Twinkle Twinkle Little Star…

Another work day at Kisan Mitra. Another village. Another hero. Another story. But the difference this time is, the person in question is a 9 year old child, Jayashree from a Chenchu (tribal) village in Vikarabad.
Women in general in this village are all dynamic, vocal and extroverted and this girl is no exception! She is bright, talkative and stole our hearts with her charisma. She understood why we had come to her village and pulled us to her house to introduce her mother who has not been keeping well for a while.
Jayashree’s mother was attacked by a wild boar around 15 days ago when she had gone to graze her sheep in the forest and she got seriously injured. She has still not recovered completely and also her father being physically handicapped, Jayashree is compelled to do most of the household work. She carries 6 big pots (binde) of water from a nearby borewell to her house everyday, washes utensils, sweeps the house etc., she does pretty much everything in the house except cooking.
She said “Maa mummy ni adavi pandi guddinappudu nenu mastu edchina. Nenu maa mummy lekunda undalenu. Naaku jutlu evaru estaru? Maa daddy estaa annadu kaani naaku maa mummy ne eyyaala. Anduke nenu maa mummy ki mastu saayam chesta”
“When my mother was attacked by the wild boar, I cried a lot. I can’t live without my mother. Who will plait my hair? My dad said he would but I want my mom only to do it. That is why I help my mother a lot.”
The wear and tear of life has worn her out a little but her spunkiness and childish charm are totally alive. She showed us all her school books, her pencil box, her drawings, their goats, their custard apple tree, flaunted her cursive writing skills and also sang a song for us. She also mugged up our helpline number and shared it with anyone who cared to hear her out :)

Kids in the villages may not have a lot of “things” the privileged city dwelling children have, but their innocence, their zealous attitude towards life, the ease with which they adapt to their circumstances, their free spiritedness etc., are some of the many “life skills” which most of our children lack but must definitely learn from them. We parents must certainly facilitate this learning for our kids.

Volunteer with us. Come along with your kids. It will definitely be a learning experience for young and old alike. https://goo.gl/forms/kPdyW64SBiA3b7Rq1