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Educational Hostels
"We are just working people. We have never seen anything or been anywhere. My life has been nothing more than working eating and sleeping. All I want is to see my son get a good education so that he can make something more of his life".
The Indian caste system has existed for more than 3000 years; it is a system of social segregation which is inherited by future generations. The higher castes get access to the best jobs, housing and education. The Dalits (Hindi for broken people) operate below the caste system. Traditionally, they do the dirtiest jobs, jobs which supposedly ‘pollute’ the individual doing them, before 1954 Dalits were considered so polluted that it was forbidden to touch, talk to or even look at them.
Recently this situation has started to change. Organisations across India are helping Dalits to help themselves. Karuna funds organisations such as Bahujan Hitay and Samata Mahila Society (SMS) who believe that education is a vital ingredient for Dalits in their struggle for dignity and human rights.
8 out of 10 Dalits live in rural areas, Karuna’s education hostels programme offers children from Dalit families the chance to come to cities where attitudes are more liberal and where they are housed, fed and can attend school. In the hostel they are cared for and supported by a network of staff and volunteers, many of whom are Dalits. This has had a profound impact, instead of seeing Dalits as victims; the students begin to see Dalit people in a positive way, as role models. This has become very successful in changing the self-perception of the children and has been instrumental in feeding into their desire for change.
All around India, a new generation of Dalits are redefining themselves. The word is no longer dirty, it no longer means ‘broken’ people; instead it is a title bestowed on people who practice equality, believe in equality and fight for equality.
Karuna is currently supporting 17 educational hostels in 3 Indian states allowing nearly 1,000 boys and girls from very poor backgrounds to continue their education.
Many school children from deprived backgrounds in India drop out of education by the age of ten. Often their parents are illiterate and unable to provide support or guidance; their local schools are very poor; or they need to work to earn extra income for their family.
Urban hostels funded by Karuna provide accommodation while students attend local schools. Trained staff and volunteers make hostels a stimulating, friendly environment encouraging the all-round development of the children. In this way, over the years, thousands of students have been supported to complete their education and are better prepared for the challenge of helping themselves and their communities.
- Pooja Gaikwad
Pooja Rahul Gaikwad is seventeen and has lived in Vishrantwadi girls’ hostel for six years. Her father, an alcoholic, died when she was eleven. Her mother, who never went to school and was married at thirteen, had moved from her village to Pune with her three children, looking for work. Pooja came to the hostel because conditions at home made study very difficult. She is studying for a diploma in mechanical engineering.