Muni Wadeka lives in Patamanda Village in Koraput Dist of Odisha. She is the daughter of Nistu and Tare Wadeka. They are small farmers in the hilly uplands in Narayanpatna area. Her mother tongue is Kuvi, which does not have a native script. Muni last attended school in February 2020 when she was in the 6th Standard. The school is situated 2km from her home and she walks to school. It was a long break as the schools remained closed and there was no provision for online classes. They do not have smartphones, tab or laptops.
By the 7th month since the school closure, Operation Sahay Foundation started a learning program for the children of her village. She started attending that regularly and says “It was so good, that I could continue my learning at my village itself. My parents are so happy that I have this opportunity. We do reading, writing, practice mathematical tables, learn addition, division, multiplication, subtraction and also learn puzzles”! The learning centre works from 5PM to 7PM.
She is excited there are books now in the reading centre which runs as part of the learning program. Odiya, English and Hindi books are available for children on various subjects. She likes the Story books and it’s the first time she has come across books with nice pictures. Muni has not seen story books earlier and never knew that such resources existed.
Now her daily routine is to do homework given at the learning center in the morning. Then goes out to help in the farm and does some house work. In the evening before the classes, she spends time with her friends and goes to the reading centre. Her family is glad that despite the difficulty and restrictions due to Covid, Muni is able to participate and be benefitted through the centre established by OSF.
WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HELP YOUNG FRIENDS LIKE MUNI HAVE A GREAT FUTURE THOUGH SHE LIVES IN A VERY REMOTE AREA – PLEASE WRITE TO US HOW YOU COULD HELP.
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