Off the highway about a 20 minute drive is a village with a step well, an old temple and a school.
We stopped at the school which Gate 1 Travel has helped build. Currently there are just over 380 students, 92 of them girls. We were able to hear the preschool kids recite their ABC’s and interact with some of the other kids.
The cement classrooms are completely empty except for a blackboard and a piece of fabric on the floor. Since there is no electricity, several of the classes were outdoors where it was “cooler”, the students sitting in the shade of a tree in rows with backpacks in front of them and books on top of the backpacks as if it was a desk. They are shoulder to shoulder, backpack to the back of the person in front of them.
I crouched down to see a couple of the paperback 8-1/2 x 11 full color (not in very good register) books. They were currently working on math. The backboard easel at the front had Hindi writing and some numbers. One of the boys pulled out an English book, opened the page and started reading. It was the lyrics to “We Shall Overcome”. He read the first stanza and then I sang it. We did the same thing with the second stanza. In addition I saw a couple of pages on the steps for digital pranayama.
They know enough English to ask me “where are you from?” And “what is your name”? I also asked them their names but most of them I could not understand. All these kids want their picture taken, saying “Picture! Picture!” So I took a few photos and then gave the camera to one of them. They all want an opportunity to take photos, grabbing and jostling to get it. They took my photo and then some group photos.
Gate 1 supports the school with the proceeds of their business and has helped create a restaurant in the small village, which is where we had lunch after going to the step well, temple and three home visits in the village.
