Coming from a disadvantaged Dalit (scheduled caste) family, Pooja spent her early years as a child worker in the cotton fields and collecting firewood.  She earned a meager wage of approximately Rs.20-50 a day for her family while missing out on schooling. She dropped out twice for long periods during her 5^th and 6^th years and stayed away from school until December 2009.

In rural India, many children like Pooja may be enrolled in school, but miss several months a year to engage in agricultural work. This leaves them vulnerable to dropping out of school altogether.

She was spotted by the local Development Activist, Milind Ingle, who persuaded her to join the newly formed Children’s Group in August 2009. Pooja’s participation in the Children’s Group over a four-month period made her dream about returning to school, which she finally did in December 2009 despite her father continuing to force her to go for work on the farm. Knowing well that working and attending school would make her once again vulnerable to dropping out entirely, Pooja shared her concerns with Milind who in turn used the village Child Protection Committee to convince Pooja’s father to allow her to work on her studies and not in the nearby cotton fields and to let her enjoy her childhood.

Today, Pooja is in the 7^th Standard and is active in the local Children’s Group.  She has taken a lead role in motivating other children to stay in school for their long-term benefit. She has grown in confidence and talks to parents about the rights of the children.

“I felt very sad, when I could not attend my school and watched other children studying,” Pooja said. “I want to become a teacher and I understand that one needs to be well educated to teach others. I feel good about the change that has taken place in my life; my efforts will be to help all children in the village complete schooling and have awareness about their rights. I feel very happy doing this with support of my Children’s Group members; without them, it is impossible.”

Contributed by:  Siddhesh Gunandekar, Media and Comms Coordinator, Maharashtra

welcomed by the children's group

As we gathered in the village square—seemingly the entire village had come out to express their views and opinions—we were welcomed by the Sarpanch, women’s Self Help Groups and, of course, the local children’s group and Child Protection Committee (CPC).  There was a small cake and candles for the children’s group who were celebrating their first year of existence.  The Sarpanch and children spoke passionately about the goal of making the entire village child labour free and ensuring that all children were enrolled full time in school.

I held a separate and lengthy discussion with members of the Child Protection Committee, women’s Self Help Group, local farmers and our partner organisation, Apeksha Homeo Society (AHS).  The CPC was quick to point out some of the earlier themes of the day—that they were truly committed to ensuring their village was child labour and exploitation free.  The CPC had already facilitated large community-wide forums and discussions on child labour and at the suggestion of the children’s group, had spoken directly with families/households that continue to send their children to work, especially during the high seasonal work of agriculture.  At the same time, their understanding of the importance of education in mitigating and eliminating child labour was profound, and in accordance, the CPC had also held discussions with teachers regarding their duty to find out why some children were irregular in their attendance and, of course, why other children were not attending school at all.

When I asked what the next steps were for the CPC, children’s groups and others, I was impressed when the head of the CPC proudly showed me a 2-page action plan document that they had been working on together in consultation with the larger community:  in addition to action points, there were benchmarks and indicators, timelines and a list of responsible parties for ensuring implementation.  While it was certainly a proud moment for the village to share their action plan with me (and ask lots of questions on how I thought they could improve upon it!), it was equally a proud moment for Save the Children and AHS, who have been working with this community—along with 1,800+ others—on building their capacity in child rights and protection and providing training in simple tools and techniques that they can use to begin to monitor, prevent and respond to child labour and other issues of exploitation and abuse.

one of the approaches to eliminate child labour is by ensuring that schools are child and learning friendly. here an ingenious game of child rights snakes and ladders is painted on the floor of the school!

The Child Protection Committees, children’s groups and women’s Self Help Groups truly are our frontline social change activists and warriors in the profound movement that is happening in Amravati and many other districts and villages of Maharashtra.

As we left the village a few hours later, it had started to rain; yet, my feeling was that it would take a lot more than a monsoon shower to dampen the spirits of this community—a village well underway to achieving child labour free status!

Contributed by:  David Bloomer, Head of Child Protection, Save the Children

Her brother Ajay (14) has been spending the last month preparing fodder for livestock. He spent many hours gathering wheat, among other grains, separating them, grinding them, and laying them out in preparation. Ajay does this so the families’ cattle will not go hungry. Ironically, almost every day, at least one member of his family goes hungry.  “Collectively, we get around Rs. 70 per day and give it to our parents. We don’t mind missing school for this; it doesn’t matter if dust gets in our eyes and they constantly water. It’s also alright if we are tired at the end of the day—at least we are of some help,’’ said Ajay.

There are many children in the Vidarbha region who juggle work and school every day. Some are ensuring they are of some help to their parents, whereas some are working to ensure that they can attend school the next day. Even before the advent of the recently enacted Right to Education Act, children should not have to make decisions about whether they attend school or not—education is a child’s right and the duty of the State, now even more so, to ensure that all children—especially those from the most marginalised communities—have opportunities to attend school on a daily basis.  Pooja and Ajay naturally want to be of assistance to their parents and families, but at the same time, there is a far too entrenched culture of acceptance and tolerance that children from the poorest households and most marginalised communities have no other options but to work.  These are false notions that Save the Children and partner organisations are working hard to dispel.  We are redoubling our efforts to ensure that all children are in school on a regular basis as per the guidelines of the Right to Education Act while at the same time working with local duty bearers and communities to change perceptions about school, build the capacity of local communities to monitor education and at the same time, facilitating greater access to social protection schemes for poor households so as to remove the need for children to contribute to their families economic livelihood.

Pooja and Ajay smiled at the thought of being able to attend school everyday and not having to work.

Story contributed by: Siddhesh Gunandekar, Media & Communications Coordinator, Maharashtra- Save the Children

Their keen eyes had been noticing for a few days that two teachers in their school hadn’t been coming to class. After snooping around a bit and making enquiries, they plucked up courage and asked their principal to check the teachers’ leave applications. Learning that there were none and no sign of the teachers returning, they took up the matter with the sarpanch of the village. When even that didn’t work, they called a local journalist and brought the issue into the open.

Welcome to the ‘baal gats’, activist children’s groups that have sprung up in Maharashtra’s Amravati and Washim districts where the agrarian crisis has exacerbated the already crippling rural poverty. The little crusaders from here have adopted a litany of issues—education, child labour, cleanliness—and taken it upon themselves to transform their villages into places that bring them closer to their innocent, near-perfect view of the world. And they may be only kids aged between seven and 14, but the collective power they exude over adults in the villages is unparalleled.

With the help of NGO Save the Children and other local organisations, the children’s groups were formed late last year in almost each of the 986 villages in Vidarbha, keeping the issue of child labour in mind. All the children of the village are encouraged to be part of the groups and join the monthly meetings of the bal panchayats to discuss seriously what ails them and their village. Ensconced in the zilla schools, away from the watchful eyes of the adults, the little ones devise methods to tackle issues directly or indirectly linked to child labour and education.

“One day, we saw a girl walking in the field with a school bag. She was crying. We asked her what the problem was and she said that she’d been going to school every day but the teacher never took her name during attendance. He said her name was not in the register and so she couldn’t attend class,’’ says 13-year-old Yogesh Bankh, president of the Ahilyabai Holkar Bal Samiti in Yeota village of the Karanja block in Washim. “Since we didn’t know what the process was, we approached the elders from the Gram Shikshan Samiti and brought it to their notice. We realised that the girl had come from Kolhapur and was late in seeking admission. But we had a dialogue with the authorities and told them to consider her case since she was very keen on getting educated. It was all done, and now she attends school with all of us,’’ he adds triumphantly. Ask the kids who Ahilyabai Holkar was, and they are quick to reply in unison: a warrior queen.

Just a few kilometers away, at the Saraswati Mata baal gat in Gaiwal village, children are basking in their victory of getting their mate Manda Nichale (12) admitted to school. When they went door to door as part of their project to see if all children were getting a formal education, they realised that Manda had been going to work on the fields after her parents separated and father remarried. “She was a very quiet girl who never spoke to anyone. She hadn’t been going to school for two years because her father made her work in the field and earn money. It took us a long time to convince her and her father,’’ says 12-year-old Vishakha Bhagat. However, convincing her younger brother Gajananan to get into a school has been a Herculean task. “Every time he sees us, he starts running away from us. He just doesn’t like going to school,’’ the children say.

But this is not a new phenomenon, say those who are on the local Child Protection Committee. There is just one school with classes up to Standard IV. The hamlet is two km from the main village and the road is non-existent. The teacher comes at will and students study at the most for an hour a day, if they are lucky.

So, convincing children to let go of their earnings and joining school instead becomes doubly difficult. “Although we try to have as many kids from the village as part of our panchayats, there are still some who are not. These are the ones who run away from us,’’ said 12-year-old Parvati Kher from the Rajashri Shahu Maharaj Bal Gat from Gaiwal village. Take the case of nine-year old Vaishali Vankhede. She failed the third standard and didn’t want to go back to school. “She told us she needed to earn money from the family and so her father was sending her to the fields. All of us contributed a rupee each and gave the money to her, but she didn’t relent. But we will not give up. We will continue our efforts in convincing her,’’ she adds.

Find the article here:

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIPU/2010/07/15&PageLabel=14&EntityId=Ar01400&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

a young girl presents the views/findings of children's groups to block level administrators

These children are representing the 31 villages in the block and have shared notes/findings of the situation in their villages with each other and have meticulously put them together to paint a complete child rights picture of their block. “Children from 31 out of 31 villages say there are no separate toilets for girls in their school,” announces 13 year old Jyotsna and looks up at the Education Inspector.  The Education Inspector buries his head even as he takes notes from the presentation.

Alka in her soft imploring voice enumerates the problems faced  by children  working in the fields – she raises her hands and points at her finger tips and says- our hands get bruised, our back aches, it feels very hot, we feel thirsty but water is so far away. We are scared of insects, bees and snakes.

Hers is a story not uncommon amongst children in this part of the State that spend numerous hours working in agriculture fields.

children making their voices heard!

By the time the presentation of the children ends each of the elders sitting on the dais are visibly moved. The education Inspector, the Mamlatdar, the CDPO and the members of other civil society organisations each make commitments to these children in their own individual capacities.

The Mamlatdar in his concluding speech says this is the first time children have raised such issues and agreed that there was no denying the details of the reports so painstakingly put together by children.

As one sat there witnessing the changing equations between the members on the dais and the audience, one realised that the mark of victory that the children flashed at the beginning of the meeting was only a mark of things to come.  Today it was realisation. Tomorrow there will be action.

Contributed by the Gujarat State team, partner organisations and children’s groups

But Liya seems to have found life even in this scorching afternoon. Everybody is headed to the village primary school. The largest classroom of the village is full to its capacity with children, women and a few elders. Men are crowded outside the door and windows stretching to get a glimpse inside. Amidst this anticipation and curiosity young Neeta stands up to address the crowd. As she elaborates the findings of her children’s group on the condition of the school, involvement of the teachers, violence, places which scare her and her friends, most elders look at them patronizingly. However, this is where Neeta surprises them. She looks up at them and asks “what will you do about these problems? How will you help us?”  Suddenly, a silence envelopes the room; for a while no one has answers. And then a few parents wonder aloud as to what can they do about what is happening in schools? It is then that a younger lady finally raises her voice and says “all that is true but we will have to go to the school and talk to the teachers. And we will have to do this regularly; they should also know that the society is watching over the school.” All this while I see Neeta waiting patiently for the elders to resolve their opinions and draw out a common action plan.

Even as the meeting begins to disperse after a couple of hours, grandmother of young Naresh, Sushma Ben, holds my hands  and tells me that in her life time she has not seen such an event when children have led a meeting like this.

children recording information for their report cards

The ball has been set rolling. One after the other children stand up and raise issues of child labour, water, sanitation, environment, nutrition and health and gave the elders a chance to voice their own opinions and action plans. The children insisted on commitments from the village leaders (Sarpanch, Gram Sabha) and the villagers alike. The children themselves took responsibility as well. 9-year old Komal promised “This time when the school reopens, I promise to take my neighbor’s daughter with me to school. She has just returned from another village where their family had migrated in search of work. I will help her catch up this year.”

“We need more trees. If we get saplings we shall plant them” said Sanjay a 9^th Standard student.

By the time we were ready to leave this school in Liya, the sun had calmed down to a mellow gold, but the winds of change had started blowing.

Contributed by the Gujarat State team, partner organizations and children’s groups

The photographs under exhibition will be a kaleidoscope of their experience, each with a human story—a child’s story—to tell.  Photographs being visual medium are a powerful means to reach out to people and provide great potential for debate. In a world with an ever increasing media representation, photographs are not only interesting to look at but they reflect in their own right, which allows informed responses and engages people in discussions. Every person ‘brings’ his or her perception and values to the ‘reading’ of a photo, along with knowledge, and this may stimulate an investigation or foster learning about the issues the children across rural India face.

The photos capture a number of different sentiments, voices and observations:

The longing for social interaction, play and simply meeting with friends

Work hampers a child’s development and growth; Being enrolled in school and attending only irregularly is not enough.  Even children who attend school on a regular basis sometimes work several hours a day.  Children need time to enjoy their childhood

The “Protectors” of the Community

Life in the community and the importance of parents, grandparents, elders

and other advocates of child rights

Parul is among the active members of this Children’s Group (CG). Studying in class 7 of the local primary school, Parul wants to grow up to be a teacher. Science and geography excite her and she listens with keen interest when I tell her about my native state in the Himalayas. The youngest among her five siblings, Parul is a natural leader. You ask her about the children’s group and her eyes light up. “It’s not just the fun and games”, she tells you solemnly, “Vikram Bhai (Development Activist, CFD, a partner organisation of Save the Children) teaches us so many good things as well.” When you ask her to elaborate she talks about the importance of going to school regularly.

Almost every child here works in farms along with going to school. As expected the farms and work takes precedence over the school. There were children who would join their parents in the fields and eventually drop out. But ever since the CG has become active, the children themselves have begun taking note. Sitting near Parul is her friend Minakshi who has just returned from a 3 month stint in the farms with her family. If not for Parul, Minakshi would never have returned to school. However, Parul and her friends dutifully call out for her on their way to school and sure enough, Minakshi’s shy smile and skip in her walk as she joins them tells the rest of the story.

Parul and friends enjoying the camaraderie of the children's group

“There are 3 more children in this neighbourhood who neither go to school nor join us in the CG.  We are keen to bring them in,” says Parul elaborating on the CGs next agenda—two of these are girls who take care of the household and younger siblings as their parents go out to work. Parul and her friends are now working on ways to assimilate these children into the games and fun time of the Children’s Group.

Contributed by:  Manjaree Pant, Media and Communications Coordinator, Gujarat with support from the Gujarat State team

Here’s a brief interview with one female Development Activist:

http://www.vimeo.com/12014318