Dalit children finding their voices in India

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Amita, is an 8 year old Dalit girl from Bihar State. One morning her landlord knocked at her door, demanding she replace her sick mother working in his fields. She said she was on her way to school and was mocked by the landlord and his men, who taunted her, asking if she ‘wanted to become a magistrate one day’.

When she replied ‘Why not? I could do that!’ she was beaten until she was hospitalised.

Amita’s family are not only seeking justice in the courts, but have now made their home one of the 25 Centres we support in and around Patna for Dalit children. Project leader Varsha says ‘They are without fear. They are fighting not just for themselves, but for all Dalits’.

These Centres are not just for basic learning, but through this provision of education, aim to break the cycle of oppression that children like Amita face. Centres are creatively placed, not only in homes like Amita’s, but riversides, rooftops and under trees. They learn maths, English, Hindi and all the skills that they are often denied at mainstream school, but they also learn about their rights and how to realise them.

Sahlil attended our Learning Centre in Narangi Sarsikan village. After learning in class about the rights his community is entitled to, he decided to address the lack of clean water in the area. With the support of his teacher, he wrote to the local government and two new water pumps have now been installed in the village.

As a result of learning at the Centre, Sahil has now entered mainstream school. He says “Since going to the Centre, people value me and I have respect. I want to be a doctor and change people’s lives, but I am starting with changing the village!”

Varsha says ‘If Dalit children grow up thinking they are nothing, then they will expect nothing in life. Education is the start of this change.”
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