In this second installment of Founder Lall Singh’s visit to Malkainia, we get an insight into some of the challenges he has encountered since starting the charity and how he plans to overcome them.
Satyam and Sheker
Whilst I have been travelling to and helping the village of Malkainia since 2014, this charity was only setup in May 2015 and it has been a learning curve for me trying to understand the local culture and customs.
Last year the procedure of making the first school fees payment became cumbersome, as I was advised that payment in cash can lead to corruption.
After much deliberation and local advice, it was decided that the safest and most transparent way was to pay the parents accompanied by their children, in front of the headmaster of the school, as this way was deemed the best chance that the cash will go towards the children’s education.
During this time two brothers, Satyam and Sheker turned up, but without any parents or guardians.
I was strongly advised not to pay cash to children without parents accompanying them or parents without children, as it is too easy to claim their places were never paid for.
So these boys were sent away, and I had left India before I could check their circumstances.
During this year’s visit I made a special trip to their home, and found them alone being looked after by their grand mother, their mother was away somewhere at a wedding party in another village. It turns out that what happened last year was that their father was in hospital on that day, and their mother was visiting him, so they came alone and I sent them home without paying their school fees.
One cannot feel any worse than the way I felt when I found this out, especially now that I have since learned that their father has died.
Eating humble pie, I made sure that this year, and will in all the future years as long as this charity exist, they will go to school, and we will also provide their school books and school uniforms. Further, from now on, I will follow up these children’s circumstances more carefully, and will not act entirely on local advice.
With your support, their future are more secure and I can’t thank you enough.
Lall.
Please wait...