Slum School

In truth, this project came about as a spontaneous response to both my and Alex's visit to one particular slum on Wall Tax road - behind the central station of Chennai, which sits on the banks of the old Buckingham canal - now a fetid stagnant breeding ground for mosquitoes and their diseases.

To our Western sensibilities it was very confronting - both the conditions in which people lived and the tiny space they had to do so in. Living cheek by jowl, a family of eight to a single makeshift room, along narrow lanes on which lives are lived out - where women cook on open fires, children play, lice ridden dogs languish, the odd chicken struts about pecking for scraps, competing with a goat or two.

The sheer compression of all these lives into so small a place does however generate an amazing sense of vibrancy - and while conditions are extraordinarily tough - so are the people - who bear it with an amazing fortitude. This slum has been in place for forty years and so there are now five generations who have lived their whole lives in the place. Children run around naked - wild - making the best of what they have. The kids are having fun, playing in the sand and dirt, using any object as a toy - they run free, living in the moment and do not seem to carry any sense of misery or despair about their lot - that comes later - among the men - who are worn down by the hardship of their lives - take to drinking and quickly destroy themselves - it is a story that is often repeated.

Funerals are not a time of mourning but a time of celebration - the men drink heavily and dance in the street - a soul is set free from the burden of this life.

It was the leaders of the slum community themselves who suggested we help their children. For them their children are their hope. They know that the education denied to them is the key their children need to elevate them in life. The key to break the cycle of poverty that has trapped them in their lives.

The leaders offered us their community hall which they had built themselves out of donations from the slum community which numbers close to eight thousand people. The hall is on the edge of the main road leading into the slum and is built on re-claimed government land and is thus an illegal structure. However, all the leaders and more men of the slum besides, have fought in the streets with the police to protect what they see as theirs. Many of the men I spoke with have been in prison at one time or another and wear their time in gaol like a badge of honour - as if it were a rite of passage toward election onto the slum council.

I stood in the hall and Harry Das the leader, dressed in white as denotes a politico, with his shiny bald head and menacing grimace told me "this is for you." I felt their pride in this gesture - for while they could not teach they could offer what they had and did so.

This marked the beginning of organising the slum night school which has now been running close to a year. Initially, as with any new attraction the school was well attended and supported by everyone in the community. It was not long however, before the novelty wore off and numbers dwindled. Life began to intrude again. Elder girls were still expected to do their chores - washing up or cleaning clothes, looking after the younger siblings - whatever it might be no sooner were they back from school they were expected to help out. And while parents liked the idea of their children being given some additional tuition and support - they were not so keen to be left with extra work - and so begun an ongoing tussle with the parents to try and make them realise they needed to let the girls attend.

The girls for their part where tired of so many demands being put upon them and so relinquished their night school classes.

The boys, though having less domestic demands placed upon them - were generally more unruly and prone to play truant from both school and evening classes. Once the novelty had worn off for them it was back to playing cricket on the dirt patch near the canal or flying a kite - or doing anything else apart from more study.

There is a lawlessness at the lowest end of the scale - perhaps it is born out of hardship - discipline comes in the form and violence - and fear is the only weapon anyone responds to - so in some measure, it was a blessing when a portion of the unruly boys stopped attending the classes as the teachers could concentrate on getting work done rather than on keeping control.

Little by little the numbers settled down - and we included a class for younger children so that by the end of this year we will offer classes to children in the 6th standard through the 10th (ages 10 through to 15). There are seven classes in all, each run by a qualified teacher each class running for one and a half hours. And while progress is slow - we are seeing results - two girls even came top in their maths class recently. Small achievements like these are big signs for us, as in it, we can discern a shift towards real progress in terms of learning and concentration.

The fact of the matter is that the classes now contain 70% girls - there is nothing we can do about this - but what we do know is that those that come want to come - and this is enough for us to make a start. We can't force anyone to come as we have discovered if we do we only get disruption.

There are times when I stand in the small noisy hall under fans that do not seem to make much difference to the thick heat of the polluted air and wonder if we are achieving anything - and then one sees a boy answer a question in English, when only six months ago he could not speak a word and one thinks - well - in some small way - something is happening.