The Timbaktu Collective

Prakruti Badi

PRAKRUTI BADI (at Timbaktu) May 2012 The School and our Children The district of Anantapur in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India is considered to be one of the most drought and desert prone areas in the country. Rainfall is scarce and simple survival is a daily challenge to a large majority of its rural population. As a result many families are unable to afford to send their children to school. In 1994 the Timbaktu Collective established an alternative learning centre to address the needs of these families and their children. Today Prakruti Badi – the Nature School – is home and safe haven to a hundred children – 65 residential and 35 day scholars. Many of these children are either dropouts and/or branded failures. Some are orphans and others habitually mistreated and hopelessly neglected by their families. The school provides them with free education, boarding, food, medical care, and the physical and emotional security that a child needs to ensure that he/she has a safe and happy childhood. At Prakruti Badi the lines between learning and fun are blurred and teachers and children approach both with the same sense of enthusiasm and excitement, and creativity and independent thinking are encouraged. The school is located in the midst of an agro-forest and has neither electricity nor running water. Solar power meets our minimum requirement of a couple of hours of lighting in the evenings and bore wells with hand pumps suffice to meet our water requirements.

Here’s a look at the month of May . . . . . . . May is the time for summer vacation at Prakruti Badi. The children have gone home and the classrooms are deserted while the playground scorches under the summer sun. Despite the heat the time is perfect for all the repair and maintenance work that needs to be done – whitewashing and painting of the buildings, repairing the temperamental hand pump at one of the bore wells, fixing all the much beaten cracked and broken dappus (local hand held drums) and re-stringing worn out ankle bells, etc.

May 2012

The Timbaktu Collective

Prakruti Badi

One of the highlights of May was the 10th class SSC results. Out of the 18 children who had appeared for the exam 13 passed. And out of the 5 who did not, 4 were unable to clear one subject each. All 4 are planning to re-write that paper in a couple of months. This year Renuka scored the highest marks in the school’s history – 522/600! We are proud of all of them and wish them all the best for the next phase of their life! The teachers spent the week before school re-opening making final purchases and discussing the possibility of a new schedule vis a vis timings and timetable. Since a school day that began at 8:40 am and ended at 5:00 pm and consisted of 9 periods and which, compounded by a shortage of teachers, left little time for adequate lesson planning, it was agreed that we should revise the school timings to 9:00 am – 4:40 pm with 8 periods. Designing a new table was a challenge! But it finally got done and includes the introduction of 2 new classes – library and activities.

May 2012

The Timbaktu Collective

Prakruti Badi

There was another challenge – one that we thought necessary to truly be able to do long term justice to each child. It involved a radical change - grouping children between class I – VIII according to their abilities rather than their age. This meant that while some children would move up one class, others would stay where they were, and yet others would move down one class. The BIG challenge now was how to deal with the disappointment and possible low self worth that some of them were sure to feel. The best solution that we could come up with was to be honest and lay the cards on the table. After all, each child is truly unique and therefore possesses unique abilities that need to be nurtured in a setting that gives them a sense of accomplishment rather than failure. Also, we felt that the conventional class I, class II, class III labeling was somehow not quite right and did not adequately reflect the spirit of learning. So, having decided which group each child should start in, it was proposed that we would ask the groups to name themselves. School re-opened on May 29th and the children whooped with joy at the sight of the new playground.

May 2012

The Timbaktu Collective

Prakruti Badi

Needless to say we had a hard time extricating them from there and persuading them to gather for the first assembly of the year. It was good to once again sing the sloka together after which various announcements were made. Then it was time to break the news regarding the formation of the new groups. Much to our relief and delight all discomforts, misgivings and apprehensions soon dissolved in the fun and laughter that ensued when the groups sat together to choose a name that they felt represented them! We were over the first hurdle! We hope that this augurs well for the year to come!

May 2012