As the voices of those men and women started rising and they started sharing their pleasant and not so pleasant experiences, we realized that perhaps this was the moment which our volunteer group aspired for.
This was not just a simple discussion or thought-sharing session neither was it so simple an event, but it took almost 3 years and countless hours of efforts by volunteers to reach at this level of comfort with community and to have the communities develop a faith in us.
After last month’s community scan, Ratna and Ekta started the survey work in Gandhi Nagar area since last Monday. They interacted, discussed and acquainted themselves with more than 20 families at the Gemini and Iris construction sites of Hiranandani and MMRDA projects. The statistics of spending almost 20 minutes with each family might not signify much but the personal connection which Ratna and Ekta developed with children and women in these communities certainly makes a statement.
How often have we experienced an underprivileged child practicing English alphabet whole day just because someone (read Ekta) asked her to practice. So what if she doesn’t have formal access to school. The motivation by Ekta meant so much to the kid that she showed her practiced alphabets to Ekta as soon as she visited her Jhopadi next evening.
It was evident that Ratna’s addressing the ladies of community as ‘Didi’ was not just a formal word but a deeper respect towards them. They didn’t hesitate to pour their life before her and shared every bit of their personal hardships of life with her. For a moment it seemed to me that Ratna knew the mother and father of Shahrukh and Muskan (5 year old kid from Iris site) from many years. They wanted to provide formal education to their children but they didn’t know how. We seemed to them like a hope that can make their dreams true.
Vinay was not just moved but also felt, what an expectation or faith is, when father (Patel) of those 3 girls started crying while explaining his hardships of life and struggle to get his girls admitted in municipality school. His bargaining and pleading to Shiksha mafias that he can’t afford Rs 3000 donation for admission filled us with rage at the inefficiency of our system and empathy towards the hardship of this father.
to be continued...
Really moving account of Ground Zero. Greed and corruption are depriving children of their fundamental right. And the biggest culprits are generally those in power and authority. Time they are made accountable by using every method in the rule book like persuasion, RTI and the media.
ReplyDeleteIMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!