Cold morning of 9 February bought a little warmth in the lives of Van Gujjar children in the forests of Haridwar district when 170 of them got stationery kits from Disha Social Organisation with support from Collegiate Path. Each education kit contained three notebooks, a drawing book, a pencil set and a packet of crayons, put in a school bag. The kits brought immense joy to children as their faces lit up with happiness.
Van Gujjars are nomadic tribes residing in Uttarakhand. Their livelihood depends on buffalo rearing and they migrate to higher Himalayan reaches for fodder of their buffaloes during summers and return to plains of Uttarakhand during winters. Earlier entire families used to migrate, but now women and children stay in the plains.
Since Van Gujjars’ settlements are not recognised as villages, schools and other government facilities are not available. As a result, most Van Gujjars are illiterate, and education for children remains a big issue. A few Van Gujjars youth, who could go out and get some education, have taken onto themselves responsibility of teaching young children and set up a few education centres. These centres are functioning without or very less resources, the driving force being pure motivation that the children must get education.
In this backdrop Collegiate Path supported the centres with education kits through Disha. In this first round, the kits were distributed among 170 children. Disha Director Keshwa Nand Tiwari expressed gratitude to the donor organisation, stating that such assistance was very important for Van Gujjar children.
The education centres are brainchild of Mohammad Ishaq, a Van Gujjar youth, who is also a fellow under Constitutional Values Project being run by Disha. Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Gulfam, Mahjabi, Irshad and education centre volunteers were present from Van Gujjar community. Jahnavi Tiwari. P Ram, Tasneem, Satyam Kumar and Razia were present from Disha.
Glimpses
