It's was the worst bus journey from Godda to Kolkata I've had in a while. The bus was packed to capacity and the conductor insisted on taking on more migrant labour who were all over the place! They had no standing room. Some were sitting in the passage and other standing over them and quite a few falling over the passengers who were seated. I was one of the fortunate few who was seated. Anyway, Rajiv, Mitali and I survived the journey back to Kolkata from the project. Our brief trip to the project was over.
We almost didn't make it to Roldih on our journey there. Renee, Lucy, Rajiv, Mitali and I were headed out to Godda and everything was fine. Suddenly the truck in front of our bus braked and we slammed into it. Fortunately, Apart from shattered windscreen and windows and a few grazed knees, we got off without any major injuries. The bus' radiator was damaged, but the driver was resourceful. He patched it up with soap and we were on our way to Godda in a bus that was freezing because there was no windscreen to stop the wind. The passengers were somewhat sheltered by the partition of the driver's cabin. But we are lucky that the driver did not freeze to death! He brought us safely to Dumka. I had called ahead and so there was a taxi waiting to bring us to the project.
The three days on the project was rather hectic. People kept dropping in to meet me since I hadn't been there for a while. And to make matters worse, on the night we arrived, Bhola had yet another epileptic fit. He had just driven back from Godda with the volunteers and was laughing and joking with them in the kitchen while they were having dinner. And the next moment he came to my room to say he was not feeling well and before I could figure out what was happening, he started having a fit.
We called his father and his friends and they all came over accompanied by a local "doctor". But by that time he was back to normal but totally disoriented. They took him home and he was not on the project during my stay there. He was, however, able to attend the "final" meeting I had with the staff. This was good and necessary as I've made some major changes on the project.
Bansi is back. He has changed. For instance, he now looks like a Sikh after his year-long stay in Punjab where he worked in a nursing home. He wears a turban and has grown his beard and hair like a Sikh. But besides his outward appearance, he has changed as a person too. He is more self-assured and confident. He seems more serious and sensible. And what's more, he appreciates being back and also being on the project. He admitted that the project has really cared for him and he has discovered this by being away. He now wants to sincerely run the project with all his heart and soul. That sounds good. And I am hoping he will like up to his commitment.
So now Bansi is in charge of the project and the school. Shanku is there to assist him. Renee and Lucy are there to help him run the school along with Kartik and Raiman -- both of whom I could not meet because they had taken leave for Shankranti, an important festival for both tribals and non-tribals. School was open. Children came to study. It was good to have Renee and Lucy to fill in. Before leaving I made a routine for the school so, from today, the school has a routine and teachers had definite classes and subjects to teach. Renee and Lucy will be teaching English and Maths. The new routine was necessitated by Radha's departure. She will no longer be teaching in Roldih school.
Bhola too will not be living on the project any more. He will be associated with the project and getting an honorarium for doing "outside" work and liaising with the Cheo centre. This way he will be able to run his shop and taxi service and help the project with receiving volunteers, getting them registered at the police station, marketing, finding people for work on the project -- repairs etc. And since he will be "free" from Roldih, I am hoping he will visit Cheo once in a while to check on what's going on there.
I decided NOT to close down the Cheo project. I have reduced the honorarium we've been paying Ramnath and Chandrama and have told them they can now charge a monthly fee from the children who come to attend school and this money will also be part of their honorarium. Ramnath, who attended the meeting, agreed to this arrangement and is, in fact, very excited about it. He realizes that this is perhaps the first step in makin the Cheo school self-sustaining and independent. Since admissions to Cheo school will start in March, he has ample time to convince the villagers that after so many years of practically free education, they need to contribute to the schools survival. If they pay monthly fee, their own level of involvement will increase and the teachers' commitment and responsibility to run the school will also increase. The mission schools charge Rs 3000 per annum as school fees. Parents in Cheo will be paying only 800 per annum including a Rs 200 registration fee. The money collected from registration will be used for various annual events -- Independence Day, Republic Day, Saraswati Puja, Diwali, etc. We will also be asking for nominal contributions on these occasions like the other schools in the area. We all feel this is a good survival strategy which will ensure the projects continuance.
Perhaps we will do the same for Roldih too. This year, the children organized a picnic on New Year's day from personal contributions. We hope they will contribute to make Republic Day on 26th January, a memorable event. We are hoping there will be more active participation from parents if they contribute to the event. We will know soon enough.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend. In fact, I'll be away in Farrukhabad in UP on Republic Day for yet another trainning session. Life has been rather hectic for me since the 20th of December. I've been travelling all over central UP conducting trainning programmes and flying in and out of Delhi and Kolkata attending meetings and briefing sessions. Even though I feel very tired at times, I enjoy the work and that keeps me going. It also helps me earn enough money to guarantee the project's survival even if no volunteers show up! Thanks to some generous contributions I've received and the money I've earned in the past three weeks, I was able to clear up all project debts till the end of December 2010. It feels good to be debt free.
2011 is looking good so far. It's nice to have Bansi back. It's good to know that Cheo will survive and I don't need to close it down. School is going well. And I have a few assignments to look forward to. The only sad news is Bhola's illness. But since it has been discovered in the early stages, proper medication should put him back on track soon. Ramnath, who has a similar problem, has been hail and hearty for the past many years. Let's hope and pray that Bhola will also remain well.
