The Life in the AOZORA School
It’s 8 o’clock in the morning – school starts, but all the classrooms are empty. Before the classes begin at the AOZORA School, the pupils participate in the morning greeting outside in the fresh air. Here they also bend and stretch. Each day some of the older pupils take over and lead the session. Sonu, Harendar, Santosh, the brothers Dinesh und Suraj, Laxman and Amar, Ramcharan, Aklesh, Dhamraj know the school and its people very well, because they call this place their home.
They all share a similar story. Growing up in poverty, they lost one or both parents early in life. In order to sustain the family, some of them, like Laxman, had to work already as a child, either on the fields or in the streets of Bodh Gaya. Even today, we still see many young children selling goods to visitors or just begging; there is no time left for education.
But access to school education is not the only answer, when everything else is lacking. For instance, Sonu and Amar actually had the possibility to go to school; nonetheless they felt demotivated, since they saw no way out of poverty. Their new home in the AOZORA school gives them a place not just to develop freely, but also a stable and secure environment with regular meals, access to medical care and a warm, caring relationship to their teachers. Not to forget the common singing and celebrations.
The brothers Dinesh and Suraj are also at home in the AOZORA school. Living apart from their mother is not easy for them. Often Dinesh and Suraj visit their mother in her with plastic tarpaulin improvised kiosk on a dusty bus station in Bodh Gaya. The mother was disowned by her husband’s family after he died. Now she tries to earn enough to care for her children by selling chai and chips. She also has to compensate for the incredible burden of the dowry for the older daughters. As for both her sons, she knows them being save in the AOZORA school, where they have a chance for a better future.
We have to face reality. In the higher classes of the school, the number of girls is shrinking drastically. The future of most women in India is just secured by marriage, not by education. Therefore, the way into an independent life is so much more difficult for young women and girls.
One of the major goals of Bildung für Bodh Gaya. e.V. is the extension of the new school-building, so that the young female orphans can find a home and a better perspective here. Help us with this great step!
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