Category Archives: With her will she will find her way

Barsarani’s life is a little different from the average teenager’s life, as besides going to school and attending her classes she also manages all the household chores and her three siblings as her parents are daily wage labourers and spend most of their time away from home. On weekends, she also makes Sal leaves plates and sells them in the market to pay for her school expenses and other expenses. Barsarani’s family situation is not unique in the remote Adivasi hamlet of Dolipada in Mayurbhanj District where poverty is a way of life. When Sikshasandhan started a child club in her area she was one of the first children to join and soon became a peer leader. She is now running a peer learning centre in her village where she provides remedial classes for 15 children. She is the first one to raise her voice for basic rights, when she got to know of the right to basic infrastructure as part of the RTE norms she raised the issue in one of the Children’s Assemblies organized by Sikshasandhan. A resolution was passed by the children demanding for a separate toilet for girls, this was shared with the concerned School Management Committee and finally with the Block Education Officer. As a result, an additional toilet was finally constructed in the school. She is currently studying in the 8th grade and nurses the ambition to become a doctor. Her parents also support her whole-heartedly and hope she will go to college.