Alcohol - making poor People poorer - Our School Children

Today I would like to introduce you to Anjali, a girl of our school who is 14 years old and studies in the third class. She lives in a big family and there is one big problem which keeps them from getting past their poverty: alcohol.

Anjali is the youngest of four children. Her older sister got married last year, so that now there are five of them left to sleep in their one room. On the property however, there are many more people living: his father has seven further brothers. Of these eight, three live together on this property with their wives and children.

Once we got the present family members together, we asked Anjali’s father with what the family earned their living. He is a mason and Anjali’s eldest brother stitches the clothes of deities. Together they earn about 160 US-Dollar, says the father. At that point, his wife starts protesting with a laugh: he has not been working for a while and is mostly ill! What illness, we ask. The liver.

Of course this is an indication for us that he has an alcohol problem. Upon our question, he tries to avoid a straight answer, saying that he momentarily doesn’t drink. So we probe a bit further: so you did drink. How much? Anjali’s father answer ‘Seven or eight days in a month’ – which earns him another laugh of his wife. She corrects the number to ’15 to 20 days in a month!’

The good thing for the family is that he does not get violent or in a bad mood – he simply falls asleep. The other consequences however are hard: he does not only spend money on alcohol, the next day he cannot get up early enough for work, so he stays at home and obviously does not earn anything. Additionally, he now has a liver problem and they need money for his medicine. It is thus the work of the eldest son that supports the family at this time.

The only other support that they have is the buffalo cow that gives four to five liters of milk in a day – apart from feeding the home, the cow thus also brings some income, even if it is just a bit.

The fields that they had some years ago and which helped them pay their expenses have been flooded by the river Yamuna in the big flood of 2010. The Yamuna then changed its flow a bit and what was formerly their field is now the river bed.

That’s how Anjali has been studying at our school for the past four years. When talking to the teachers, you can hear their approval not only of her dedication to her studies but also of her happy nature. She smiles a lot, is helpful and also follows the lessons well.

If you would like to support children like Anjali for free education and food in our charity school, we would be happy about a child sponsorship or the sponsorship of the food for a day.