Muskaan site visit report by Garima Bangard
8th Oct 2015
I headed to Muskaan center on 8th October at 10:30 in the morning. I was greeted by Savita madam as soon as I stepped in the center. Shashi teacher was taking a class in one of the rooms. I was introduced to the accountant briefly and the cook as well. The food was prepared in the center for kids in the Muskaan center and government schools. Cook told me that the food is served from 1.30 to 3 pm and includes bhel, khichdi, daliya, Paav bhaji etc. Brajesh who is also one of the teachers then joined and told me that are 8 centers and 9 balwadis other than Muskaan center and goverment school.
New Initiatives
He also gave me update on new initiatives taken at Muskaan. There are separate groups made for children, women and youth. All the initiatives are handled by core group committee which includes all the teachers. Maya and Savita manages education, Savita handles women, violence and balwadis while Brajesh and Shivani takes care of children and youth group. These groups focus on agencies to reach out in case of issues pertaining to their area. Education group focus on the teaching material, curriculum and innovations in teaching. Women’s group help women stand up against violence from man and police. Youth group create awareness among the youth with respect to their rights, early marriage etc.
Atrocities of Police on Pardhi community
Brajesh also mentioned about atrocities of police to people of Pardhi community as they are still considered denotified communities. During british government rule people of these communities could still be arrested without proof. Laws have been changed since then but not the attitude of police. They are harassed and detained by police and money is demanded from their families which forces them to resort to illegal measures to collect the money. Due to fear of police male members of pardhi community does not step out of the house and women and kids of the household are then left to pick rags and earn money. Male members stay inside the house, drink alcohol and at the most sort the rags picked up by women and kids. Pardhi community in Sehore and Raisen districts have been moved from SC/ST to general category in 2002.Muskaan is doing a survey to analyze their socio-economic condition if they should still be given reservation. Data collection will be done by Pardhi volunteers
Visit to Basti center
Me and Brajesh drove to Rahulnagar basti along with Savita madam and were greeted by the enthusiastic kids. Some kids introduced themselves and were eager to know about me. There were two classes going on, first class students were taught hindi by Preeti madam and second class by Savita madam. There were around 50-60 kids in total. First class kids were little hard to manage since some of them were not part of balwadis and needed practice to sit and listen. Those who graduated from balwadis were trained on hand control, poems, logical thinking, puzzles and some reading and writing. Later first class students were taught math using beads. Preeti madam used the concept of butterfly to practice counting which was really impressive.
Second class students were being taught english. Concept of small and long was introduced by giving example of pond and river. Later they were asked to make painting using pond and river and adding a touch of imagination to it.
Updates on Building construction
Space had always been a problem with Muskaan. Most of the centers were on rent and the condition of the rental places were not up to the mark. I also asked about the updates on construction of the new building and Brajesh mentioned that roofing of first floor is done. Linseed oil layer is applied, bricks are being rubbed and fitting work is being done. It took a little while to start the construction as they were waiting for permission from the government.
Visit to residential camp
I also visited residential school for Stanford chapter as they needed a site visit too in order to release the funds. Residential camp is done all year round for very poor kids and teenage girls. Kids mostly belong to Gautamnagar and Mpnagar bastis. These kids are pressured to pick the rags to add extra income to the family. There are around 30-35 kids out of which 4 of them are from pardhi community. Initially camp started with 40 days for vocational training and then it was held for three months. But when kids went back to their homes, they got into the old habit of picking rags and it became hard to bring them back. Now it is held for the whole year with a break of 2 months, May and June for summer vacation. There was a lot of resistance from parents initially but when they visit and see the improvements, they have become ok with it. They can clearly see that their kids can read newspaper or T.V. channel headlines. Some kids go back home for a little bit to help their parents pick rags and earn some extra money during the festive season.