In India's underprivileged and unserved communities, hope sometimes comes on a bus. The project that kicked off seven years ago to bring the classroom to the children with little access to education has seen an enrolment surge since the pandemic hit.
The project ‘Hope Bus’ is a brainchild of Marlo Philip, founder of an NGO Tejas Asia
Tejas Asia has four buses that go to two different locations per day. With that, it is able to cover 8 locations in a day.
Bus mobile school reaches out to communities in Delhi with no basic facilities and no access to education
Children are divided into three groups – Advanced, Intermediate and Beginners. This makes teaching easier. The children are taught English, Hindi, Maths, EVS and GK.
Children with some potential are enrolled in Government schools.
In most cases, both parents leave for work in the morning and the school on wheels tries to fill the gap.
“We, not just give them education, but also love and care they deserve. We even provide them free meals after the class”, says the class coordinator Ebna Edwin.
Children enjoy these classes and look forward to attending the same.
“When I am leaving, they ask me if I will come the next day too. If I am unable to come for some reason, they even phone me. The unconditional love of children keeps pulling me to them. I feel so loved and blessed”, says Anu Singh who has been teaching here for 5 months.
Mim Akhtar joined classes three months ago after she saw more children attending the same. Her younger sister too comes to the classes.
“I used to see the bus coming here daily. Everybody was studying so I too felt like coming and I love coming here.”
Mim doesn’t go to formal school and enjoys learning from the Hope bus.
“I study English, Hindi, and Maths here. They show us videos to help us learn better. I learn music too. Mam also sings very well,” says Mim excitedly.
Her mother Manowara Bibi is a rag picker who hopes that at least her daughter would have a better future.
As the pandemic struck in 2019, Tejas Asia was no exception to staying unstirred. Parents stopped sending children to school and they had to be convinced about the social distancing measures that were being followed. Social distancing meant the requirement of greater space but with extra staff and resources, things could be managed well.
Marlo wishes to have more buses, not just in Delhi but other states too.
“We want to expand the whole program, everything we do under the program Tejas Asia, be it education, food program, water systems, medical program, and whatever that can help these families and these children. Our dream is to see hope in every community and every life”, says the founder of Tejas Asia, Marlo Philip.
This report comes from Bengali Basti in Vasant Kunj, Delhi.
