Environmental Design: Wall Project for School Children
In Karnataka, a State in Southern India, English-medium education is only offered in private schools. Loyola Xavier school which is in Pannur gives Dalit and other impoverished children the opportunity to to be educated at a very minimal fee or for free. The school hopes that this will support and give them the chance to attain the very best qualifications, leading on to vocational training, further education opportunities and ultimately, employment opportunities that their parents had never had. Loyola Xavier school is the first school to give these sort of opportunities to Dalit families living in North Karnataka.
It receives no government funding and therefore relies on outside charities such as Supporting Dalit Children to fund the running costs of the school, including teachers' salaries, boarding hostel costs, school buses, school uniform, books etc.
As part of an outreach program I had the opportunity to visit this school and tag along with the postgraduate students from the Social Work department of St. Joseph’s College.
We had the responsibility to take up various tasks in and around the campus. Here, there was a wall painted in white that stretches for about ten meters and houses the main kitchen. The children would sit facing this wall to eat their meals three times daily. Three students and myself were asked collaborate and come up with ideas to paint the wall for the children. We decided to paint a forest with cute animals using oil paints.
Pannur receives little or no rainfall throughout the year, witnessing scorching summer heats of 50 degree celsius. Nonetheless, we completed this feat in a total of two days. The excitement on the children's faces as they saw new animals and characters being drawn and painted left us with a sense of happiness that I cannot explain.
Co-artists: Josmy Joseph, Hairanga Ngiimei, Tasha Susan
If you'd like to support Loyola Xavier School, or to get in touch, details below:
Contact : info@supportingdalitchildren.com