i have been having some trouble sleeping the past few weeks. I hear something creaking and scratching its way through the wall behind my bed! It is the freakiest feeling to hear these sounds especially when you are trying to catch some sleep. I have tried to figure out logically what might be causing the sounds and try and stop it but seemed to be getting no more possibilities other than skeletons buried behind the wall or some spirit having some unfinished business!
I was, however, in no position to let these thoughts occupy my mind last weekend because they tend to reduce my sleep hours which means I cannot get up early in the morning for a special trip I was embarking on. My college friends and I were to join our Director General, Fr Paul Vaz on a trip to Tara Village which is located in the Panvel Taluka. A famous landmark in its vicinity is the Karnala Bird Sanctuary which makes this village ideal for winter picnics and an excellent location to go for meditation or a rejuvenation program. But we were not there for a rejuvenation of any sort. Infact we had our work cut out for the day with activities with children from a dozen villages all around this centre which is centrally located.
We had a wonderful time playing and singing with these kids and their teachers were delighted to see the kids really enjoying themselves. But it is not all fun and games for these children. They are sons and daughters of an unfortunate life their parents lead as Brick Kiln workers. And it is so because of the financial burden that they are kept under by their bosses, or should i call them 'masters'? They are paid bare minimum wages for the work they do which is making red bricks. An entire day they can make around 250 bricks for which they get paid something as low as Rs.100! How do they meet their expenses? The child's school fees and other expenses and the bills? What happens to them when they fall ill? This is certainly not enough and they know it. So out of desperation, they choose to let their children work with them and that could help them make a 750 bricks and get some more money for the family. And the maximum benefit out of this desperate choice goes to the brick kiln owner who sells the bricks made by burning away the future of the children in that same kiln in which their bricks bake!
But all hope was not lost, for the Jesuits (priests from the Society of Jesus) were there to give to their children education and give the families a new lease of life and hope. They started what is called as Bonga Shalla (Bonga means Bell which is rung in the areas where the parents make bricks and Shalla means School). These schools are make-shift huts built of the same straw that would have otherwise gone into making bricks and the teachers carry with them all the material they need for educating the children. This gives educational empowerment to these children who are most times migrating from South Maharashtra and North Karnataka to these places to work and the children complete just half a term sometimes in their homes. The schools gives them continuity in their education and the government gives these children letters which state that they have completed the term successfully at the Bonga Shalla.
However, the government is now cutting the flow of funds to these institutes because they are run by charitable institutions. The Jesuits would be able to manage the finances, but it still does put them under a sizable financial strain. They need to pay some sort of remuneration to the teachers who volunteer to teach the children. They need to purchase stationary and writing material to give out to the children. How do they continue meeting these needs over time?
Every night since then when I go to sleep and I hear those sounds behind my wall, I know it is the future of these children locked within the bricks and mortar that makes my house that is calling out to me. Will I be able to transform my house of Nightmares into an abode of Peace?
We had a wonderful time playing and singing with these kids and their teachers were delighted to see the kids really enjoying themselves. But it is not all fun and games for these children. They are sons and daughters of an unfortunate life their parents lead as Brick Kiln workers. And it is so because of the financial burden that they are kept under by their bosses, or should i call them 'masters'? They are paid bare minimum wages for the work they do which is making red bricks. An entire day they can make around 250 bricks for which they get paid something as low as Rs.100! How do they meet their expenses? The child's school fees and other expenses and the bills? What happens to them when they fall ill? This is certainly not enough and they know it. So out of desperation, they choose to let their children work with them and that could help them make a 750 bricks and get some more money for the family. And the maximum benefit out of this desperate choice goes to the brick kiln owner who sells the bricks made by burning away the future of the children in that same kiln in which their bricks bake!
But all hope was not lost, for the Jesuits (priests from the Society of Jesus) were there to give to their children education and give the families a new lease of life and hope. They started what is called as Bonga Shalla (Bonga means Bell which is rung in the areas where the parents make bricks and Shalla means School). These schools are make-shift huts built of the same straw that would have otherwise gone into making bricks and the teachers carry with them all the material they need for educating the children. This gives educational empowerment to these children who are most times migrating from South Maharashtra and North Karnataka to these places to work and the children complete just half a term sometimes in their homes. The schools gives them continuity in their education and the government gives these children letters which state that they have completed the term successfully at the Bonga Shalla.
However, the government is now cutting the flow of funds to these institutes because they are run by charitable institutions. The Jesuits would be able to manage the finances, but it still does put them under a sizable financial strain. They need to pay some sort of remuneration to the teachers who volunteer to teach the children. They need to purchase stationary and writing material to give out to the children. How do they continue meeting these needs over time?
Every night since then when I go to sleep and I hear those sounds behind my wall, I know it is the future of these children locked within the bricks and mortar that makes my house that is calling out to me. Will I be able to transform my house of Nightmares into an abode of Peace?
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