For many, Poverty is the biggest Tragedy - Our School Children

It is Friday, the day on which I introduce you to one of our school students. They all are from poor families and while I previously told you that each of them has a tragic story, for some of them the only tragedy may just be one: they are poor and don’t have money. This is the case for Richa and her younger brother Baldau.

Richa’s family is from Gorakhpur, about 700 kilometers away from Vrindavan. Until last year, the children did not get to see their father very often. He has been living mainly in Vrindavan for many years, working and earning a little money so that they were able to live. One year ago he decided to shift his family to Vrindavan. His family, that is his wife, his two sons, one daughter and his old mother.

If you see their home, you can hardly believe that six people can live on this small space. It is a dark, small room of maybe two by three meters, the walls just plain bricks, the family’s laundry hanging on lines in the middle, an altar at one side, a few cooking utensils at the other. We ask whether they have electricity. Yes, when supply is there, they have one bulb. Proudly Richa adds, ‘And a fan!’

This is the best what her father can afford. 500 Rupees rent, about 10 Dollars in a month, a lot for him, who doesn’t have a steady job, sometimes helping priests conducting their rituals or assisting in carrying the equipment. This is all that he has learned and while there are always some rituals going on somewhere in Vrindavan there are also many people who can do what he is doing. Sometimes he is lucky and gets several opportunities in a month. Sometimes not.

That’s how we didn’t meet Richa’s mother at her home – she takes small jobs whenever she finds one and had been hired to help cooking in someone’s kitchen. A small but important contribution to their family’s low income.

Another family member was absent: Nandan, Richa’s elder brother. He had been at our school the previous year, too, but unfortunately we could not keep on teaching him. He is mentally challenged and permanently stood up and walked out of the room and hit other children or the teacher. As our school is not equipped and our staff not trained for children with special requirements, it was not possible to keep him in our school and unfortunately there is no such school for his needs in our area. This is how mostly his grandmother takes care of him or he plays outside with the neighbour children. He is generally a happy child – but of course his mother and father wish they had some more money so that they could take better care of him and his siblings.

How would this family be able to pay school fees, buy school uniforms, books and pencils for their children from their meager income? It is impossible. This is why Richa and Baldau are going to our school, eating here, playing here and studying for a better future for their family!

If you want to support us in our goal to help these children and others in similar situations, you can sponsor a child or the food for a day.