HOPING AGAINST HOPE UTSARGA SHOWS THE WAY
SAMBALPUR : She had grew up in an orphanage and had never in her dream ever imagined that she would land up in a respectable job in the society. But today Nilima Jhankar is a role model and inspiration for numerous inmates of the orphanages as she is working as nursery teachers in a Public School here.
Having grown up in an district's orphanages which offers only Rs 7 a day to meet food expenses of every child, Nilima and many like her breathed a fresh whiff of air when an initiative called 'Special Attention Programme on Health and Education' was conceived in the year 2005. "We wanted to give them a dream - a new life," says Sudhir Pujari of Utsarga, who now heads this initiative. Supported by New Delhi based SMILE foundation, the project works to improve the health and education standards in the four Sambalpur orphanages - Dhankauda Balashram, Dhankauda Kanyashram, Rukmini Devi Bal Niketan and Dr Issac Santra Bal Niketan.
The project came into existence when Utsarga in a study found that the condition of the orphanages were in deplorable conditions. While 25 children shared 11 beds in a single asbestos roofed room on Dhankuada, the situation of other orphanages were no better. The children inmates were plagued with malnutrition, underweight, anemia and looked diseased and rickety. "It was a horrifying and inhuman sight” recalls Sudhir. He informed that the children read in nearby schools and going to school was a daily chore as none in the orphanages were educated enough to guide the children.
And with the schools remaining closed in absence of teachers for about six months in a year in Dhankauda and Chachanpali, it was difficult for the students to pass even as they dropped out gradually. But with the launching of the project things looked up. It began with health camps and organizing tuition for the children, said Utsarga Co-ordinator, Rudra Narayan Mishra. The prescription and advice of the doctors were followed strictly and in the first three months itself, there were visible change.
The tuitions also saw drop out children resume their education prompting Utsarga to extend their intervention with Smile Foundation extending its support. A strategic action plan was worked out to boost their personalities besides health and education. Elaborating on their experience Mishra and Sudhir said that as the children were undisciplined and rude, they developed rapport with them and tried to understand their problem. Regular interaction revealed that the children had potential but had resigned to their fate. Although it was an uphill task Utsarga Volunteers achieves the desired goal step by step bringing back 161 children back to books.
Bishhnupriya Kunar of the Dhankauda Kanyashram had stopped pursuing education after failing to clear matriculation examination. Five years later she is preparing for her examination again and is hopeful this time. Similarly, Parvati Dhala and Nilima Sahu had failed Class 12 examination till Utsarga changed their lives forever as they scored more than 50 percent.
And with Utsarag also managing to rope in people's participation, the wretched places has been replaced as fun-schools with drawing, singing, debates, essay-writing, personality building workshops, laughter sessions being organized about which the children had never heard about.
examinations," she adds. She got a moral boost from the Utsarga volunteers to start studying. Four years ago Nilima wanted to end her life, today she is economically independent and dares to dream. Her success in life has opened up new vistas and avenues as Utsarga volunteers work overtime to identify hidden talent and groom the child accordingly to ensure that he is rid of helplessness. Take for instance the case of Debatos Sahu. He had an interest in electrical works and was hence sent to an electrical contractor in Keonjhar, who had promised a salary of Rs 2,000 a month. But, soon his love for the place brought him back. Finally, Debatos was sent to driving school and it ended with the institute offering him a post of instructor not out of mercy but sheer talent. And Sudhir is right in his observation when he said “its just the beginning”.