Strong Roots School and learning how to operate an industrial sewing machine

After breakfast at the hotel we headed out to another school supported by Hands In Outreach, Strong Roots. Ram took us to the extremely impoverished area, where it is evident that there is no government urban development plan or support for services such as waste removal or management, and no housing facilities or open public spaces. Families live in structures made of tin on 3 sides with a rope and blanket on the 4th side. These structures seem endless. There are no yards or open spaces for children to play, just a think muddy road. Down a small alley, we come to the door of Strong Roots School. It is a very small 2 story structure with 4 rooms; it is home to 39 happy children and 5 dedicated and hard working staff members on the morning of our visit. 

The first floor has a small entry where children wash up and then go upstairs to gather and greet each other. At Bal Kendra, this morning time is spent in the large covered school yard and children have space to run and play. At Strong Roots the children use the classroom upstairs for this time. We saw a small group playing ring around the rosy and a few boys rumbling, tumbling and giggling. The morning routine begins similarly to that of BalKendra: one older student leads the morning exercises and the national anthem then 2 classes stay upstairs and 1 group heads downstairs for learning activities. Both schools use Montesori materials and follow their teaching training. Again we see children independently getting materials and mats to practice learned skills while the teachers assess individual children or pull small groups for lessons. 

The space at Strong Roots is very limited, the downstairs classroom is about 9x7 and has 16 children and learning materials. We are amazed at how the teachers manage this space for students, materials, and lessons. The Hands In Outreach mission and objectives are being met at these 2 schools. The children at Strong Roots especially are provided with an opportunity with this unique access to education.

Back at Bal Kendra we meet a new friend: an industrial sewing machine. There is a  mother's group that meets 4 mornings a week at 6:30 am to learn different skills: reading, writing, English, and soon sewing! The machine is an old industrial garment machine, and it is HIO hope to train mothers on it to to get them out of manual labor, such as lugging large, heavy sacks, and into textile work. This is not a US singer machine!! Before the women get a chance to practice on it there was some worm to be done! Check out some of the pictures!