Gangotri Center

History

In 1998 Jean Max Tassel came in Varanasi to visit DISCC, Deva center for mentally handicapped children. The first in Utta Pradesh which was created by DrTulsi. After his visit, he decided to settle a foundation to give to DISCC a financial support with small means, but enough to allow the project going on and to back it on long term.

During his second visit, he was thinking to rent premises in an old palace located in ASSI GHAT. As he was staying there, he was ashamed that street children were roaming around and not going to school. He never rent the palace premises but gave to Dr. TUSLI the idea to open a preparatory school suitable for those unprivileged street children and allowing them to be shifted to the standard system.

In 1999, when he came back, the school was opened in a yard next to the hotel thank’s to the shadow of a tree. Dr. TULSI succeed to convince the grand father of MANJU to accept the school in the yard of his home. Manju a BHU Banaras Hindu University student who was living there accepted to conduct this program from the very beginning. She is still teaching and managing it till now.

The Varanasi city’s soul lies in the holy river Ganges. The south part of the banks where Gangotri school is located are liked equally by westerner tourist population who visit Banaras, and also by Indians, who are coming here on religious pilgrimage. Its mystical nature, its crowd and silence, its sunrise, its extreme atmosphere is not only thrilling but also peace producing. It has given inspirations to number of poets and artists around the world who came in. In fact we are proud of our Ganges River.

There is also an other side of the coin, which is worth mentioning. In 1940s and 50s, somehow, drugs and chemicals came into the Indian market and started spoiling the youth. Traffic was also starting near the banks of Ganges at Varanasi. Gradually, Indian youth was becoming addict. It was the worst days of Banaras. Many organisations and Government administration started preventive measures to stop this drug trafficking. However, it went in to the roots, among some of the j poorest families staying near the Ganges. Children also became prone to it. They stopped going to the schools. Moral and Ethical values were discarded. There were more street kids, who were participating, in pretty criminal activities. Also, a number of migratory labourers came from Bangladesh, and neighbouring states in search of jobs. The banks of Ganges became a crowded place. It was also because of this background that my westerner friend and myself while chatting near the bank decided to start a small preparatory school for these children.

GANGOTRI is the place of origin of river Ganges in the Himalayas, the purest of the pure places. We believed that in the same way, at the beginning of their life, children are pure and innocent. That’s the reason why we named this project as GANGOTRI. For these street kids, who are wandering aimlessly, near the Ganges, we thought that, if we were creating a school for giving them moral values, confidence, inner strength, and functional basic education, we could give them an opportunity to change their life. That was the idea for starting this small preparatory school in the vicinity of river Ganges, below a tree at ASSI GHAT,Varanasi. It was in our sense a preventive measure in this direction. So, we started this school conducted for three hours per day, with three staff teachers and one assistant. Thirty children who are between 4 to 10 years old are coming there regularly.

Since the last seven years, this school is doing wonders among those children and families. More and more are asking for coming.

They are very happy. After each new year,either they are promoted to next class or if the child is studying and behaving well then his parents are counselled and based on willingness of the parents, child is shifted to a new school through CEP programme Each year we also take these children to nearby places for educational and cultural Tours. These children also participate in sports and games competitions and have won many awards, which they enjoy and give them confidence.

The comments are closed for this resource.

---