The Poor can only afford low-level Education - Our School Children

I would like to introduce you to two boys who have joined our school in this year: Dhanesh and Hitesh. They are the eldest two of four children and live in one of the poorest areas of Vrindavan.

The boys’ father works as a painter but he doesn’t have a steady job with a monthly salary – he has to look for work every day, using either his contacts to contractors or going out in the market where builders and contractors are looking for workers. On some days he gets a place to work, on others he doesn’t – and of course he earns more if he has work on most days of the month. The norm, however, is that he only gets work for about half a month.

The money he earns like this is just enough to somehow make ends meet. His earning for five days is needed only for renting the room the family of six is living in. It is one room of another family’s house. They shower at the water pump in the common entrance hall and go to toilet on the fields outside town.

The boys’ mother is at home, taking care of the children. Dhanesh is the eldest one with ten years and already helps a lot, too. Hitesh is six years old and they have another four-year-old brother as well as a little sister who is nearly two years old. They all spend a big part of the day outside, playing in the streets with the neighbour children.

When we visited their home, we asked them whether Dhanesh had not been to school before. We got to know that he has been to school – but as it was a cheap private school with low quality education! Dhanesh told that their mathematics teacher had left at the middle of the year and that they did not have mathematics lessons anymore at all until the end of the year.

So apart from the worry of how to pay for another three children’s school, the parents had the feeling that the money they spent on school was not invested well! They were more than happy when they heard of our school just on time for admissions!

Now, Dhanesh and Hitesh are both learning in the pre-school class of our school. They are lively and clever boys and the teachers are looking forward to teach them further!

You can support the education of boys like Hitesh and Dhanesh by sponsoring a child or the food for a day.