A school which provides loving care!

School Offers 'Loving' Home for Kids
In India millions of children are deprived of education since their parents are poor and always on the move looking out for work. A new initiative in China can become an inspiration for many NGOs and concerned citizens.A school set up by a couple there has become a model for helping out children whose parents are poor and always on the move.

I had some great teachers during my school days.My social studies teacher ' Paulose sir' used to tell wonderful stories and learning was great fun for all of us! Once he told us this story of a poor agricultural worker, Ramu who really wanted to go to school and learn.His parents were so poor and they couldn't afford to send him to school.When he grew up he also became an agricultural worker like his parents. But he always wanted to go to school and regularly watch childern going to school.When small children go to school with their schoolbags, laughing and talking loudly he used to think. "I am so unfortunate I couldnot go to school. When I get married and have children, I will definitely send them to the best school". He got married a few years later and the very first day itself he told his wife of his dream."Both of us will work very hard and save all the money we earn so that we can send our children to the best school in our village."Everyday used to dream of his children going to English medium school along with the children of people from the higher castes.The couple had two children ;a boy and a girl .As planned they sent them to the best school in the village.Every day when the children used to read their lessons in English both the parents would listen carefully even though they couldnt understand anything. The Ramu would very often tell his fellow workers about his children's studies.He would proudly tell them "Do you know my children go to English medium school.Your children dont even attend school."

Every night Ramu would tell his wife "I am so unfortunate I didnt have a chance to go to school". One day he declared "I am going to join a school and start learning".The wife thought that her husband has gone mad.She asked "Which school will admit you at this age.?"But he was determined.Next day he asked his son about the things one should have if he needs to go to school.His son told him innocently that anyone with a schoolbag, tiffin and waterbag can join a school. . That day he did not go to work got school uniforms ready for himself and bought books, waterbottle and other things to join school.Next day morning he went to school along with his children.Both the children were so excited that their Papa is also coming to study in the same school. The father and the children reached the school by 7.00am and he occupied a front seat in one of the classrooms.Seeing this man sitting in the classroom,lot of children gathered and they thought that he is a thief.They started screaming "Chor chor"hearing their screams the peons, teachers and the whole school rushed to the room where the "new student" was sitting.By seeing all this confusion he also got little scared and did not know what to do.When he saw teachers and peons rushing to catch him he started running.The whole schoolalso started running after him screaming"Theif, thief ,Police catch him!" Somehow he reached home and his wife asked him about his school.He said "My school is very nice.It looks like we had a P.T lesson today and I was made to run .But wait and see I will practise all the lessons tonight."In the night he decided to revise his' lessons' after the children slept..He started practising his 'lessons' repetedly " Thief thief, Police catch him!". At this time some people had looted some rich people and were sharing the loot in front of his compound.When they heard someone shouting Police and thought Police had already arrived They left in a hurry leaving all the valuable things there.

Next day Ramu was taking a round in his compound and saw all the wealth left by the thieves.He took everything home and told his wife," It looks like someone has forgotten all these things.Keep them safely and return when they come."But no one came for the wealth left behind and Ramu became the richest man in the village .My teacher used to tell us,"If Ramu studied so sincerely for just one day and became so rich,you can become richer and famous by studying sincerely everyday!".

Education is the best gift we can give our children. An educated and healthy population will be our greatest strength.This report from China is very encouraging.
Larry Abramson/NPR
The entrance to Guan Ai, which means "loving care" in Chinese. A couple opened the school to provide a warm environment for kids left behind by parents who head to big cities for work.

Migrant workers in a tiny rural village in eastern China wanted to make sure that when they left to find work in faraway cities, the kids who stayed behind got a quality education. Rather than leave their children with grandparents, parents issued a plea for a boarding school.
A local couple — both educators — responded, and in 2005, they opened Guan Ai, a private elementary school whose name means "loving care." The school's approach makes Guan Ai a refuge from the highly competitive environment at traditional Chinese schools.
Life at Guan Ai
Guan Ai is located in tiny Houjia village — home to about 500 people in China's Shanxi province. The surrounding fields are planted with asparagus and other crops, and a phalanx of rugged mountains watches over the valley. It's only 100 miles or so from the historic city of Xi'an, a tourist mecca. But economically and culturally, Houjia village is light-years away.
By Western standards, the village is desperately poor. But for rural China, it's considered prosperous. Incomes have been aided in recent years by a migration to China's big cities. Many families have traveled east to open noodle shops or other businesses.
About 200 children attend the first through sixth grades at Guan Ai, and most students live in this former public school.
The school itself is minimalist. The floors of the classrooms are perpetually dirty, as kids track in dust from a bare front yard. There are two water sources: a pair of spigots, which are used for washing everything from dishes to kids' feet.
Hygiene is tough to maintain in a place where everyone depends on the most basic of pit toilets. But hygiene and good nutrition are part of the curriculum here. At mealtimes, students line up in a courtyard to get meals from staff working inside a building that serves as the kitchen.
Against a wall in the courtyard lies "the mountain," the name for a pile of coal used for cooking. After they've eaten, the students squat down next to the outdoor spigots to wash their dishes.
Students eat lunch both outside and in a dilapidated cafeteria. The earthquake that ravaged parts of China in May did not damage the school, but it did put new urgency behind a plan to replace the cafeteria.
The students' diet includes eggs: A nonprofit organization started by a young Chinese-American woman — a former NPR intern — has helped raise the money for a campaign to get kids to eat "an egg a day."
Exploding with Energy .Guan Ali students have formed a band.The music programme is part of the school's effort to encourage interest in the arts.
In typical Chinese public schools, rote memorization is often the order of the day. Guan Ai is different.
Kids are encouraged to work in groups. They perform skits in order to encourage other students to conserve water and take good care of schoolbooks. Teachers are asked to keep journals and record observations about their classes. It's all part of an effort to foster a warmer, friendlier environment than a typical Chinese school offers.
In between classes, the students run around the dirt yard that surrounds the school, playing soccer and rope games.
The energy follows them into class. One minute they are talking excitedly; the next they are singing along with their teacher at a deafening volume. And just as suddenly, they are sitting in rapt attention as a teacher tells a story. A local grandmother comes by to teach them the art of paper cutting, and she seems to magically summon pieces of fruit and animals from scraps of paper. The kids immediately imitate her, and they create their own menagerie.
This private school receives some support from the government, but Guan Ai administrators must constantly search for new sources of funding. Guan Ai has a sister school in Menlo Park, Calif., which contributed books to Guan Ai's small library.
But the chances of these kids making it past ninth grade are not good — that's when mandatory education in China ceases. These Chinese students are more likely to go right to work. Guan Ai is one small effort to instill a more positive attitude toward school, and Guan Ai teachers hope that students who cannot or choose not to continue their formal education will leave this school better equipped to survive in rural China.