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Samata Balamitra School: More than Avenues of Learning |
Imagine walking over 10 km from your home, crossing two hills and a creek even to buy a matchbox.
I am talking about villages of the Sarugudu panchayat in Natavaram mandalam about 150 km from Visakhapatnam in South East India. The people living in these villages have called the valleys their homes for more than 1000 years and have developed rich ways to co-exist with the wild. However, they are often faced with challenges such as access to basic education or ability to travel to a city for trade.
These problems are fading, thanks to Samata, a non-government organization based in Visakhapatnam and working in over 100 villages since 1987. Samata with 20 full time workers and many part-time volunteers has started many initiatives and advocacy campaigns that are transforming the lives of the adivasis – the Balamitra School is one such initiative.
 I visited two of the forty Balamitra schools in December 2006 and discovered that these schools are more than mere avenues for learning. They are often used as community centers and provide a platform for people to discuss various issues related to their daily lives. The schools are managed by a single teacher, often an adivasi, trained and employed by Samata. The school trains students up to third grade with a curriculum developed by Samata. The goal for the schools is to teach adivasis how to read and write and educate them on basic rights and topics such as healthcare.
When I asked the children about their goals, the most common reply was “I want to be a doctor and establish a health center in Sarugudu.”
Parents also benefit from the educated children. Polanna, a proud father of school going son said “my son even helps me read the names on the buses and I no longer take a wrong bus when traveling to the city.”
[Eds: AID chapters from Boston, Boise, Tucson and Princeton provided financial assistance to Samata for the development of elementary schools in these 40 tribal hamlets that benefited more than 1000 children.]
- Ashok Devata (Boston)
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