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Hello fellow humans!
My name is Chitrang, and I'm writing this from a Teach For India classroom at Swargeeya Vitthal Tupe School in Pune. Pravin, my co-fellow, and I teach a bunch of 95 curious, compassionate, and starry-eyed seventh graders. Kapil sir has been their teacher since Grade 1. Pravin and I joined in the past two years.
<Pravin, Kapil sir, chitrang - moving left to right>
<Pravin, Kapil sir, chitrang - moving left to right>
<In frame: students of grade 7>
However, some infrastructural and well-being challenges are being faced by our students that restrict the possibility of them soaring to the sky. Some problems include a single functional toilet for grades 1 to 7, a lack of classrooms in the school building, cleanliness problems due to cleaning staff shortage, and seating issues due to fewer benches, to name a few.
<Ongoing classes with students sitting on the mats>
<Ongoing classes with students sitting on the mats>
<Students sitting in the hallway giving exams due to lack of usable classrooms>
<busted washroom doors and overflowing taps in the washroom>
<blocked toilet seats with sewer water overflowing>
<broken toilet seats and no drainage system in place>These problems hinder their progress toward receiving quality education and having an equal fighting chance in today's competitive age. Please view a few glimpses of the immense work done by the students in their school below, despite the challenges:
<Students drew a value tree on the classroom wall illustrating the values which they will follow>
<Students during class time discussing and learning together>
<Students have personalized their group corners and track their progress>
<Equality as a virtue>Our community is a low-income one. Their troubles grow tenfold due to issues like child marriage, violence in the community, insufficient financial support, and an overall lack of fulfillment of basic needs.
We are trying our best to provide these kids with Education and fulfill their basic needs, but your support will help us create a lasting impact.
2. Due to infrastructural problems, students do not have benches to sit on and therefore sit on mats. The class with benches is suited for younger students, and their size cannot accommodate teenage students.
3. There are broken windows in most classrooms, and it gets extremely difficult to use those classrooms. There are no dustbins and a general staff shortage to clean the rooms and the hallways. We are therefore using makeshift dustbins and need to maintain cleanliness.
4. There is often a shortage of clean drinking water in the school during the afternoon shift, and students need to go out of the school to fill in drinking water.
6. Easy access to menstrual hygiene products in the school and a system for appropriate disposal.7. To buy stationery products, including notebooks, pens, chart papers, and learning materials for the students.
Please contribute any amount you can, as every little bit helps!
<We designed dresses out of newspapers>
