Damrughutu - Denise Goodson, volunteer report

March 2009, West Bengal, India.

We are in a very remote, parched and hot landscape, close to the villages of
Dumrughutu and Ktanga.
The Indian nuns of the Ananda Marga, neohumanist organisation run a High School, a Primary School and an Orphanage.
There are over 100 girls living at the High School. Some of their families can afford to pay towards their keep and education. Some families cannot make a contribution at all.
Some of the girls are orphans.

They are provided with a uniform, an exercise book and pencil and two or three text
books. The classroom resources consist of wooden benches and desks, a blackboard and
chalk. Some teachers come into the enclosure to give lessons in geography and dance.
Much of the learning is done by rote, and the girls will sit for long periods of time
reciting their lessons. They have no story books.

The atmosphere is one of cheerfulness and welcome.
Every girl has to help with cleaning the floors. One corridor serves as a dining room.
There are no tables and chairs for meal times and all eat with their fingers. Some of the
older girls help with meal preparation. Each girl does her own washing up and washes
her own clothes at the well. Everyone is provided with a large bucket for holding water
to wash oneself and one's clothes.

The beds are a flat wooden surface, with no mattress, just a cloth. We, volunteers had a blanket on our wooden bed to give some softness.
At 4.30 each morning the girls get up for meditation and prayers. Lessons start around 7.30 a.m. They are used to it. When it is very hot in the afternoon there is an opportunity to rest, but many of the girls are reciting their lessons. The High School produces students who achieve well in exams.

There are some little children, boys and girls, who live at the Primary School. They are young and have only 2 nuns and “Auntie” to cook and care for them. They try to do their own washing and it is hung on the bushes in the enclosure. Some of the children come from the local villages for the day at school. They also have an exercise book and a text book. They have no toys or story books or soft toys.

Their classroom doubles as a dormitory.
They were so pleased to see us and to show us their graceful dancing.
A volunteer had recently provided them with a water pump and a deeper bore hole.
One day Didi Vratiisha, (The nun in charge at the High School, who also oversees the
work at the orphanage and the primary school) took us by jeep to Tatuyara village. It
took about 45 minutes to get there on dirt tracks.

Tatuyara village has a school run by the Dadas, the male equivalent of the Didis (nuns).
There are 250 children attending this school. There are 3 teachers provided by the
Dadas. Most of the children sit outside the school building on the road. There is not
room for them all inside and also the building was falling down.
Inside the building one class sits on the dirt floor facing in one direction, and another
class sits facing the other way. There is a blackboard at each end. The children have an
exercise book and pencil.

In the rainy season, July and August, the children cannot come to school because there is
no shelter – the rain pours through the building. The rest of the time they start at 6.00
in the morning and work until about 9.00. Then the sun is too hot, especially for those
having lessons in the road.

We are raising funds to build them a new school. A few hundred pounds can go a long
way in India. The new building has started. It will be a single storey with 5 classrooms.
So far we have been given £300 from an artist who gave the proceeds from his art
exhibition in Kent. £580 has come from donations/sponsorship for a sky-dive.

Then in January we are putting on a pantomime – Dracula. It has been written
especially for this production which is to raise money for the education project/building
the school in Tatuyara village, and will feature a cast of professional actors who have freely donated their time and skills.