With much sadness and disappointment we must inform you that the Sujata’s Dream website and Bakrour Village school project have been suspended indefinitely (most likely permanently).

We have run into impediments that made it impossible for us to continue working with the group at the village.  After a long period of consternation and deliberation, the decision to terminate our work there was inevitable.

The children of Bakrour and Ganga Bigha villages remain in our minds and hearts.  They continue to be trapped in extreme poverty, illiteracy and a social system rooted in inequality.  We still hope to find, at some point in the future,  a new way and place to help them access education, hope, opportunity, and a better quality of life.

Blessings and gratitude to all those who have supported the project thus far and have encouraged our work.

Peace,

Orna Locker

On behalf of the Seattle based volunteers of the Sujata’s Dream Project

Since its inception in 2001, the Tathagat School has been operating on next to no funds, fueled primarily by the hopes and optimism of a small group of men in the village of Bakrour, and the occasional small donation from tourists passing by. The monthly contributions they have been receiving from us covered about 20% of the budget they would need to fully fund school operations. Obviously, the quality of education they have been able to provide suffered significantly as a result.

Here in Seattle, our efforts to promote this project and fundraise for the school have ground to a halt in the past several months due to burdensome concerns and uncertainties regarding the operations of the school. We attempted to straighten things out through emails, but the very real challenges of language incompatibilities and culture gaps have made this attempt dissatisfying and incomplete.

Last month we received notice from the Board of Trustees at the village, that a community-wide meeting took place, where it was regretfully acknowledged that due to lack of sufficient funds to run the school properly, as well as an unresolved issue of physical location for the school, the School would have to close its doors in April 2008, if no new funding sources are identified. The kids, we are told, would potentially be enrolled in government schools (infamous for their poor/non-existing education), or return home to work in the fields with their parents.

My heart sinks at the thought that the hopes and dreams of so many will be shattered, and the hard (and wrong) lessons this experience would teach them all, child and adult alike, about the nature of life, about themselves, and about human nature.

This month (February 2008), Ellis is in India again, and will be visiting our school toward the end of the month. He will be meeting with the Board of Trustees and make every effort to sort out and get answers to the many questions and issues that have risen over the past few months, regarding the operations of the school and its future. We are eagerly awaiting his stories and impressions, in order to decide how best to proceed in supporting the Tathagat School. I hope very much that the information that emerges from this visit will give us reason and motivation to amplify our efforts again, to spread the word, educate others about the plight of the community of Bakrour, and to fundraise to build and run this school.

I believe that together with you and other caring people who will find out about this project, we can raise the $8,500 a year needed to fully fund the school. So much is at stake.
I will keep you posted as things develop.

Orna.

Winter greetings, everyone, hope you are all keeping warm, wherever you are.

It was back in December 2007 that we received a letter from Sanjay Kumar at the Tathagat School that included the following paragraph:

now at Bodhgaya monglam puja [holiday] is going on from 7th december for a week. but here it is very cold and the winter has arrived and this year local forecast is this year colder than others past year. and the children are facing problem due to cold, because of our school is almost open as you know, and the students don’t have sweaters (woollen cloth).

I have one suggestion if it possible and easy for you than you may put a special winter Appeal on website.

Temperatures in Bodhgaya in January were in the 40’s at night and probably mid 50’s during the day. I remember in January 2007, seeing those skinny children running around with nothing but flip-flops and light clothes worn thin, showing signs of discomfort as the chilly winds blew. I remember thinking they all could use sweaters and blankets.

Well, it was too late now to post an appeal on the website and wait for donations to arrive, with the children experiencing the cold temperatures every passing day. So, this January, in response to Sanjay’s specific request and specifications, we sent money to purchase shoes, sweaters, scarves and hats for 125 children.

Unfortunately, the pictures we received from the school, showing a sea of children clad in red sweaters, scarves and hats, holding a “THANKS 2008″ sign, were in a format I could not upload onto this blog. So please, use your imagination, and feel the warmth in your heart.

As we take a step back and eye the state of education at the Tathagat School and the impact of our ongoing support, one fundamental issue that rises to the surface as an area of concern is the matter of teacher qualification and training. Presently, none of the adults teaching at the school have formal teacher training and certification. This obviously impacts the quality of education they are able to provide.

While this may seem a gross violation and an unacceptable situation, my research found that it is quite common in India for schools that are not funded by the government to resort to hiring uncertified teachers, often reducing their hiring requirements to the completion of 10-12 years of school. This is both for lack of funds to pay certified teachers, and, because they essentially can get away with it, due to lack of standardized regulation and enforcement means.

Clearly, there is a chronic problem here. It demonstrates one of the ways in which the poor and disadvantaged live outside the system of government services, protection, and concern, and one of the reasons why the cycle of poverty is perpetuated.

Background
Certification for teaching at the elementary stage in India is bestowed by the States’ Departments of Education. The coursework required to attain this certificate takes roughly two years to complete, consisting of varying curricula determined by the individual states. The resulting certificate is not a B.A. equivalent, but a diploma that may be titled BTC (Basic Teaching Certificate), D.Ed. (Diploma in Education), and TTC (Teachers’ Training Certificate), depending on the state. A B.Ed. degree is required to teach high school and is provided by accredited universities.

Until 1995, the standards, curriculum and required examinations for teacher education and certification in India were determined by each state and each university individually, and therefore varied widely. In 1995, The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) was set up by India’s parliament and given a broad mandate with legal powers to determine and enforce standards of teacher education throughout the country.

However, with 900,000 schools and 4.6 Million teachers in the country (according to an Educational Survey conducted in 2003), this is a daunting task. The need to transition jurisdiction of these programs away from individual states and institutions and onto the central government further complicates and slows down the process. The NCTE decided to divide its enforcement into two stages, first working on enforcing standards in terms of physical infrastructure, and later addressing the enforcement of qualitative standards. According to Professor Maheshwari, Chairman of the NCTE, although some order could be restored in the teacher education system, it remains a continuous battle for the NCTE. The challenge of producing competent teachers, committed to providing quality education, will continue to be a daunting task for sometime.

The current reality
Currently, required qualifications for teachers still vary widely among states, and between government funded and non-government-funded schools. While government and state run schools recruit only certified teachers, it is common for NGOs to hire teachers without any certification or training.

In Bihar, the required certification for teaching elementary school is the Elementary Teacher Training Education certificate, or, ETT Education. It is a two-year program, and is offered at a Teacher Training College in Gaya (half hour drive by Rikshaw from Bodhgaya). Details of what the program entails are here: www.ttcgaya.org/index.php?page=ett. Completion of 12 years of school with at least 45% on tests is the prerequisite for admission.

This Teacher Training College was established in 2004 in response to the dire and increasing need in the area for qualified teachers. According to the college’s website, the whole region, including Bihar and several neighboring states, is experiencing a severe shortage in qualified teachers, while at the same time experiencing pressure from the NCTE to enforce qualification in all schools. For more details on this see: www.ttcgaya.org/index.php?page=au

Considering the impact of the above on the Tathagat School (and other similarly poor, rural schools), it seems that 1. It is going to be hard to find qualified teachers, as too few of them exist in the whole area; 2. Those who are qualified or become qualified in the near future are going to be in such demand that they will be in a position to require higher salaries, making it very difficult if not impossible for poor schools to retain them. 3. The good news may be that, given this scenario, becoming a certified teacher is shaping up to be a highly desireable position to strive for, in terms of readily finding employment and in terms of salary level. Hopefully, some of the children may be inspired to work toward it as a way to a brighter future.

With the backdrop of these serious challenges, we nonetheless continue to explore ways in which to improve the quality of education provided to the children of Bakrour and Ganga Bigha villages through the Tathagat School. This includes networking with other area schools and individuals to try to identify creative ways to provide teacher training, future fundraising on this blog for certified teacher salaries, and exploring new avenues for improving the children’s educational experience. Your thoughts, advice and suggestions are always welcome and greatly appreciated.

For more on the history of the educational system in India and the mandate of the NCTE, look here: www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2686/teacher-education-certification.htm

The Indian government is obsessed with economic growth. In its pursuit it provides financial incentives and legal loopholes and advantages to industry and corporations, whose growth increasingly costs peasants their lands, their livelihood and their health. Many of the poorest and most vulnerable have had their meager land taken away from them, or the water on which their fields depend diverted away, in the name of development. Increasingly, these attempts of land takeover result in violence.

Some 25,000 peasants and landless laborers, men, women and children, who have been marching for the past three weeks about 200 miles, arrived today at the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, to fight for their land rights. A New York Times article today describes the march and the marchers’ goals:
www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/world/asia/28cnd-india.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

The British Guardian newspaper had a more detailed and less watered down article looking both at the plight of Indian peasants and at the global political movement of peasants and indigenous people, in Africa and Latin America as well as in India, which is rising now to demand land rights, as accelerated industrialization worldwide robs millions of their livelihoods, health and ways of life. www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,2198382,00.html

If you ever wondered what things really look like and what you might expect to encounter when visiting India for the first time, you can get a few hints by checking out Outsourced. Outsourced is a great new cross-cultural comedy about a Seattle-based call center manager whose job and whole department get outsourced to India. He is sent to India to train his replacement… I was quite impressed with the sensitivity and insight with which this movie was made. It provides a good opportunity to take a peak into Indian culture and way of life, with its sharp contrasts, harsh poverty, different ways of relating, warm hospitality, and more. Not really a comedy, it is a light movie but one with real substance, and one that makes you think. It frames some of the brow-raising idiosyncrasies in both cultures, and showcases the challenges of cross-cultural interaction, and the learning opportunities inherent in such interaction, for both sides. Warmly recommended.

According to the movie’s website, the movie is not being given a fare chance in U.S. theaters because it does not feature big name actors. So if you want to see it you better hurry, or otherwise wait for the DVD release.

Link to a review from the New York Times:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/movies/28outs.html

School was closed this week for the celebration of Durga Puja, the largest Hindu festival in several Indian states including Bihar. It is a nine-day celebration of worship of the supreme goddess Durga. During Durga Puja, life comes to a complete standstill in many places. In playgrounds, traffic circles, ponds — wherever space may be available — elaborate structures called pandals are set up, many with nearly a year’s worth of planning behind them.

The word pandal means a temporary structure, made of bamboo and cloth, which is used as a temporary temple for the purpose of the puja. While some of the pandals are simple structures, others are often elaborate works of art with themes that rely heavily on history, current affairs and sometimes pure imagination. Inside the pandal is a stage on which Durga reigns, standing on her lion mount, wielding ten weapons in her ten hands. This is the religious center of the festivities, and people gather to worship and offer flowers in the mornings and visit throughout all hours of the day and night. Ritual drummers, carrying large leather-strung dhaakis, perform ritual dance worships called aarati.

 At the end of the week-long celebration, the idol is taken in a procession, amid chants and drumbeats, to the river or other water body and is cast in the waters, symbolizing the departure of the deity to her home, with her husband Shiva, in the Himalayas.

After this, families visit each other and sweetmeats are offered to visitors.
Over the years, Durga Puja festival has become as much a socio-cultural event, while maintaining its religious Sanctity. Durga Puja, like most other festivals in India, reinforces the concept of the triumph of Good over Evil.

To read an article with additional photographs from the Patna Daily about Durga Puja celebration in Bihar click here: www.patnadaily.com/news2007/oct/101807/durga_puja.html

Recently, the CBS television newsmagazine 60 Minutes ran a story featuring the work that Nicholas Negroponte is doing with his organization One Laptop per Child. Their mission is to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves using an educational computer created for use in developing countries at a cost of $100.

In a talk he gave at the TED seminars, Negroponte outlined the principles that drive his work:

• Children are our most precious resource.
• The solution to peace, the environment and poverty is education.
• Teaching is one way to learn, but not the only way.

In a demonstration of his own commitment to these principles, he has recently stepped down from his chairmanship of the prestigious MIT Media Lab to devote the rest of his life to this work.

The OLPC (One Laptop per Child) laptop is ruggedized for use in rural environments, has built in Wi-Fi capabilities and is designed from the ground up for use by children. You can review the mission, history of the project and progress to date, as well as all the details about the computer on the OLPC website. One interesting aspect of the laptop is that it doubles as an e-book reader. This is important since in many developing countries, it is difficult and expensive to ship textbooks. In a recent development, it was announced that OLPC is teaming up with microchip manufacturing powerhouse Intel. This can offer manufacturing, sales and distribution capabilities that will truly allow the project to achieve its global dreams.

Technology has a way of permeating every corner of our lives. Perhaps this is one use of technology that will spur the growth of education in remote areas. The 60 Minutes piece pointed out that the laptops are often used by all members of the child’s family and inspire the parents to keep their children in school. The presence of technology could dramatically alter and improve village life, just as when Muhammad Yunus introduced cells phones into rural areas of Bhangladesh.

Projects like these inspire our current efforts and provide a potential vision of next steps for the Tathagat school. It is conceivable that someday, the children of Bodhgaya will be using such technology as a regular part of their learning.

Reflecting on life, what really matters, and on how to live a meaningful and joyful life that is congruent with my values, here are some bits of lessons learned from our visit to Bodhgaya and Bakrour village earlier this year:

• The high value put on trust: Much more than in American society, people in India are commonly trusted for their word or hand shake and are most often not disappointed.

• The importance of relationships: Amidst constant physical and material hardship, relationships seem to sustain the people. They are central and all encompassing in people’s lives. They provide meaning and purpose, and are a source of great joy and comfort that holds people up in the face of much difficulty.

• Witnessing the suffering and doing what little I can do to help: The fact that I cannot eradicate suffering on my own does not negate the value of offering whatever I can. Witnessing itself, acknowledging the suffering rather than turning the other way, is a compassionate gesture that creates a heart connection and has the potential to empower others and give them hope.

Hello dear readers,

We’re so glad that you are reading our blog! And hopefully forwarding it to others! We would love to hear from you, so please take a moment if you care to and use the “contact us” link above to let us know what you think of this blog and our project, and what you may want to see or learn more of.

We are still feeling overwhelmed with happiness and excitement about a tremendously generous donation of $2,000 received recently. It meant so much to us! Each donation we receive, not only makes the dream of building the school closer to reality, but represents a vote of confidence in our efforts and intentions. It infuses us with optimism and energy, and gives us hope for the future of the school and the community of Bakrour and Ganga Bigha villages. This is a good place to mention again that every cent of your donations goes directly to the school, not a penny is used for overhead or administrative costs.

If you’re local (Seattle) and would like to volunteer, we can use your help! We can use help creating a simple brochure for the school that will help raise funds, and someone to contact area businesses and organizations to inquire about donations and about linking our blog to their websites. Please let us know if you are interested.

A nifty PowerPoint slide presentation is in the making, with pictures from our visit to the village in January-February 2007, accompanied with stories from and about the village, and soon will be available to be shown anywhere in the community. Do you have a bunch of friends or family who would be interested in our project? Or, know of an organization that would be interested? We would love to come by your gathering to share the presentation and answer any questions.