Thane Residential School Site Visit Notes by Rohisha Adke
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The Path to Success
We followed our guide down a short path made of dust packed down by the weight of five hundred Adivasi children
(aboriginal people living in rural India). Entering the first classroom was like walking into a cave; only a single beam from the relentless
sun outside penetrated the hazy air. The classroom, approximately the size of my school bathroom, held about fifty students lined cross-legged on
the earthen floor. My gaze traveled up the cracked walls, and came to rest on slowly spiraling rectangles of colored paper printed with words,
which were hanging from clotheslines. Whether because of the arrival of strange Americans, or the teacher’s quiet voice,
the students held themselves motionless, in what we soon learned was not only their classroom, but also their bedrooms, despite the fact that
the small mud cabin barely fit all of the bodies sitting up.
Ducking out of the open doorway, we continued to the kitchen. Inside, a single cook crouched over a flame and large skillets.
Between his rapid flips, we learned that he makes one thousand rotis (round, unleavened bread) for every major meal; each student gets two,
and there is no budget for milk.
While ignorance of the plight of our fellow humans may be comfortable for us, knowledge is power. Let us use this power
to give people the means to hope for a better future. With firsthand knowledge of some of the most disadvantaged schools in the world,
and the complications surrounding the idea of a good education, let us inspire others to value the power and potential of an educated child.
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In July 2009 REAL volunteers Rohisha Adke, Javal Patel and Hemakshi Adke had the pleasure of personally visiting the Thane area and local tribal schools.
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