by Nilesh Nimkar
One of the important objectives of the ECE program in an Anganwadi is to develop hygiene habits among children. Certain simple physical facilities created in the Anganwadi can go a long way in working towards this objective. It is very common to see children in Anganwadis suffering from a cold and having runny noses. Children... Continue Reading →
The Anganwadis in our country provide not only education but also other important services such as health, nutrition and immunization to children in the 3 to 6 year age group. The job of the Anganwadi Sevika, if done well, is quite challenging. Children from middle class families have access to nurses and doctors who can... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/gCHQ9-mnSAI “My father is playing with me at home! He is crawling on the floor (with me) without worrying about his clothes getting dirty!” During the lockdown, we had sent videos to parents, showing some activities that aid the physical development of young children. In the rural areas, it is quite rare to come across... Continue Reading →
The covid-19 pandemic that began in the year 2020 has been a truly challenging phenomenon for the entire world. To prevent the spread of the virus, in India, schools and Anganwadis have remained closed for about one academic year. Some schools with grades 5 to 10 had started functioning again for a while but now... Continue Reading →
We have noticed while working with these children that they face a problem with number-names. In Marathi and some North Indian languages, the number-names are a little peculiar. These children can say “80 and 4” quite easily. But they find ‘chauryanshi’ (चौंऱ्यांशी ) confusing.
There we go again. Start from scratch. Tarabai and Anutai had done this pioneering work decades ago. I feel amazed and saddened that their work is not outdated even today.
Suddenly, I felt quite depressed. Could Kishor or I really achieve anything in this highly unstable environment, by coming here to teach for a few days? Would these children – for whom we are taking all the efforts - really benefit at all? Is our work providing an answer to these children’s problems?
Another striking point was that the children were engrossed in decorating their writing using the sketch-pens. They spent almost equal time in writing and decorating. Looking at their enthusiasm of decoration I experienced absolutely mixed feeling . Should I feel happy because they sat diligently for so long which is very rare or should feel sorry for a thing as simple as using colourful pens was also a luxury for them. I was not able to decide.
Kishor wanted to add some print to this otherwise print deficit environment. He decided to write the names of all the family members and display the lists on the walls of their Bhongas. Kishor is a resourceful person. He had saved the transparent plastic covers of his students’ school uniforms. We had already made a list of the names of all family members during our initial survey. He printed out the lists, put them in plastic covers and stuck them on the walls to make each bhonga ‘literate’!!
Radhi is not only smart, she is also a born leader. She likes to assume responsibility. One day when Umesh and Devram were fighting, she intervened and made them stop. When she is in Kishor’s school, she is always doing advocacy on behalf of her classmates. Will the unstable life on the brick kiln nurture her inherent qualities?
The Road Less Travelled 