School

Our project began in October, when we contacted Building Blocks and confirmed that the AlphaBet Club Board of Directors had just approved the funding of a new school with them.  The first step in the project was to identify a slum that could benefit from a school.  There are hundreds of slums in Bangalore alone, of all shapes and sizes.  Almost all slums are built on land that is typically in some sort of dispute, with an owner wanting the land and the people and local government (due to voter support) wanting the land to stay as living area for the people there.  So the selection of a slum that can support a school encompasses various criteria – primarily size (ie. how many people living there) and the risk of the slum disappearing.

The Building Blocks team suggested the school that ABC was going to fund should be for a large slum in the South of Bangalore in the BTM 2nd Stage area.  It is a slum that has been there for 10+ years and is estimated that there are 3,000 people that live there, including 250 children between the ages of three and five. The residents are registered voters there and have local political organizations that represent their interests.  The slum houses have walls made of cement blocks and roofs that are (sadly) made of

asbestos sheets. Most houses have electricity.  There are a few water wells in the slum – not all of which work – that the locals need to go to daily and carry their water supplies home with them.  Of the 3,000 people living in this slum, we estimate that the breakdown on religion and native language is as follows:  Hindu (65%), Muslim (25%), Christian (10%), and Language – Tamil (70%), Kannada (20%), and Telgu (10%). 

After identifying the slum for our school, it was time to select a building next to the slum that would become our school itself.  The Building Blocks team took to the streets, looking for signs and speaking with local people and real estate agents.  After a few days a great 3-storey building was located close to the slum.  Upon meeting with the landlord and seeing the good condition

that the building was in we began negotiations with the owner.  The building is nearly 3,000 square feet (915 square meters) which provides lot of space to have multiple class rooms and play areas. The owner was very sympathetic with our cause and wanted to see his building go to use to help children in need, and we made an agreement to rent the space from him.

The building was constructed a few years back and is in great condition.  This is important for our project, as it means that less time and money will need to be invested for it to be in the condition we need.  Key considerations in selecting buildings next to slums are water and energy supply – often water can be polluted or difficult to access. The house

has a great water supply and access to electricity, so these are things wedon’t have to focus on.  The layout of the house is ideal for us, as it creates 3 large class rooms, one large kitchen, a good-sized office, an entrance area and a balcony on the 2nd floor.  The highlight of the building however, at least for the children, will be the top floor/roof.  It is a huge open area that we can make into an oasis for these kids to play every day – something they don’t have in the slums where they live.

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The week after arriving into Bangalore was Children’s Day (a national celebration in India). Building Blocks had organized an event for all 153 of their pre-school students, from 4 different schools to come together to celebrate this special day.

We started the morning at 7am in 2 of the slums to shoot some video footage (SEE VIDEO IN LAST POST) of how these kids celebrated Children’s Day.  We followed them from their morning routine at home, then going to school, then getting on a bus to attend the celebration, and finally their performances.

The event was a tremendous success – and a great cultural experience to be witnessed– with the event being inaugurated by the local police chief, the teachers from the school on stage dancing to local music in traditional outfits and gifts being given out by a famous Indian Actor.

When funding is available, Building Blocks gives gifts to each child for Children’s Day (and other celebratory days).  They make a gift package for a girl and a gift package for a boy.  The gifts are practical, and are things that each of these children need (ie not fun toys).  The things included in the gift package were:  Big towel, 2 small towels, hair clips, hair band, soap, comb, nail clipper and a small ball.  The AlphaBet Club was happy to add the following to each gift for each child.  Jumbo crayon set, 2 coloring books, 1 notebook, rubber slipper shoes, toothbrush and toothpaste.

***I have informed Building Blocks that I will reach out to our community to see if anyone would like to make donations that would specifically go to the next gift giving occasion to all of the children (Christmas). If anyone is interested in us buying things to include in a gift set, or to buy something specific for a school, please send us an email to abcATthealphabetclub.org and we will work with Building Blocks to get these gifts to the kids.  I can testify that your gifts will be GREATLY appreciated.

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See the other blog post which gives a complete description of the day.  Enjoy!

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Over the past year, I’ve met with many different organizations and spoke with many people working in this space. The common themes that I hear in these conversations are about the importance of creating a good, safe and fun learning environment that is easily accessible to the students.

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The AlphaBet Club is funding a pre-school and is partnering with a local charity in Bangalore called Building Blocks.

Although we are opening up a school, the objective of our project is actually much more than that, as it is aimed at children who are currently spending their days in the street, have no access to education, little or no access to medical/health services and receive very little food every day.

In India, at 5 years old, to enter most schools, a child has to pass an entrance exam. Uneducated street children will have no chance at passing this exam and are faced with being shut out of getting an education. Beginning to educate these children at 3 or 4 years old, with a strong focus on English language, ensures that entrance exam scores will not be an inhibitor of them receiving an education.  

The realities of these kids – and the slums, is life in an environment where most everyone is a migrant from a poor rural village, of the lowest Indian castes, of varied religions (Hindu, Muslim, Christian etc), with most everyone only speaking their home regional languages. The houses are never spacious, secure, nor sturdily built, and will hold almost all of the family’s worldly possessions (which often times can be summed up into Television, clothing and cooking equipment). Houses typically have electricity, but will rarely have running water, which will have to be carried to the house in pots from a local well.  Water contamination is a big issue in the slums as according to a report released by the Indian National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), of the estimated 49,000 slums in India, 24% are located along “nallahs” or open sewage canals.

And yes – there are many kids.  You see children everywhere, of all ages in the slums.  In our first walk through the slum where our school will be, the definite highlight was the first interactions with the mothers and their children on the streets… seeing how their curiosity in why we were there, transformed into enthusiasm and big smiles when they learned that soon there would be a free school close to them for their children.

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Although it had been about a year, since I was in Bangalore, it didn’t take long for India to sink back in. Arriving at 4:30am and having already eaten two curry masala meals on the plane flight in from Europe, I was warmly greeted at the airport by two members of the local NGO (Building Blocks) that we are working with to build a school here. 

After the one hour drive from the airport into the city center – I realized how nice it was to be back in India.  From the 30C/80F degree weather, to the what I call “organized chaos” of auto-rickshaws and traffic, to cows on the streets, to women wearing saris, to a wide array of smells, to being called “Sir” and “Uncle” and having people respond to you when you ask them a question with a head bob that to a westerner is both a Yes and a No at the same time. 

Depending on who you ask – Bangalore is India – or Bangalore is not India.  It’s the example of how India should be – or is a place that has culturally evolved too much beyond it’s roots.  After having spent 3 months last year in travelling around 15 cities in India, I recognize and appreciate the uniqueness of Bangalore… for India and for the world.  There’s definitely a buzz here, especially in the technology space – as this is the epicenter of India and perhaps the world (in number of employees) for tech.   And it is precisely the “opportunity” and the jobs that Bangalore creates – which make it a prime location for migrants and poor rural Indians to want to move here.  And when they move to Bangalore, many will occupy any piece of land they can.  There is an estimated 600,000 people living in a slum in Bangalore and our project, is to build a school next to one of the biggest slums here (estimated 3,500 people) for 40 children.

Little did I know, that my first day, would be one of my busiest.  From the airport to the slum next to our school, to visit the building that we will make into a school.  I was lucky in arriving in town right as the multi-day festival, Diwali (the largest national celebration in India) began.  Besides feeling like the city was under siege from bombings (ie fireworks happening all day, everywhere and all night) it made for a festive first weekend in India, getting to know the Building Blocks team while celebrating Diwali.

Our one hour walk around the slum where we are building our school was the highlight of the day.   Seeing the size of the slum and the number of kids just hanging around surprised me.  As you can imagine, us walking through the slums arouses curiosity for those that live there, and as they learn we are building a school for 3-5 year old children – it is very encouraging to hear from the mothers how greatly that it is needed and will be received. 

But for now – it’s only Day 1 in India – and there’s still a lot of work to do before we can begin to get any of these kids into a school…

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