A Priest, a Teacher and no Money at home - Our School Children

Today I would like to introduce you to 6-year-old Priyanka. She has been going to our school for the past year, attending the upper pre-school class. She started school right away in this class, skipping the lower pre-school class. That is nothing we are surprised about: her mother has made a bachelor of education, thus knows about the value of education and has taught her children a lot at home.

You may be asking how come the daughter of a studied, educated woman learns at our school. The reason is simple: her mother does not find a job. There are a lot of schools in the area, however Priyanka’s mother has studied a long time ago and nowadays even people with recent degrees don’t get jobs – there are just so many of them!

That is how Priyanka’s father is currently the only one earning money for the family of five. And that in a profession that never gives surety that at the end of the month you will have money in the pocket: he is a preacher and priest. He gives religious lectures, reciting scriptures and also performs ceremonies in people’s homes for various occasions.

It is his family business. His father was doing the same work and that’s how he learned it. They are originally from a town half a day’s journey away but as Vrindavan is one of the towns with the most religious programs, Priyanka’s grandfather moved here already many years ago. He built a home with five rooms in which now he and his wife, his two sons and their families live.

This means for Priyanka’s father that he does not need to pay rent. A relief, because already the expenses for electricity, food and the school fees for his two sons are often more than he earns. Regularly he relies on his parents to buy food for his children as well or borrows money from his neighbours.

When it was thus time to send Priyanka to school, her parents were confronted with a problem: they knew, education was important but they also knew they could not afford buying uniform, school books, stationery and additionally paying fees for another child! When they heard of a neighbour whose son was going to our school, they had hope! Maybe their daughter could study there as well!

They came at the right time for the admissions past year and that’s how Priyanka is now learning at our school free of cost! The teachers are more than happy with her – she is a very good student, pays attention and always does her homework! We know, if Priyanka continues her studies, she will have the possibility to do much more than her parents were ever able to. Education is her door for a better future.

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