Little Twinkle Schools

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Little Twinkle Schools  | Child Abuse in India
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Why a school?

Having worked in Information Technology for my entire career, I have gone from understanding the power of information to really understanding the power and responsibility of imparting knowledge.

When I went to the villages in December ’02, I had absolutely no plans of starting schools. I knew what I would eventually do in these villages, if any, would simply come to me as I moved around and felt their lives. After meeting the children at the village Kalan, my desire to do what I had remotely envisioned transformed into doing what was needed. I just couldn’t let them down as they stared at me with hope and skepticism.

We opened Little Twinkle Schools on July 1st, 2003, a very auspicious day in Orissa, India when the Festival of Chariots (Ratha Yatra) is celebrated in Puri. 5 pre-schools were inaugurated in the villages of Gopalpur, Manapur, Hadamba, Chitrakul and Haridapal. Going to school in these areas is a far-fetched thought, almost a ridiculous one. Children start to accompany their fathers at the tender age of 4 when the village herd is taken out to graze. They grow up in extreme poverty, often times compelling parents to trade children for food; an act that cannot be comprehended sitting in posh living rooms. Bottom line, education does not bring them food.

But here I was, loaded with these pre-conceived notions, completely shocked when parents walked up to us requesting us to educate their children. They were disappointed that their government had neglected to build schools in their villages. I spent the next 6 months working on the syllabus. What good is it to teach a child from this village how to read and write if he cannot feed himself? The idea was not to have a conventional school. The idea was to give the children information and skills that would propel them to find a way to be self sufficient within the village economy.

Although, the children will be taught to read and write, the main focus will be to teach them general awareness and skills. Next came the task of picking up teachers for these schools. The young girls I had met in the villages earlier like Chinmayee, and Ranju were picked for this task. This way I had found a way to help these young girls support their families too.

The idea of Little Twinkle Schools is to expose children in villages to alternate ways of living. I certainly hope there will be at least a few who can do so!