AN APPEAL FOR SUPPORTING THE NEW GENERATION LIVE ITS DREAM

He is 10, he likes observing squirrels, he shouts excitedly “watch them dance”. The child of a landless Dalit labourer, this one has a spark in his eye and you know he will go far. She is almost always quiet. She’s 10 but doesnot recognize English or hindi alphabets, though she has memorized the alphabets orally, a common feat managed by children put in rote learning atmospheres provided by our school system. But, sometimes there is a clear interest in her, like, when she calls out ‘mother’ and says it means “माँ”, a word she has choosen to learn in her English class. She is taller than the rest, her physique in her village invites marriage proposals at 13, but she wants to learn at the centre. She wants to know, what is the English word for “शोषण” (exploitation). He’s almost 12, knows how to milk the cow, helps cook meals and manage house, but his parents want him to learn, the centre will help him learn new things but not forget what his parents know. All these children from poor working families want to learn, they have dreams they want to live and you can help them, pl read on to see how.

In 2018, the MBSNS centre was finally in a state to help the learning of some students. In 2021, despite the covid lockdown, four students completed their Twelfth standard and three passed their Tenth boards. The younger ones were sent home in the lock down, but we tried to support their long distance education through local tuitions in their respective villages. For this academic year (2021-22) the MBSNS jeevanshala (school of life) has decided to work with Twenty children on campus, for which we have done some minor infrastructural overhauls and added to the human resources at the centre.

Seven students have already joined on campus and the process of identifying and selecting the other students is still on. Manjhli and Rani, continue to be on campus, while Bhagyashree, Sudhanshu, Priyanshu, Anant and Sachin have joined on the 1^st April, 2021. All the children are enrolled in the local government school in classes Five to Eight. We hope to support their education for a period of atleast two years.

Right now given the Covid situation, government schools have been closed and we are engaging the children full time at the centre. The children wake up, to exercises and dhyan, followed by shramdan, a free flowing reading hour, hindi, maths, english and science lessons, basic computer literacy, board games, evening rounds of kabbadi, kho-kho, dodge ball and cricket, along with neighbourhood children. Most of these children are the first generation of their families getting into formal schooling, coming from families of daily wage labourers, who are landless and depend on migration to earn living wages. Though the parents have provided the children with day to day clothing, a trunk to keep their things, two sets of school uniforms and a school bag, and are going to pitch in with rice and wheat at different harvesting seasons, we know that we need to garner much more resources and for this we turn to you. A tentative budget for the year is below. However, this will not be possible without your support.

No contribution is small, please do send whatever you can and it will go a long way.

Cost per child in a year

1. Food =  Rs 1500 X 12 = 18000
2. Tution Fees and supplies = Rs. 1000*12 = 12000

Total Cost for 20 children = Rs. 30000 *20 = 6 Lakh rupees

Fixed cost for living sustenance per year

1. Cook @8000 per month = 96,000
2. Care Taker @8000 per month = 96,000
3. Academic Coordinator @8000 per month = 96000
4. Regular Maintenance = @1000 per month = 12,000

Total fixed costs = 3 Lakh rupees

So to run the centre for 20 children, for one year we need about 9 lakh rupees

For further information please contact Abhimanyu (ashekhawat.16@stu.aud.ac.in) and kamayani (9771950248) kamayani02@yahoo.com and mbsnsbihar@gmail.com

* https://mbsns.org/2018/08/21/stories-from-the-centre/

To know about the MBSNS ie the Mosamat Budhiya Shiksha Nirman Sangathan pl see https://mbsns.org/