BHOPAL: Schools in the city are closed for more than five months now and are unlikely to reopen in the near future. And that means children have a lot of time on their hands – no classes, no tests and no homework.
An NGO is trying to ensure that children living in slum use their free time in creative pursuits. It has begun from Panchsheel Nagar. Enthused by the response, it is planning to expand it to nearby Rahul Nagar and then to other slum areas.
“During lockdown, we visited slums to distribute ration. At that time, the mothers, in one voice, told us to do something about the kids who with nothing to do from morning to night, had become nuisance,” Kumud Singh from Sarokar, that has taken the initiative, told Free Press.
“Once the lockdown was eased, they decided to do something in that direction,” she said. According to Kumud, due to corona scare it was difficult for her or other volunteers to visit the slum clusters, so they tried to find local partners. “Fortunately, we found Shivani Jaipal Borkar, a 21-year-old BDS student, living in Panchsheel Nagar, who was enthusiastic. She owns a laptop and a mobile and loves being with kids. And that was more than enough for us,” she said.
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The local children were mobilised for daily classes from 4 pm to 5 pm from Monday to Friday. Currently, 35 children of 4-18 years of age are attending classes and their numbers are growing by the day.
Children, Kumud says, have a natural dislike for anything to do with books and schools. And so, they decided that the classes will not be about studies.
Kumud Singh records video or audio messages and sends them to Shivani, who plays them before the children gathered in the courtyard of her house.
They, have, so far, talked to the children about personal hygiene, about how to wash hands properly and about how to protect themselves from corona. “You will be surprised that even the smallest kid comes to the class wearing a mask,” says Kumud.
To sustain the interest of the children, they are also made to play indoor games. Painting, riddle and other competitions are also organised. The competitions are however different from the usual ones in one sense that everyone is the winner and everyone gets a prize. “Even if a child makes haphazard lines on the paper with pencil, we award her,” she said.
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The children were asked to list what they eat on a typical day. “We found that milk was absent from all the lists and dal from most. So, we told them how they can fulfil their nutritional needs without spending much – for instance, by consuming green vegetables.”
Shivani, whose college is also closed, is very happy to be associated with the effort. “In the beginning the children came just like that to the class. But now they make sure that their hair are in order and their faces are washed,” she says.
The kids are elated. Namrata, 13 wants that the class to be held on Sundays. “Accha lagta hai. Maza aata hai,” says Shreya. Maanav, 9, declares proudly that he now knows how to wash hands. Durga, a mother, is happy that her children have something to do.
Kumud says that she is now planning to tell teenage girls about menstrual hygiene. “If all goes well, we will expand the experiment,” she says.
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