-day meal tragedy at Chapra and how can any such incidence by prevented – Ayush Kumar

The essays reflect a sense of empathy in the children. A dalit boy writes about his dream and fantasies but is realistic enough and mentions that ‘he wakes up and finds himself on his bed, the world of dreams is very sweet’. The question now arises is whether individuals/ institutions / organizations are actually working to convert the dreams of so many Pankajs into reality. Brijesh realises that earth is bearing the burden of man’s atrocities but is still calm. In his letter, he has a sense of gratitude and thanks the earth for giving everything to us despite the spurious nature of man by reciprocating with exploitation of these resources. Ayush cited various reasons why the mid-day tragedy took place at Chapra and according to him negligence was a major factor. He then suggests that provision of trained cooks/ additional cooks, packed foods could prevent the occurence of any such incidence. Ayush also comments that Government should de-burden the involvement of Pricipals/teachers in mid-day meal activities as they cannot perform their prime duties because of this.

11 children (10 prize winners) of the essay competition along with solar study lamps as a prize

It was informed to the member students, each of the 10 best essays would receive solar study lamps as a prize. But, 11 essays were selected. How did the 11th child get this opportunity to win the prize? The essays were judged only on the basis of their vision and content. 11 essays were shortlisted as 2 of them scored equally. But, the total number of prizes was only 10. When the result was declared, one Aakash Kumar agreed to share his prize to the 11th student as his siblings had also won the prize.

The 11 students were then given some time to prepare for a debate on their topics. There were 3 judges and 4 elderly from the village also participated quite vocally in the event.

Our mentor, Shri Chabinath Rai declaring the result

5 children selected for the week long exposure visit in October, 2013 (L-R: Aakanksha Kumari, Sanya Rai, Brijesh Kumar, Ayush Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Ram)

Towards the end of the event, 5 students were selected for the proposed exposure visit in Siwan for a week long rural immersion program. The students also proposed that there would be a weekly meeting whereby they will discuss on requirements of books, tuition or any other relevant activities.

A motivating incident for PRAYOG: While we were about to end the session, 3 girls from the nearby dalit tola came on their own and expressed their willingness to join the library. One of them, Pooja Kumari who is pursuing her graduation (home science) informed that she came to know about this initiative from her elder brother. She and some of the other girls of her tola then visited the library and entered their names in the library register on their. They read some of the books and also took back some of the books to their home. But, someone in her tola informed them that these books are not to be issued and meant only for reading in the library site. The girls then immediately returned the books.

We at PRAYOG are excited to learn this response from the community. The response teaches us how effectively a library be managed by the community. The library is at a open space. In term of infrastructure, there is a steel almirah, a box, some games equipments like badminton set, canvas balls etc and of course 50 books and 10 periodicals. We are now trying to expand the number of books and other reading materials, which is easily possible.

Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 3 Comments

An Attempt To Understand The Mid-Day Meal Tragedy In Chappra

It has been just few days that 23 children died in the mid-day meal tragedy in Chapra. Those who survived are still facing threats of poison and only time would reveal their health scenario as they grow up. What actually was meant to nourish the children, perished them.

Last month, I visited a Government middle school in Samastipur district of Bihar. The local ward councillor (elected representative) is a friend and he was getting phone calls by the headmaster to come to the school. When I noticed that the number of calls was more than 10 within a span of 2 hours, I asked him. He told me that today there is a cash distribution in school for dress materials. I went with him to the school just to see what happens in the event. I was shocked to see teachers carrying bundles of notes and distributing to the children, only after verification. Can anyone guess what would be the condition of those teachers? Why are there no accountants to carry forward the process of cash distribution?

Similarly, it is the duty of the headmaster/teachers to purchase items for preparing daily meals for the successful implementation of mid-day meal programme. They have to ensure the quality as well! And we say that the quality of education in rural schools should not be compromised.

We should be thankful to the ‘omni-present’ who saves our rural children, daily. We at PRAYOG are committed to the all round development of rural youth and provide them with all the resources and exposure.

PRAYOG started its initiative with the rural library ‘baal bagicha’ in Gopalganj. In October 2013, 5 children are to participate in a week long rural immersion program at Siwan. These children will be shortlisted based on their worldviews. They have been asked to write an essay on any of the below mentioned topics:

a letter to Mother Earth, thanking her for all the natural resources provided to us
the mid-day meal tragedy in Chapra. Your insights on mid-day meal and how can any such incidence be prevented in future
the world of your dreams

10 best essays would be selected and a debate competition would be followed.

I am waiting for their answers on the mid-day meal. Nothing much would be a more practical answer than what would be revealed by those who actually consume the meal. And children seldom say wrong. I shall update again via a new post when these activities are conducted on August 10 and 11.

Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 2 Comments

Rural Immersion for Rural Youth

With the efforts from our mentor, Prof. Rajeshwar Mishra (ex-professor, AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences), 5 children from Prayog’s ‘baal bagicha’ would be participating in the Rural Immersion Programme (RIP) of Takshila Education Society, at Narendrapur in Siwan.

This programme will run for a week in the month of October, 2013 where around 500 school children from various parts of the country work together on various tasks assigned to them. At the end of the exercise, they develop a model for each of the social concerns they worked on as a team. Cultural activities, particularly SPIC-MACAY is also witnessed in the event.Prayog aims to provide exposure to the rural children and what better than this platform?

Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai Leave a Comment

Current Stock In The Community Library

Link to list of books, periodicals and newspapers
This is the current stock of reading materials in the library. The library has started with 31 books under various categories, which is actually motivating the youth. All the books are newly purchased and Prayog insists on book donations from those who have a willingness to contribute to the rural youth.

Suggestions are also invited for inclusion of any such book, magazine etc that would prove to be beneficial for the vision building of rural youth.

We can be contacted at:

contact@prayog.org.in

Last Updated: April 18, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 3 Comments

Children As Decision Makers

The brains behind the education initiative, starting with a village library at Gopalganj in Bihar, discussed on several operational aspects of the library. The discussions ranged from identifying mentors to allocation of a safe place where the library’s resources should be kept. Also, how will the children be managed? Alas, with every passing moment while sitting with such bright children, things turned out to be so simple!

The initial lot of 24 children assembled in the ‘cultural centre’ of the village. This space was suggested by the mentor, Shri Chabinath Rai, who is also a retired teacher from the same village. He always has been a source of inspiration owing to his passion for the education of all. Though, we had a discussion with all the children for a perfect venue as there is also a nearby Government primary school which can be utilised for the purpose. Their response was overwhelming as they just demanded a ‘mat’ to sit and read. Prayog gave them an option for arranging chairs/ desks and bench but it was rejected by them citing that most of them sit on mats in their schools. They also asked for a box or almirah where the resources of library can be kept safely.

A huge mat which can easily be used for sitting 40 children as well as a trunk box has been arranged for the library. An almirah is due where books can be kept serially. Each member was also provided a register and pen.

Activities that motivated the children:

We often read and hear to keep things simple. In the beginning, there was a knock-out game played by all the members. The game was the simplest one that most of us have played while sitting as back benchers in our student days, ‘tic-tac-toe’. One, Ayush Kumar who is a Class 8th student emerged as the champion defeating students of Class 10th as well as the lone under-grad in the lot. Ayush, is the youngest son of Shri Arvind Rai and Smt. Neelam Rai, both of whom are teachers in the village school. The game proved to be an energizer!

Knock-out round in progress

This was followed by a round of introduction, where children were paired. Each pair had to give an introduction of their partner. This was such a fun! They asked for some time to discuss with their partners, spread out from the venue and moved to the fields near by school and returned in 15 minutes.

Shubham Kumar introducing Sonali Kumari (to his left in the pic)

After the ice-breaking exercise, a format was circulated to each one of them. This format was to know more about them and to keep a record. The questions were on personal details, family background, age and class of study, their interests in the ongoing education they are getting, their aspirations, how would they benefit from the library and their vision for the future of this library.

Responding a questionnaire on their thoughts and aspirations and personal details

Mangerial skills of children is something that should always be kept in mind. It is this basic instinct that we mis-judge while their growing days. When given a challenge of how to take care of all the children through this initiative, one Akash Kumar suggested to break-down into groups that would be easily manageable. Four groups have been formed with each group having a captain. The captains were nominated through discussions amongst the group members with each group having justifications for nomination.

Group captains (L-R: Akanksha, Sandeep, Akash and Manmohan) labelling the books

Besides all this, the group discussion has also lead to provide a structure to the library. They decided on the use of register and framed a ‘rule book’ for running the library.

Last Updated: April 10, 2017 by Surya Prakash Rai 5 Comments

PRAYOG Starts its Community Library ‘Baal Bagicha’ in Gopalganj, Bihar on June 15th, 2013

Starting of the Community Library on June 15th, 2013

If you want a change, just do something! Rather than having discussions over it and waiting for the right time. This is the working philosophy behind PRAYOG. ‘PRAYOG’, which means experiment, signifies various possible designs to bring about even a small change.

Contrary to our perception, youth have all sorts of fantasies in life! And how good would it be to shape them. In the month of May, 2013 when the first interaction took place with six students of high school in Gopalganj, their aspirations were something that triggered the concept of enriching their vision. Apart from the traditional choices amongst youth in the villages such as joining the armed forces, the response of two students – Alok and Akash was quite different. Alok aspires to become a model while Akash wants to pursue higher education with Physics as major subject and aims to become a Professor some day. How many students of a high school actually want to join academics by choice and how many dare to even think of becoming a model?

Prayog is an alliance of thoughts of four individuals from varied sectors, each with a vision to instill enthusiasm, vision and exposure to the youth of villages in north Bihar. With the ‘Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan’, already running successfully in the state, the Prayog team aims to influence the vision of rural youth, who are already talented but lack an exposure to the outside world. Based on the personal experiences which each of the four members faced in their village, an education initiative has been planned whereby ‘rural fellows’ would be identified and mentored, who in turn will mentor the other children who lack resources for proper education or are left-out in the course of schooling because of no mentoring at home.

To start the fellowship initiative it was crucial to understand the needs of the youth, their daily activities, preferences and approach towards life. Prayog has hence started a rural library aiming to create a space for interaction amongst the youth and a common place for learning through a different approach. This is the ‘baal bagicha’ (children orchard) which will bear the fruits in the form of enlightened minds! The library has started with a collection of 32 books in following categories: tales, mythology, eminent personalities, inspirational stories, Gandhi collection, general knowledge and IQ, science, language, atlas, dictionary, periodicals and a daily newspaper. There are 24 members enrolled in primary school to University who are the current beneficiaries of this initiative. Books and youth will keep on ever increasing!