Jayanti Mandingi is from Patamanda in Narayanpatna Block in Odisha, and is a Class 12 student in Arts. She has a creditable achievement as the only girl of her village to have successfully completed Class 10. Her parents, Godru and Kone Mandingi, are small farmers and daily wage labourers in the mountains. Their earnings are insufficient to meet the needs of 6 members in their family. Jayanti is the second daughter among the 4 children. Education gets a lower priority in this area where Kuvi — a language with no script — is the mother tongue. It’s a challenge for children to study in Odiya medium from their lower classes.

After returning from her school, she rushes to her role as the Teacher-cum-Facilitator of the Mind-to-Read Centre of Operation Sahay Foundation in their village. This is one of the 12 village-centric learning centres established by OSF. The centre has a library and regular brush-up classes are conducted for children to retain their reading, foundational math and concepts. The schools were shut owing to Covid-19 for many months. A Feb 2021 report by Azim Premji Foundation observes the detrimental impact — “School closure due to COVID-19 pandemic has led to complete disconnect from education for the vast majority of children or inadequate alternatives like community-based classes or poor alternatives in the form of online education, including mobile phone-based learning. Equally alarming is the widespread phenomenon of ‘forgetting’ by students of learning from the previous class – this is regression in their curricular learning.”

Jayanti is clear why she took up this challenge of teaching even when she is a student herself — “My brothers and sisters were without any guidance, nobody were there to take care of their academics and schools remain closed. This compelled me to help them. By the same time OSF has given a scope for it, so I wanted to use the opportunity for the betterment of our children.”

She adds, “In the beginning I was scared of this work, but now I am comfortable. This is also an avenue to develop myself. Before teaching I have to prepare and I get to read many books now. Through this work my knowledge and outlook is getting developed.”

The honorarium she is getting from OSF is a great support for her own education as well.

Dablu Bingadika, a 7^th Std student, hails from Denganapayu village, which is a beautiful hilly area situated 1300m above MSL. The village got connected to the road network only a few months back. Dablu is a student of TRW Govt Residential School, 45km away from the village at Burja, Laxmipur. Their village school is non-functional and hence his parents Utra and Harso Bingadika has put him in the far away hostel school.

OSF’s Reading and Learning program is functional in the village since September 2020. This has made the family relieved that the children in the village are able to spend some useful time learning, even during the Covid days. Earlier Dablu and his friends were just whiling away their time and moving around the area. Daily, classes are held from 8AM to 10AM in their village except during the lockdown days. Only students from their village attends the classes. Sirma, is the teacher who is a 10^th Class passout.  Reaching 10^th class is a great milestone in their area. Dablu has access to the story books stocked in the OSF learning unit as well and he is a regular user.

Parents of Dablu are illeterate and never attended school, but they desire a great future for Dablu and his elder sister. They want their children to make the best opportunity of the facility which they feel is God given.

Natpurwa in Uttar Pradesh is known for the unexpected survival option practiced for many generations. There are welcome changes off-late led by those coming out of the trade. The village Pradhan reflects the will and wish of a large majority who desires a different, bright and healthy future for their children. On request from the village, OSF is assisting with the provision of education resources for children. A regular contact program is also on to encourage them to learn. Other learning resources are also being provided on a regular basis.

Rekha’s life took a tragic turn after her husband, her pillar of strength, succumbed to a stroke eleven years ago. Bereft of much support of near and dear ones, she took to working for minimum wages at a garment factory. Suffering with Asthma, her lungs unable to handle the dust, she soon quit and had to eke out a living for her and the two children by working as a housemaid in many houses.

Her income was barely enough to feed the family and keep them off the roads. The little help that she got from family members was not enough to cover the school fees. Sadly, the schools did not even think of providing some concession to this single-parent family. Unable to see the struggles of his mother, the son stopped school in the 10th standard and began working odd jobs to supplement the income and also keep his sister Jayashree in school. The brother sacrificed his future for the sake of the family, not even thinking of going to government school as it would hinder his earnings. Even this noble gesture was not enough, and her education and future were in jeopardy. She had to change schools just to avoid discontinuing her studies.

It was at this hopeless juncture that Operation Sahay Foundation, stepped in to help this family through Project Cruse, a support scheme for such single-parent families and their children, orphans, and others in challenging situations. Rekha and her son’s deepest desire, was for Jayashree to be able to pursue her studies. Now with timely help from OSF reaching them on a monthly basis, the family is able to move ahead. She was on the verge of being forced to follow the path of her brother in taking up some low paying job. Jayashree is happy and grateful to OSF for coming forward and helping her continue pursuing her studies.