Day 18 - Tuesday 6th August

We arrived at the house of Usha Raman, the principal of SJS, at just after our scheduled arrival time of 8pm; in India this is effectively the custom. We were there for what turned out to be a wonderful dinner. We were welcomed by Usha as well as Nirmal, the second of the pair who first established the school thirty years ago. Ganga, the deputy headmistress and a teacher since the school opened, was also there. She hugged us and kissed us and welcomed us as she had throughout the trip. They all did.

Usha, Nirmal, Ganga: India’s very own Three Musketeers, fighting for the right to an education.

They have fought through tough times – of which there have been many – to arrive at the good times, although challenges inevitably remain. But it was a fight worth fighting, so much so that a second school, GKV, is about to expand massively and may come to equal SJS in due course. And if there is one thing we have learnt from this trip, it is the power of education.

Earlier in the day, which was a regular teaching day coupled with a choir rehearsal and a basketball match, I had taught my lesson with Asik, a Standard Four pupil from GKV. I have taught at GKV until midday for two weeks now which frees up the afternoon for one-on-one sessions.

Asik struggles; he couldn’t write legibly and speaking clearly is a challenge. He rarely did homework and probably lives in conditions we would find uninhabitable. GKV is a free school for the poorest in a poor country, and Asik is probably one of those in poverty. Now he can write the alphabet beautifully and has handed him two pieces of homework complete and on time. He’s proud of them as well, showing any teacher who was around; I gave him sweets, Mrs Morrison-Bartlett drew him a well-done picture. Perhaps, just perhaps, we being here has reversed Asik’s fortunes. For it is education, and only education that can stop him on his path to nowhere.

Now multiply that by many, many thousands, and you get what India’s Musketeers have achieved. Doubling this is the aim for the expanded GKV. What does a fiver buy in England? At GKV, it buys a month’s education; it buys an escape from poverty.

Of course, SJS and GKV depend on more than three women: be it Jesus the music master, Jonny the sports teacher, or Ganesh, the ever-smiling janitor who keeps everyone up-beat. And, for a small while, we – all of us – were part of this. Indeed, some have pledged to be part of this all over again in future years. Yet at its head are Usha and Nirmal and Ganga, unlocking a future for the Asiks of this world. We have helped them along the way, albeit for a short while. In return they have taught us many things. Above all, the power of education.

By Ewan