‘ अंधििशास पर ििशास नही ’

Our story of Change from ‘ अंधििशास पर ििशास नही ’

Satya Bharti School, Kanasar, Jodhpur, Rajasthan,

Bharti Foundation

Problem being attempted to change: In this village most of the villagers are superstitious. For the treatment of diseases they always prefer

Sadhus or kind of Tantrik Babas who are known as ‘Bhopa’ in local dialects. These Bhopas misguide them & took material from villagers like

Ghee, gold items & other daily life use materials. The villagers don’t understand their tricks. They also threat villagers that they will cast a

spell & will make loss to them. These villagers believe in them blindly. So we planned to aware villagers against these Sanctimonious Bhopas.

• Bharti Foundation

– Bharti Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Bharti Group Companies.

– The prime objective is to bridge the existing education divide and make quality education accessible to underprivileged children in rural India.

– The Foundation aims to help underprivileged children and young people of our country realize their potential.

• Satya Bharti School Program

– The Satya Bharti School Program is the flagship program of Bharti Foundation.

– It aims to deliver free quality education to underprivileged children, with special focus on the girl child across rural India.

– Present Operational Status:

• Number of Schools Operational: 250

• States of Operation: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu, West Bengal,

• Number of Students Enrolled: Over 30,000

Introduction

About the Community

• Geographical Location: Located 75 Kms away from Jodhpur in the remote rural area surrounded by small steep hills & sand.

• Cultural Background: It’s a small revenue village having around 150 houses. All the Most of the villagers are occupied in farming & Anial Husbandry. Literacy rate is very low. Worst condition in Girl Child education. People are unaware of latest IT inventions which are still like fairy tales for them.• Role of Satya Bharti School in the Village: The school is providing

Quality primary education in the village. The computer education & a close relationship with parents ignited awareness towards the importance of education. The literacy rate is raising. The only Primary school having the higher enrollment of 226 than the nearby secondary school.

• Participation in ‘Design for Giving’ School Contest: SBS Kanasar participated in design for Giving contest & sensitize the community aginst the sanctimonious Bhopas. They planned a program under the title- ‘ अंधििशास पर ििशास नही ’.

• There are may cases which can be cured by timely treatment from Doctors.

• When a person bitten by snake villagers just tie a loose string at the place of bitten & take him to these Bhopas for te treatment.

• We felt that people are blindly supporting these sanctimonious Babas.

• In our daily life we see that science is day by day inventing new things to discover the undiscovered & here peple are still far behind from the current latest miracles of science.

We ‘Felt’:

• We went through internet for images of tantriks to get some real images.

• We imagined that if aware community against these people they will able to keep hem more safe & can believe on Doctors.

• We planned a play, speech & rally for the villagers to tell the reality of these people.

• We prepared one of our class mate to play the role of these Bhopas.

• We can sensitize people on the latest inventions of science that how it works with logic.

We ‘Imagined’:

• We conduct the play outside the school nearby the road. People passing by don’t know that ot was organized by the school & thought ot was happening in real.

• The play moved the community too much as it was so real that some of the villagers came & started touching feet of the student doing the role of Bhopa.

• When they come to know about the reality they said that if these little kids know about it so much & can aware us next time will avoid to meet these Bhopas.

We ‘Did’:

We ‘Did’:

• We organized a rally & also went to a nearby temple to meet the pujari who is not a sanctimonious & asked him to support us in sensitizing the people.

• We contacted the some educated people to give the speech on the decided day.

• The community took the oath in that day that in future they will contact doctors & take suggestions from the educated people.

• They asked Bhopas to tell them reality.

• The Bhopas said that they just believe in God & they don’t do anything.

• Community ,members shared their experiences too.

Impact on Community:

• The day we did the play in last the whole community gathered in school & thanked the teaching staff & students to tell them about the reality.

• They were amazed to now that how Science works on logics.

• The success of the campaign strengthened our belief that we were working in the right direction.

• Many of us explored new learning through internet.

• Our parents & teachers are proud of us for being the part of this program.

Impact on Us:

We were happy to know that we little kids brought a change in the lives of villagers & will have a deep impact.

Experience of Community Members & Teachers:

“Most of the time when there is any suffering in family we thought that there is curse of God and we met these Bhopas who always misguided & taken lot of material & money from of us. but now I come to know that these all are part of life & happens due to lack of our own awareness & unhygienic Behaviour. We must contact Doctors or educated one.” Banna Ram Community Member.

“ बचो दारा चलाया गया अिियान ‘ अधंििशास पर ििशास नही’ ने हमारी आखेँ खल दी . जो सही हो और सामने हो हमे उसी पर ििशास करना चयैे और ढोगी बाबाओ के संपकक मे नही रहना

चािहए .” - Bhanwari Devi mother of a student.

“ When our students told us that they want to run a campaign against superstition & sanctimonious people whom they call Bhopas we supported them. If these few students can bring a change within a week then think what all of us educated people can do. The community is ready to accept the new innvations & ideas . “ – Manohar Lal (Head Teacher SBS Kanasar)

• Organizng camps in the village with the help of local community members & doctors.

• To show some videos related to superstitions. • To take forward our campaign “‘ अंधििशास पर ििशास नही’ to the

next level.• We will equip ourselves with some chemicals to show the magic &

share the reality of it in villages…• Ask Villagers to complaint against such sanctimonious Babas or

Bhopas so that they wont be able to cheat other people. • Not only the Change Day but all the days & whenever we will have opportunities will try to change for betterment of lives. We all will be great Changers.

The Road Ahead…..(in the next 3 months)

Students Participating in the Contest:

• School Staff– Manohar Lal (Head Teacher)– Ganga Singh (Class Teacher)– Kamlesh Lalar– Mannu Kanwar– Arjun Dan– Gomad Ram

• State Team– Program Coordinator – Sandeep Sarda– Cluster Coordinator – Tilak Pooner

Team Responsible:

Thank you