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Visit Date: 08 Dec 2005
Visited by: Sathyan Subbiah (sathyans@gmail.com)
Project contact:
Neha Madhiwala (Trustee of Sahyog)
C-107,C Wing, Patel Apartments
(Next to Hari Masjid)
Jari Mari, Andheri Kurla Road,
Kurla (West), Mumbai-72
Neha's contact info:
mneha@vsnl.net, 9892220160 (mobile), 26406703 (Office), 28591729 (Sahyog)
I had gone for the site-visit along with Nitin Banait, an IIT-B PhD student.
Some History
Sahyog first started the school in the Jari Mari basti (slum). In 2002, the Maharashtra state government decided to relocate several slums in Mumbai and as a result part of the Jari Mari basti population was moved to Goregaon. Neha mentioned that initially even finding and accessing the new slum area was difficult. Initially the only way to access the basti was by climbing a 90 step-stair. Even today there is only a kucha (rough) road that leads to the Goregaon basti - the autorickshaw we went in refused to go beyond a certain distance on this road. After having assessed the situation in Goregaon, Sahyog decided to start a school there. Hence, now there are two schools that Sahyog runs - one in Jari Mari and another one in Goregaon. The one in Goregaon is currently funded by Asha-Atlanta. The main Sahyog school and project is funded by Asha-Berkeley.
Getting to Sahyog
I had told Neha earlier that I will come on Friday 11am. Due to sudden schedule changes, I visited the previous day (Thu) in the afternoon. So it was, in a way, a surprise visit. I went to Goregaon first. From Powai an autorickshaw takes about 45-60 minutes to get to Goregaon. We met Mrs. Bharati, one of the two key staff members of Sahyog, at Sakinaka (between Powai and Goregaon) and then went along with her to Goregaon. We got off the auto and continued on foot and made a left turn into the basti. The basti consists of several tall buildings (where the people live) with narrow streets between them. The streets are lined with small shops selling various grocery items and vegetables in carts. We made another left turn only to face a municipal garbage truck that had pulled in occupying almost the entire street. The street vegetable vendors quickly moved their carts to give way to the truck. Bharati guided us into one of the tall buildings.
 Fig. 1 Building Entrance |
 Fig. 2 School Entrance |
The School
We made a brief stop in a room on the ground floor. This was the medical clinic. A paid doctor comes once a week to attend the medical problems of the girls studying in the school. The doctor was just leaving when we went there. From there we walked around the building (Fig. 1) and into an adjacent connected building and climbed up the stairs to the first floor. We went into the school (Fig. 2) into the first room. This room is like the living room - here is where the students first assemble and the usual routines such as prayer etc take place. From this room there are entrances to three class-rooms. A fourth class-room has an entrance from one of these rooms. Each room is about 10ft x 12 ft. Four sets of classes are thus conducted in this school - each handled by one teacher.. Each class has a mixture of grades depending on the education level of the students. So for e.g. one of the classes will have all students aiming to clear the 5th grade government exam.
 Fig. 3 First class room |
 Fig.
4 Students in the class
room |
The first class was the youngest grade class (I think 5th grade) - see Figs 3 and 4. A black board is kept on the floor leaning against one of the walls (Fig. 5). The students were learning science at that time. Students were all sitting on the floor on a mat. I briefly asked the students if they enjoyed coming the school to which they emphatically nodded and smiled.
 Fig 5 Blackboard for writing |
From here I moved on to the next class which was in the adjacent room (Figs. 6 and 7). Here again the students were sitting on a mat on the floor. The blackboard was hung on the wall and the teacher was supervising the students who were answering questions in the book at the end of a lesson. The school provides the textbooks for each student. The students bring in their notebooks and writing material. All the student are from the local community. In fact, even the teachers are college-going girls from the local community. Hence, they know the students fairly well.
 Fig. 6 Another class room |
 Fig. 7 Another view of the class room - students answering questions at the end of book-chapter |
The third classroom (Fig. 8) has an entrance from this room. Here the students were undergoing a reading exercise. Talking with the students, on that day almost 30% of the class was absent. It wasn't clear why this was so.
 Fig. 8 Another classroom with students undergoing a reaching exercise. |
In the fourth classroom the students were working on a drawing exercise. The student were drawing a picture from the board and giving it suitable colors.
 Fig. 9 Drawing lesson in progress |
 Fig. 10 Students learning drawing |
The school runs from 1pm until 6pm. There is a break in between for about 30 minutes. The school is operated continuously through the year without any summer break as in conventional schools. An academic year does not apply to this school since the students prepare for the government exam offered at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th grades. They take any of these grade exams whenever they get academically proficient and feel ready at that level. Although the syllabus is that of the conventional school, there is a slight twist in that there is more local community involvement/awareness in the learning process.
Some of the models made by students as part of an exercise were kept on top of the walls (Figs. 11, 12).
 Fig. 11 Models made by students |
 Fig. 12 Models made by students |
The teachers (Fig. 13) are all young college going girls living in the same community as the students. The teachers get some sort of training one day a month. An external trainer comes in and teaches them skills on teaching and handling a class. The teachers said they make a weekly report on each student noting their progress and difficulties they face.
 Fig. 13 Teachers (left four) along with Bharathi and a staff member |
The school space was obtained from the local authorities after much coaxing, coercing and persistence by Sahyog (Neha Madhiwala) and in return for a certain task (I cannot remember what), the local authorities gave it to Sahyog rent-free for three years. What Sahyog obtained was essentially a large open hall. The classroom walls were laid at Sahyog's expense and converted into a school. The school was one toilet just outside the entrance.
Sahyog main school
After bidding goodbyes to the teachers we then headed to the first Sahyog school in Jari Mari. Here we met Neha Madhiwala and the other key staff - Farzana (Fig. 14). This school had already closed by then since we arrive past 6pm. Farzana was waiting for our arrival; Neha came in few minutes after we came.
 Fig. 14 (R to L): Neha, Farzana, Bharati, Sathyan |
Here amidst a cup of hot tea, Neha told us briefly the story behind the creation of the second Sahyog school as I have explained above. She also showed some community health books that she, along with Bharati and Farzana, have come up with to educate the people in the slum areas. The Maharashtra Government has asked Neha to spread the community health programme to several other slum areas in Mumbai.
In the school was a noticeboard where the meeting minutes from the staff meeting was displayed.
 Fig. 15 Staff meeting minutes displayed on notice board |
Neha used to work full time (drawing salary) for Sahyog until recently. Now she works elsewhere and is a trustee (volunteer) for Sahyog. She has a masters degree in social work and also is a recipient of a fellowship for leadership development. She pointed out that the second school in Goregoan was setup with very less involvement from her side. This she pointed out as a success since it is proof that the Sahyog project can replicate itself without higher level skilled involvement. The Goregoan school was essentially set up by Bharati and Farzana who have been getting training from Neha. I asked Neha to send us some sample academic records of the students and other material that will show the progress of the students. She has agreed to scan and send in a few documents.
Neha also indicated that she has some other ideas for a proposal that she would like Asha-Atlanta to consider for funding. I welcomed the proposal and asked her to submit it.
Nitin and I then left from there at around 7pm or so.