As we enter Bhuvad at around 9 in the evening, it’s dark all over the village.
Very few people are awake at this time. A flash of electricity is visible at
one corner. Some village elders are closeted together, discussing an event of
the day. Our car goes past the staring eyes and reaches a house from whose
rooftop we hear voices. We climb up the stairs and meet some village girls
sitting together and discussing a lesson with their sakhi (teacher). There are
around 25 of them. Their sakhi Savitri Ben has just finished telling them a
story about the hare and the tortoise in Gujarati. Now they are busy discussing
what they have learnt.
The girls stop talking the moment we enter. They already know the
team members of Gantar and FICCI-CARE who often visit them. They greet them
with cheers. “This is the Adoloscent Girls Learning Centre (AGLC) at Bhuvad,”
Ishwar Desai, Program Executive (Ganatar) informs us. Ishwar Bhai looks after
the Kutch Education Program in the Anjar and Bhachau blocks for adolescent
girls. There are around 30 students enrolled at this centre. Almost 25 among
them are regular for their classes. The girls are all aged between 14-18 years.
They are either school dropouts or ones who never went to school. Savitri Ben,
their sakhi, has studied till class XI. She is with the center for almost two
years now. Most of the women in this village have never been to school. Now, some
of them are encouraged to bring their girls to the center.
In a village where most people go off to sleep by evening, it’s
indeed a wonder that nearly 25 girls are staying out of their homes till 10
o’clock at night and learning their lessons. Some mothers are also there
listening to all that’s going on. This is the Mother’s Group, we are told. “The
mothers are actively involved in all our centers. Earlier, when we started out
on our mobilization drive, we had to convince them really hard. We told them that
they should not let their daughters remain illiterate. Even if they learn to
read and write at the elementary level, they will be much better off than their
mothers, who can’t even read bus numbers,” a Gantar team member adds.
It was indeed a Herculean task. But constant counseling and
talking done by AGLC volunteers eventually made the women realize the
importance of getting their daughters educated. Says Dhanu Ben, a
representative of the Mothers Group, “Now when our daughters go to their
in-laws, they will not be like us. They will be able to read and write. They
will also be able to get things done at banks and post-offices. And, when our
daughters bear children, their girls will go to schools, study hard and maybe
one day become teachers, doctors and lawyers.” The winds of change are
beginning to show. The women of the village are realizing the importance of
education. And, at night when their daughters have to go out to the center,
they walk along with a torch in hand, leading them towards a better world.
Most of the girls in the villages are not free during the daytime.
They work in the fields and help their male family members by removing mud and
cutting crops. They wake up early in the morning and go out to fetch water. At
times, they have to stand in long lines, but that’s a job that none of the male
members in the family are ready to do. Once they come back home, they cook and
feed the children of the house. Then they go out to work to the fields. Once
they finish helping their fathers and brothers, they move on to other fields
where they work for a petty sum of Rs 50 per day. When the community mobilizers
went around trying to convince the villagers, they said that by sending their
girls to study, the family would lose the income generated by them. In a
village, where the economic conditions are not up to the mark, this income does
make a lot of difference. Moreover, since the boys in the family are sent to
school, it becomes difficult if the girls also follow. The villagers finally
agreed to the concept of a night school. Then the girls could work during the
day and later spend some time reading and writing.
The girls are all very upbeat. “We are learning to become
teachers. Through education we want to change our lives. We want to apply all
that we learn in our daily lives,” says Jassu Ben, a student at the center. “I
can now read bus numbers. Earlier, I had to keep asking other people. But now I
feel a lot more independent,” she adds. “If my daughter gets her daughters
educated, I will feel very proud. I will also feel that by making my daughter
go to school, I have achieved something in life,” says Dhanu Ben, the member of
the Mothers Group. Sakhi Savitri Ben also agrees. “That’s why so many mothers
are now keen to send their daughters here. They are proud that their daughters
are not like them. They discuss village politics with their daughters. Mothers
and daughters also sit together and discuss things about the male members of
the family. Earlier, nobody could even think of such a thing. Now, if a male
member of the family has a drinking habit, the mother and daughters discuss and
devise ways of solving the problem. Some of them visit the local health center
and talk to doctors about it.”
Says Dhanu Ben, “Now our girls are much more confident. They are
not shy of talking to a group of men who are here to observe their center. They
confidently speak to the village elders and the sarpanch. They discuss water
and electricity problems with the members of the Panchayat. They don’t even
mind going to Delhi and meeting the Prime Minister and telling him about the
problems of our village. And, all of them want their village to progress. They
want their village to look good and clean. They want good roads, schools and
hospitals.” Asmita Ben and Ratan Ben, both students at the center, say they are
now saving some money at the post-office. “We will use this money to educate
our daughters,” says Asmita Ben. She does not mind if her daughter wishes to go
to the city and study in a college. She will be too happy if that happens. She
is not clear whether she will allow her daughter to marry late, but she is
clear that even if she goes to her in-laws, she should continue with her
studies. In case, her in-laws do not agree, she will try to convince them.
Thanks to the education drive, the girls are now more aware of
their health. Once a month, they also discuss issues related to reproductive
healthcare with a health worker at the Primary Health Center (PHC). The
Attendant Nurse Midwife (ANM) often visits the center to talk to the girls.
Their mothers also attend these talks. It becomes an education for them as
well. The mothers are, in fact, so impressed that they don’t mind doing all the
housework. Some of them at the center say that they have told their daughters not
to worry about the housework at all. All they need to do is focus on their
studies and learn. Says sakhi Savitri Ben, “We teach them Gujarati language,
Elementary Maths and Social Learning. In Social Learning, they learn about
their health and several village facilities. They also play several games and
take part in learning activities. They have learnt how to ride a bicycle. Some
of them were taken on an exposure trip to Jaipur. They visited Vanasthali
Vidyapeeth, a residential university in Jaipur and they were very impressed.”
Ratan Ben, who went to Jaipur, describes her feelings. “We were so surprised to
see the Vidyapeeth. We could never imagine that around 5,000 girls were staying
away from their families and learning at the campus. Some of them whom we met
were even learning horse-riding or training to become a pilot. It was a great
lesson for all of us. Tomorrow, if we get a chance to study in a place like
this, we will convince our parents to allow us to go, stay there and learn.”
After Jaipur, Ratan Ben wants to visit Delhi. She liked the Raj
Mahal at Jaipur. Now she wants to see the Red Fort. She is even confident that
she can even travel alone. Her friend, Asmita Ben, has been to Mysore all by
herself. Ratan Ben feels that if Asmita Ben could go all alone, she too can do
it. But, what does she want to do at Delhi? She tells us that she wants to meet
important people. Her friends also want her to take them and meet Sonia Gandhi,
Uma Bharati and Vasundhara Raje. They have heard about Priyanka and Rahul
Gandhi. All of them like Priyanka and want to invite her to come to their
village and stay with them. “We want her to come and stay with us. We don’t
want her to come only during elections and ask for votes,” says Jassu Ben, a
student.
Today, education has done wonders to these girls. They can think
of going out and they are no longer shy of talking to people. Says Ratan Ben,
“Our elders now respect us. Our position in our families have improved. Our
fathers, brothers and other village elders listen to us. Tomorrow, when we get
married and move to another village, our in-laws will also respect us.” Dhanu
Ben agrees. “Education has done wonders. Our girls are confident. Some of them
have stepped out of the village and seen things outside. They can talk to the
village elders and discuss things with their parents. It’s a great change.
But will Dhanu Ben’s daughter catch it?
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