So I think we've all heard about the caste system in India, but many of us, ourselves included, didn't really know what that meant. The caste system is a hierarchy established a long time ago. There are four castes: Brahmins (priests, scholars, teachers, etc.), Kshatriyas (noblemen, warriors, and government officials), Vaishyas (farmers, merchants, and bankers), and Shudras (laborers and craftsmen). There is also a group of people called the "untouchables," who are essentially excluded from the social hierarchy altogether, and they include people who dispose of dead bodies and other grim tasks. Janis mentioned one job of an untouchable as the one where people come to your house to clean out your septic tank. By hand. They get drunk on whiskey first, and then jump right in and get to work flinging poo out of the septic tank. I guess somebody's gotta do it. Anyways, people were labeled into a caste according to their profession - baker, herder, taxi driver, professor, government official, etc. Once the family was labeled, every child born was born into that occupation, and hence, that caste. People can take one look at your last name and know what caste you are. It's still a pretty big deal for people to marry within their same caste, and young people who violate this custom are at risk of being shunned by one or both families. Although this system was officially voided when India became it's own country, free from the British in 1947, the social caste system still exists. For many children that are born into lower castes, there is not much hope of escaping the cycle and learning to do another occupation. For the laborers, there is not much reason for the children to go to school or receive education, because they need to focus on the family business. Most of these kids drop out of school, if there is one available to them, to go work for the family. They can't read or write and are destined for the same life as those that have preceded them.
Janis took us to see her friend Sonu’s school that she set up for some of these village children. Sonu has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, and after she completed her doctoral degree, she decided to turn to charity work and set up a non-governmental organization called “Apni Pathshala Foundation,” dedicated to educating some of India’s poorest children. We drove over to one of her three schoolhouses, which was donated by the village council and consisted of two small rooms and a porch area. The smallest kids were all sitting on the porch, practicing their English alphabet and numbers, and we were just blown away by how excited these kids were to be learning. Older kids were in the classrooms, learning either computer skills or language and math skills.
There is a large amount of pressure on many of the poorer kids to simply start working to support their families instead of go to school, and the government doesn’t really do much to help these kids. So Sonu and her staff of volunteers and paid teachers are now educating over 150 students that would otherwise never have gotten a
chance to change their lives. Everything the students were using, from their backpacks to their pencils and papers, as well as some clothing such as shoes, was obtained through donations. This was a pretty heavy sight, and we were humbled by the work Sonu was doing. Here was a lady who could easily get a comfortable government job or work for one of the growing companies in India and go about her life making lots of money, but she chose to work for these kids who had been left behind. Amazing and truly inspiring.
If you are interested, the website for her foundation is www.apnipathshala.com. She has also set up a Paypal account if you would like to make a donation to support her work. American dollars go a long way in India, where something like $50 can support a full year of school for one kid. Thank you Sonu, Janis, and all the teachers for the incredible work they do to keep this school going!!
Janis took us to see her friend Sonu’s school that she set up for some of these village children. Sonu has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, and after she completed her doctoral degree, she decided to turn to charity work and set up a non-governmental organization called “Apni Pathshala Foundation,” dedicated to educating some of India’s poorest children. We drove over to one of her three schoolhouses, which was donated by the village council and consisted of two small rooms and a porch area. The smallest kids were all sitting on the porch, practicing their English alphabet and numbers, and we were just blown away by how excited these kids were to be learning. Older kids were in the classrooms, learning either computer skills or language and math skills.
There is a large amount of pressure on many of the poorer kids to simply start working to support their families instead of go to school, and the government doesn’t really do much to help these kids. So Sonu and her staff of volunteers and paid teachers are now educating over 150 students that would otherwise never have gotten a
chance to change their lives. Everything the students were using, from their backpacks to their pencils and papers, as well as some clothing such as shoes, was obtained through donations. This was a pretty heavy sight, and we were humbled by the work Sonu was doing. Here was a lady who could easily get a comfortable government job or work for one of the growing companies in India and go about her life making lots of money, but she chose to work for these kids who had been left behind. Amazing and truly inspiring.
If you are interested, the website for her foundation is www.apnipathshala.com. She has also set up a Paypal account if you would like to make a donation to support her work. American dollars go a long way in India, where something like $50 can support a full year of school for one kid. Thank you Sonu, Janis, and all the teachers for the incredible work they do to keep this school going!!
