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Indian church helps children in Maoists-infested villages

Catholic school provides education and care in insurgency-hit area
Indian church helps children in Maoists-infested villages

Children attend class in Gurukul Adivasi portable cabin school, in the heart of Maoist insurgency hit Dantewada district, central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. (Photo by Saji Thomas) 

Published: April 07, 2016 11:30 AM GMT
Updated: April 07, 2016 11:52 AM GMT

Vimla Mandavi's eyes sparkle when she explains how fortunate she when compared to many other children in her village in India's Chhattisgarh state.

The 10-year-old tribal girl says she is lucky because she has a very healthy environment to learn in.

"I get good food, accommodation, clothes, footwear and a school bag" which many other children just do not have, Vimla exclaims.

When Vimla goes home she has no guarantee of food, let alone the comforts she can get at the school.

The fifth grader is among 500 students at Gurukul Adivasi School in Palnar, which is in the heart of Maoist insurgency-hit Dantewada district in the forested eastern state.

Vimla's school is the only church-managed English language school among 19 portable cabin schools that have been set up in the insurgency-hit district.

The state government in 2011 established some 30 such schools across three districts, including Dantewada, as an alternative to those schools destroyed by Maoists insurgents in these areas. As the name indicates, the schools are designed so they can be moved to thwart Maoist attacks.

The Maoists destroy village schools, with explosives, because security personnel use them as shelters during anti-insurgent operations, says a government official, requesting anonymity.

 

Far-left communists

Maoists, who claim to be working for the rights of the poor, have conducted an armed rebellion against the state since 2002.

People in the area are reluctant to speak to the media about the insurgency out of fear for their safety. If they are believed to be speaking in support of Maoists, they say, the police will arrest them. If they are seen as supporting the police, then the Maoists will kill them.

Even children are tight lipped about the Maoists. Some smile, some will give an emotionless look, and some will just walk away.

"Every child is tutored about the dangers," says a villager, adding if a child makes a mistake the whole family could suffer.

According to a 2014 survey, insurgents destroyed over 80 primary and residential schools in the district. Accordingly the number of out-of-school children in the 6-14 age group is high but the aim of the portable schools is to change that.

Carmelite Father Tom Arackal, who directs the church-run Gurukul Adivasi School, says the their students receive a good education and they are well looked after.

"Once a child is enrolled it becomes the duty of the school management to provide them food, shelter, tuition, clothes, shoes and all other basic needs children have," said the priest of the indigenous Carmelite of Mary Immaculate congregation.

The government, he says, funds the school's entire expenses and "our duty is to provide quality education to the children."

School principal Sister Jessy Joseph says she has students in her school who are victims of the insurgency.

"Some children have lost parents due to the conflict and some whose parents are behind bars for suspected links with the Maoist rebels are also with us," Sister Joseph explains.

Besides education, Sister Joseph says that they aim to develop their student's overall personality and to instill a sense of confidence.

"We help them to heal the physical and mental bruises of the past," says the nun from the Sisters of John the Baptist congregation.

"We make them feel at home here and they get accustomed with the system so well that most of them just don't want to go back to their homes," Sister Joseph adds.

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