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| The Banyan - Lovedale Foundation |
"Those who are poor, smile at what they have, yet
those who have good fortune, frown at what they do not have"
I was able to understand the above quote in-depth and its hidden gist after
volunteering for a Community Service Program at 'The Banyan' (Lovedale
Foundation) - a school providing free education, books, uniforms, food,
transport & a sense of privilege to the kids of underprivileged.
It was a warm and sunny on Friday morning as
I reached this school which
is on the outskirts of Bangalore with a typical village
setup. I was amazed to
see a wonderful building which read 'The Banyan' on a board outside and found
it equally interesting from inside as well. Later, I was told that it was built of bricks from
slit of the same very ground dug out for laying the foundation. The structure
for me depicted how a kid from a poor background would be shaped strong to face
the ever so competitive world in this school.
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| Class -1st Std |
Recalling my school
days and the joy of schooling, as I entered the premises I was taken on tour of the school consisting
classes from LKG to 5th Std. Photo frames of inspirational personalities like Mother Teresa, Tipu
Sultan, and Nelson Mandela were
hanged on the
walls. Hearing the children repeat the words of their teacher in unison was nostalgia for me.
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| Girls at the school |
I could witness that some eyes were shining bright and some mouths were opening
wide - yawning greeted me with curiosity. And as I started to look in for subjects to gather a few pictures, the children looked excited
and started
to pose
for the lens. Some turned out to be camera shy and some others
were confident enough to pose as a pro. Taking turns and visiting each and
every class in the school, I felt so thankful for the people who worked hard to
make the facility available to the children free of cost.
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| The Banyan |
As a result, I also
got an opportunity to visit the locality where these children come from and
understand their backgrounds. It was a place around 10 kilometers away from the
school where laborers were toiling hard in a query under the severe heat. Just around the query were huts barely 6x8
feet in size and one needing to crouch to enter the dwelling. It was quite a contrast to the buzzing city life a few
miles away. My sub-conscious mind had already started to think how would have I
fared if I was one among them. And suddenly I had to compel myself
out of this thought and felt thankful for the people who literally spend their
lives for the betterment of underprivileged.
Hoping these little efforts make every child a literate
and eradicate poverty giving equal opportunity to every individual to lead
a peaceful life.
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| The query where the parent's of most children from 'The Banyan' work |
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| Hard Life |
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| A tired laborer taking a break back at his hut. |
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| Stones and Fire |
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| A typical hut where the children live with families |
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| Children enjoying free Mid day meal at school |
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| Children enjoying free Mid day meal at school |
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| Children enjoying free Mid day meal at school |
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| The future of India |
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| A well built classroom with modern facilities like LCD TV for interactive classes |
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| Children return to classes after meal |
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| Curious kids posing |
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| Children obliged to pose alongside me as well |
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| A boy looks outside his classroom |
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| Children seeing pictures from the book. |
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| A sincere student reading his lessons |
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| Lovedale Foundation |
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| Pictures of eminent personalities decorated on the walls in the corridor. |
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| Its playtime for the kids. |
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| Its playtime for the kids. |
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| Two girls discuss as they play. |
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| The query on the outskirts of Bangalore where the parents of children earn their daily bread from. |
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| Children running to the play area after their meal. |
1 comment:
Thanks for showing some reality of life, and taking me back to my childhood days
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