Farzana- A hope in the darkness for many

In the midst of deep struggles, one suddenly finds a light of hope and those who are courageous enough to hold on to it often evolve as a role model and lead the path of enlightenment for their societies. In the Van Gujjar forest community of Uttarakhand, one such light of hope sprouted and a life changed forever. It is a story of a 10 year old girl who had dreams of becoming a teacher and changing the lives of children. Her name is Farzana. Her teacher in school say “फरजाना पढ़-लिखकर एक टीचर बनाना चाहती है। वह अपने भाई-बहनो को और अपने समुदाये की लड़कियों को पढ़ना चाहती है।” She is a confident young girl who thought differently and had the courage of dreaming big. She is always active in class, takes on challenges presented in the school gracefully and always attempts to solve them with her best abilities. It was the school that became a safe space for her where her thoughts prospered and were acknowledged by teachers. She became one of the best Library Management Committee(LMC) members of her class and inspired many young children from other classes. “वह बहुत सीधी-सादी और मेहनती लड़की है। वह सीखने को हमेशा तैयार रहती है और काम देखकर कभी नहीं डरती। वह एक जिम्मेदार LMC member थी। वह अपना काम बेहद निष्ठा के साथ करती और दूसरे बच्चो को पढ़ने में मदद करती।” (words of her teacher)

Farzana being recognised for her excellent performance by school HM

Her school journey was full of new learning opportunities and she blossomed as a person. But the societies did not receive it well. Her dream of continuing education after class 5 was not encouraged as most girls from the community did not pursue their middle education. Lack of a local role model didn’t press a need to continue studies for girls. She had no hope of continuing her education after class 5. Girl child education is thought to be irrelevant and is not much appreciated as well in the community. Many are fearful of the distance they will have to cover to reach Secondary School for further education. Many also highlight that it is a traditional practice in the community that girls do not study in contrast to boys who go on to complete higher degrees. 

Having all these problems laying forward, Samanta began its work in 2021 in the area with little resources and resolution to bring a change. We began Whole-School Transformation intervention where revival of school processes was key with equal stress upon improved learning outcomes. Samanta educators supported the implementation of school processes such as morning assembly, parent teachers meeting, community visit, library periods, etc. The educators also took a lead in introducing teaching learning techniques in the classroom to build children’s interest in education. Parents and community members are invited to participate in school events, activities and Bal mela in the school. It is a moment of pride to witness their child perform and be able to respond to questions of teachers. The children also organise Nukkad Natak in the community to sensitise on the issue of girl child education and send out a message of equal opportunity to both girls and boys. All these activities are directly interlinked with a child's interest and attaining a holistic understanding of what they are learning in the classroom and how their lives are connected with it. This helped us to sensitise stakeholders and establish their connection with the school and build trust in the school processes. 

As time passed, we also witnessed a change in the mindset of Farzana’s father. He himself went and got her admission done in class 6th with his brother studying in class 8. Her hope came in the form of an ecosystem talking about the importance of girl child education and the school system encouraging processes that involved participation of stakeholders. The school teachers and staff acknowledged the solution offered by Samanta and agreed to support us in implementing it. Farzana’s admission has been a ray of hope for many other girls in the community and her parents are an example for other parents in the community. 

We believe that sustainable changes are brought through process oriented solutions which are owned and led by the community. Solutions that are local and involve participation of stakeholders are accepted and taken forward by the community members. 

Children performing Nukkad Natak in the community

Written by

Guneet Sekhon