Adiwasi Excellence Government Girls' School
After a long day out in the scorching hot atmosphere of caste away villages, a night trip back to the center of Baihar cooled my senses and revived my optimism. Having made a chance friend with a local woman who is a teacher at a local adiwasi school, I was able to interact with tribal youth who have been far from home for some time. The ages of the girls ranged from 10-15, with fifty girls in 6-8th class and fifty girls in 9th-12th.
The insides of all of the building were vibrant and colorful, very clean and nearly every wall had an image of Sarahswati, the Hindu Goddess of Education and Knowledge. The hostel is home to 100 girls from 6th to 12 class who learn math, Hindi, science, art and history all in an environment with other children from similar backgrounds. They will not face the same ridicule by students from other communities, who at these young ages are often immature and harsh to one another. The school, pulsating with creative energy juxtaposed with tightly structured schedule from early morning to late evening. The girls were to begin their day at 4am first with a meal, then studying, yoga, washing, with a break from 7 am until 11am when school would start.
While I was there, the girls sung me songs, showed me traditional Baiga and Gonda dances, and spoke of how they missed their homes. The dances that I learned were Garba, by the instruction of Roshina Durwa from Malascam village near the Copper Mines. I thought I was going to be able to teach them something new when I brought salsa to the dance floor, but as it turns out, many of the girls were already familiar with the dance. They are their missing their family but from the looks of it, all have found another family there. After 17th of April, they will go to their village to return in 2 months.