Chatter

It is still dark outside. I am not able to open my eyes. “Vijaya, O Vijaya.” I hear my mother calling and I know that it is time to get up.

I sit up in my bed, which is a thin mat on the floor and a torn sheet to cover myself, and I look at my younger sisters Urmilla and Pooja. Our youngest sister is still very small. She is only 2-and-a-half years old. Her name is Kanku. So, we are four sisters. My parents were not very happy when they got another girl. It is very important to have a boy in a family. I also would like to have a brother. But my mother’s health is not getting better. She is very weak. I heard the nurse tell her that it will not be good for her health to have a brother for us. I have to take care of mother too. Though I am only twelve years old, I have to look after Mother and my sisters.

Grandmother, who lives with us, is already up and is chanting her prayers. My mother calls me again and I rush towards the kitchen. I quickly take the broom in my hand as I have to clean the house and the front yard. It is almost 5 o’clock in the morning and mother has to go for her work in a factory almost 10 kilometers away. Mother and I try to finish our morning chores by 7 a.m. Then we will be preparing lunch which will be just plain dry rotis made of wheat flour and some vegetables. Mother needs me to fetch water from the community tap. It is always a big struggle to fetch water in the morning, as everybody needs it. Sometimes my mother has to fight with the other women so that we can get a bucket full to bathe and get ready for school.

Oh, yes, I go to school! My father, who is a truck driver, is a very good man. He wants all of us sisters to go to school. So when the Good Shepherd English Medium School came to my village, my parents got me enrolled. I am very happy I go to English medium school. Some of my friends are not able to go to school. And this makes me very unhappy. Their parents think that a girl must learn to cook, clean and do the household chores.

As soon as we get a bucket full of water, I rush to wake my sisters. I help to brush their teeth, and also help them to bathe and get dressed. Then Mother gives us some tea and a roti. After breakfast we all rush to school. While we are gone, Grandma takes care of our little sister. We like to go to school. We are able to play games, sing songs and also learn a lot. Sometimes I feel that our school should go on and on. But by 1 p.m. our school is over and we have to go home. Loads of work await me. Because my mother is off to her work, I have to take care of my sisters at home. I have to feed them, clean the house and also finish off the washing. My grandmother is too old to help me. By the time I finish off my work it is almost 5 p.m. Time to start with the dinner. Mother comes back home from her work after 7:30 p.m. Dinner is almost ready when mother is home…I am tired…but still have my school homework to do. My sisters need my help too in their studies. Sometimes I wish my mother would stay at home so that I can have some more free time, but she has to work because we do not have enough money and we need food and clothes, new shoes. You know, we get new clothes only at Diwali. It is our festival. And Father tries his best to get us all new clothes. Father also is away from home for days as he drives the truck.

I am really tired…can’t keep my eyes open…I am falling asleep and I dream of going to school again tomorrow. Someday, after I finish my studies, I will have a better job and a better life…will I?

Vijaya belongs to the “untouchable” Dalit people in Kutch, but attends a school
in Anterjal and is sponsored by IBCers Ed and Elizabeth Quick. Through other
generous donations from IBCers totalling $3,542, another 58 students from
Anterjal have been sponsored.

Take Action

Sponsor a student at a Dalit Education Center for $28 per month. Go to www.dalitchild.com and under “Sponsor a Child” click on “View photos of children.” In the State/Province dropdown choose “Gujarat,” then for School choose “Adhoi” or “Antarjal” to find a student to sponsor. Or stop by the DFN Sponsor a Child booth at IBC on February 14.