Seva Mandir

My name is Ian Forber-Pratt and I am a new volunteer at Seva Mandir. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Social Work (MSW) in the United States. Since the focus of my studies is child welfare, I asked Seva Mandir if I could visit their schools and camps that work with rural populations. After three visits to Seva Mandir’s children’s learning camp, which is located 5 km from where I am staying, I can’t get enough of the camp, I visit as often as possible. It is a seasonal residential camp (school) that gives children an education that expands far beyond academic material. Because the camp is close to Seva Mandir’s guest house, I am able to drop by often (three times this past week) to say hi to the children and get a feel for the atmosphere.....                 read more

The monsoon has been delayed here. Farmers have made their fields and are waiting for the rains. People grow maize during rains. Also they grow some vegetables in their farms as the water is plenty during monsoon; but only if it rains. Past two years have not been very good in terms of rains. So this year we need the rains badly.Recently, I had seen two young kids (around 1 and half years old) in the city hospital. Both were suffering from Tuberculous Meningitis. Tuberculous meningitis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis......                                                           read more

Indra is a four year old who lives in Kesarpura village. When she was enrolled in the preschool center, she was not able to walk. Part of the reason was her poor health and partly because she was not confident of interactions. She would sit at one place for all day long. Manisha the sanchalika spoke with Indra’s mother and explained Indra’s situation to her. She encouraged her to send Indra regularly.....                       read more

Kanu (changed name) a dedicated Balwadi Sanchalika (Pre-School teacher) is 24 years old and has passed 8th standard. She is responsible for running a full day Pre-School Center (Balwadi). Kanu has been running the Balwadi with the support of village development committee and Seva Mandir for the past five years and is an emerging leader of the village. Kanu has had to face difficult times during her work in the beginning she was resented by many people as she came from a nearby hamlet and also because she belonged to the upper caste. This resulted in petty quarrels over small issues. Kanu being patient continued to struggle.....                             read more

Jivi (changed name) is in her thirtees and has two children. She and her husband works as laborers. She also works on their agriculture-farm when there is no labor work. She has been sending both of her children to Balwadi (Pre-School Center) for past two years. She says-“Before I had to carry my children wherever I would go. It was difficult at times. But now I am not worried about my children when I go for labor work or go for bathing at village-lake. My children play and learn so many things and the Sanchalika looks after them very well”. Her four-year-old son has learnt to wash his hands before eating. When the Sanchalika.....                        read more

Personal stories shared by few kids at the Camp by Ellie – volunteer at Learning Camp: March 2008
The learning camp is a residential school for children from villages around southern Rajasthan who have either attended only small amounts of school or have never attended school. There are 20 teachers and 250 pupils of which only 87 are girls. Each camp runs for a one month and a half and the children attend 3 camps if possible. There are 3 class levels; A to C where A is the highest, and the aim is to progress each child up to level A. I visited the camp over a period of 2 weeks including living there for 5 days. It was an amazing.....                            read more

Leela (Changed Name) comes from a very poor family. She lives with her parents and four siblings. Two years ago Leela had attended a literacy camp for four months that was organized by the Government. After the camp Leela went back to home for tending to her goats and for working as laborer occasionally. She was paid Rs. 35 a day for the labor work.When she first came to the Learning Camp in May 2008 she did know some letters already. Soon she learnt more and more letters and started reading and writing words. She enjoyed learning in the camp and quickly picked up some basic calculations including.....                           read more

Sita lives with her husband and two daughters. Her husband migrates to Udaipur City (22 kms from his village) for wage-labor. Sita stays at home to look after her daughters and works on her agriculture farm when needed. Her elder daughter Puma is now three years old and the younger one Babli is three months.In Seva Mandir-run Immunization Camps Babli has received three shots so far. When the camp started Puma’s immunization was incomplete and so she was given rest of the shots at Seva Mandir-run Camps. Sita is very happy to be able to get her daughters immunized because.....                            read more