Girls Fund
(From Valentino's diary)
30/8/2004
The smiling girl's name in the picture is Prya, 12 years old. A nice student who we have known since 1999 when she came to our school for the first time at kindergarten level. This year, her father suddenly decided to send her to her grandfather's house in Bophal - the infamous city where thousands of people died as a result of the poisonous gas from a factory run by an American company. “They do not have children” was her father's justification. When we opened the school in July, Prya was not in her class. As usual, the parents did not bother to inform the administration that they had the intention to withdraw their child from the school. This is how things are here in this strange village where we have the school. We struggle for many years to bring up the students, then, five years later, we do not deserve even the basic information that the child has been admitted to a different school. Forget about saying “Thank you!”
This morning I was teaching philosophy to the senior students of IX,XI, XII standard.. For the first time, we also invited the students from class VIII. Before starting my lesson, I requested a student from class XII to summarize the previous lessons for the benefit of the new students. He talked for almost ten minutes! I was really pleased! Then, I asked a teacher to tell me what he had taught.
“I taught them everything you taught about karma, cause and effect. Then he gave an example. He explained why some people live a long life and others die very young, like Prya!”
“What Prya? I never gave this example!” I asked, surprised.
“Sir,” he answered, “I had told students that Prya, the primary school student who left recently, died few days back!”
It was like someone had shot me in the stomach! Prya, the naughty girl from class IV, is no longer with us and I came to know the news by chance from a student who took her as example of bad karma!
I put aside all my diplomacy and told the students clearly that, according to me, she had been – in some way - killed! How would you define the behavior of the parents who first of all, had not felt it was their duty to inform the teachers and the director that the girl was sick, and secondly that the girl had died?
All the parents in the school and in the villages know that we are very sensitive regarding the girls and that we are always ready to help the family in case they do not have money to buy medicine, to pay the doctor or, even worse, for an operation. So, my question was “Why didn't the parents ask for help?” It's a rhetorical question I said because I already know the answer: ”Indian parents, perhaps unconsciously, want to get rid of their female kids, so that they can save the money required for marrying them.”
I mentioned to the students the case of a mother, in the village near our school, who had a daughter who was sick. By chance, I went to visit the village with Adriana Ferranti, responsible for the Maitri project in Bodhgaya. Adriana , suddenly stopped and stared at something. I also stared. “What is that?” she asked a woman. “She's my little daughter!” replied the mother. We were shocked to see a small skeleton, full of flies, and practically lifeless.
“What's the problem?” asked Adriana.
”Oh, she has been sick for a long time!” said the mother.
“We can see that” said Adriana, “but what is the cause? What disease is she suffering from?”
The woman shrugged her shoulders and said, “I do not know!”
“Then, we should find out!” said Adriana and she asked me to take care of the girl.
The day after, our social worker brought the little, dying girl to a famous pediatrician in Varanasi . The doctor checked the little girl very carefully then he said, “I'm sorry, this girl is starving. One week more and she will be dead!”
So, the little girl's disease was lack of milk!
It was easy to cure her and save her life. One year after, we took a photo of puffy, happy, beautiful girl, full of willingness to live!
Once, talking with the mother, we came to know that the girl was not the first to suffer from that … strange disease.
“I've lost six!” said the mother, looking at the sky.
I stop here, because I cannot write any more!
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Alice Project
Ghurahoopur
Sarnath
Varanasi
221007
UP
India
valentino1@rediffmail.com
v_giacomin@hotmail.com
Tel. +91-542-2595062, 3117028
Fax. +91-542-2595379, 2585380
Bodhgaya + 91-631-2330105, Mob.09431278699 .
