Bandameedathanda

I was revisiting my posts here last week and noticed that I mentioned about writing a post on the Government Lower Primary School, Bandameedathanda (BMT for short).

So, here it is.

An Unexpected Opportunity

I have had the fortune of participating in many Aviratha initiatives. Among these, its work in the Bandameedathanda school has a special place in my heart.

It all started with an article about the plight of the school here and the efforts of alumni in reviving it. My friend’s sister had written this and she asked if we could help this school in any way.

The school which was closed for 7 years reopened in 2019, thanks to the efforts of its alumni. We were very intrigued by the story and decided to visit the school to understand its needs better.

The enthusiasm and commitment shown by the alumni, villagers, and most importantly the lone teacher Subhan Sir gave us the confidence that our efforts will definitely not go waste.

NBD+

Before we made any major promises, we set the expectations right in terms of what we could and couldn’t do in line with Aviratha’s scope of work. We also put some basic conditions like the items we provide should be maintained well and not be misused.

Since it was anyway the season of the annual Notebook distribution (NBD) for us, we started with that. We then followed up with stationery, a library kit, and sports equipment distribution. We also conducted some activities and participated in their annual events, thereby engaging with the community more often.

Community Effort

While we were doing all these, the alumni and Subhan Sir quietly went about doing their bit for the school as well. They found donors for school bags and uniforms for the students, resolved administrative issues, cleared the useless bushes and weed on the school land, and even got a power supply installed. Every time we visited, they had something new to show us.

Building as a Learning Aid

While the facilities inside the school improved, the school building still looked a bit boring with old paint that was peeling off in many places. Though we noticed it in every visit, we never thought of doing anything about it.

That changed when one of our volunteers brought us the news of some CSR funds. We immediately requested another volunteer (an architect by profession) to come up with ideas. After many cups of tea and several pakodas at Pappu Chaiwala, we finalized some designs.

Our objectives were clear from the very beginning.

Inside walls must be multipurpose, open-ended and aid learning. For example, draw empty circles in which something can be written using a chalk piece. Students, teachers and even other volunteers who visit the school can use this space to conduct some activity such as writing letters and forming words by combining them.

Outer walls must be attractive. These walls should draw the attention of people and get them closer to the school. Once they come, they will see what we have done on the interiors, talk to the children, the teacher, etc., and learn more about the school. This, eventually, will get more funds from both the Government and the general public, improve the facilities and increase enrolment numbers.

Lofty ambitions, eh?

Many creative minds joined us to paint the walls and over a series of visits, we did a fantastic job on both the interiors and exteriors.

Our work somehow caught the state education department’s attention. The local edition of a leading newspaper wrote an article about this just before the Education minister’s visit to the area.

Current Status

The enrolment is now in double digits. We hope the school gets an additional teacher as per the rule soon. Thanks to the continuous efforts of Subhan Sir and support of the community, the school is getting a compound wall.

We can’t wait to get back to the school and interact with the kids once the pandemic situation improves.