One of the main reasons why education is denied to the children from the lower strata of the society is probably because there is a lack of positive vision about the future. This is perhaps why a differently-abled child never gets education even when there is always a clearly laid out map for the to get it. There are plenty of schools and NGO’s committed to create a change in this aspect but very few are able to act radically (read), to free a child from the tentacles of forced labor, confinement and deprivation of basic education. Chronic poverty could be singled out for the sad state that prevails in countries such as ours. Though it’s a far-fetched idea to eradicate poverty per se, giving people hope and later on, education, could go in a long way in building up a society free of illiteracy and stigmatization.

Hope is a difficult word to realize in its true essence. To be able to give it to a person needs a lot of single-mindedness and nobility. Take the children who have difficulty in vision for example. They are perhaps the most challenging set of children to teach and educate because they learn differently. Unlike kids with sight who learn from watching and reading, they are forced to learn only from experience and other real life situations. Learning again does not only mean to be able read and write. Over a period of time, we would be able to teach the children to read and write but to give them hope, they need to be able to read and write with meaning, with purpose and with a strong drive. Learning is again incomplete without social development and without inculcating a sense of responsibility among the children.

 

One major way to make a child feel secure and happy for life is to give him a skill. If you think about it, it could change his entire life. More importantly, it makes the person a great deal confident about themselves. Coming from the big corporates, it will be only fair if we call ourselves itinerant teachers but even in that small time that we spend with them, if we could teach them something unique, something that they can keep doing and feel proud about, then we can draw a great sense of pride from what we have done. Finally it’s all about helping them create a dream for themselves and I am sure we all have a great deal of motivation in us for the cause. If we could show a fine blend of both patience and revolution, a positive change can always be realized. 
 
Hope is the key!
 
Ravi

August 11, 2006