Education is a founding stone into the world of knowledge. Teachers hence have high respect in our society. But is educating reaching all of our children? Today SURFACES REPORTER (SR) takes a look at the story of a woman passionate about bringing education to all children. This story is a part of SR's campaign in association with WADE ASIA where we invited women in Design to share their inspiring stories from 2020. 

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Pranay Manjari is the CSR head of Edifice Consultants, her passion for the noble cause of helping students of tribal communities has resulted in great results in Tasada village.

Reaching the remotest of areas in Tasada

Pranay started on her escapade to find rural areas where the need for a good education was high. In 2019 she met a journalist who covered issues related to tribes and Dalits. This led her to explore the vulnerable community of Paudi Bhuyan in a remote village called Tasada.

Pranay Manjari states that her peace lies in working with students to educate and empower them to chase their dreams and lead a better life. Hence, she soon started to explore more about the conditions of the tribal community of Paudi Bhuyan. The condition of this particular tribe is very delicate and they are also ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribe Group’ (PVTG).

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Pranay dug more to realise that not only the village have no electricity or road accessibility but also the dearth of amenities. The village had no drinking water facilities, anganwadis or proper schools. The so-called school was a used unsafe mud building. It was heart-wrenching to see that there were no kids rather they were engaged in goat keeping in the forest.

Unveiling the first step to education

The sight at Tasada affected Pranay very deeply. She left no stone unturned and started on her mission to help the kids through education. She immediately spoke to the Edifice management to help start a Community Learning Centre program in Tasada. Her efforts also got approval from the MO school of the Odisha Government to start work as service volunteers. Pranay started teaching the kids with immediate effect and she and her company chose to build a school for the sidelined community that is prone to extinction.

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Her struggles were far from over, as the pandemic set in migrants started going back home and schools were shut. During the lockdown period Pranay and her team helped several migrants by extending their support. Although schools started in June and Edifice foundation also supported the online teaching initiative but it wasn’t a hit. As most of these students were from economically weaker communities due to a lack of mobile phones and network connectivity, they could not attend online classes.

Building the school

Pranay soon realised that there needs to be an alternative. As soon as the first phase of unlocking commenced, she shifted from Bhubaneswar to Khuntagaon (a village near Tasada) with the thought of using the lockdown months to build the Tasada school. She surveyed the village to realise that the kids were back to goat keeping and household work. She also understood that the kids had already forgotten what they had learned so far in school. Her persistent hard work led to the Edifice foundation getting the approved proposal from Mo school. The construction of the school is set to start in the midweek of February. Her company is contributing to construction expenses, apart from the design assistance. Mo school will also contribute funds to build the school building. The project is envisioned as a community project. Pranay states that they asked the villagers to contribute their opinions about how to go about it and the school site.

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Her team organised a community fest to gather their support. Pranay says “Edifice Foundation intends to build the school with a combined methodology of vernacular and contemporary architecture.”

Pranay’s hard work and perseverance is an excellent step toward uplifting a community close to extinction. Her dedication to helping kids through education is a great effort for helping them reach their goals!

Keep reading SURFACES REPORTER for more such articles and stories.

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