issue_02 / APRIL 2019
The Rural Changemaker Published by we-magazine · www.rural-changemakers.com · hello@rural-changemakers.com · Editor: Ulrike Reinhard · Layout: Bea Gschwend
Educational Upheaval By Ulrike Reinhard
Together with Prakriti School in Noida we’ve defined a learning experiment for our Janwaar kids because we believe that we need to rethink education for rural villages in India. To receive “good” education in a remote village in India is daunting. The so called “best students”, once they passed 10th or even 12th grade, can hardly read a page in a newspaper and they are far from understanding what they’ve read. Their gaps in Hindi reading and writing are tremendous, their understanding of math is very, very basic. In comparison to a good school in Mumbai or Delhi a 10th grader in Janwaar has the qualification of max. a second grader in the big city. Period. This has various reasons: the qualification of the teachers, the equipment of the schools, good teachers don’t want to live in remote areas and last but not least the curriculum itself. None of these issues can be solved short term and without government intervention. So we’ve started a schooling experiment which hopefully will make the existing system within a couple of years obsolete. Based on our experiences over the last four years and with feedback from the local teachers we selected 20 children for an assessment – five were selected for the experiment. And, not really surprisingly, these kids were almost identical with those who stood out as “leaders” and “changemakers” in the village over the passed years.
Brajendra, Ajeet, Anil, Asha and Arun in their apartment right across Prakriti School.
Our experiment started in January 2019 and will run for two years. It includes academic time at Prakriti School and hands-on work in Janwaar and in the field. The methods we use are a mix of self-organized, technology-based, phenomena based and mentor-internship based learning. Our goal is to get these five kids ready to pass the 9th or 10th grade exam under the NIOS board in two years.
We have clearly defined milestones for each of them – according to their talents and interests. The kids themselves have become assistant teachers at Prakriti, where they “give” learning in the mornings, and they themselves “receive” learning in the afternoons. The educational team includes young motivated “learners” and experienced teachers. Their lessons are faceto-face in small groups as well as online.
If you want to support our activities in Janwaar please donate to: The Rural Changemakers e.V. · Vereinsregister Berlin · Amtsgericht Charlottenburg · VR 36642 B Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin · St.-Nr. 27/678/57308 Berliner Sparkasse · IBAN: DE44 1005 0000 0190 7388 98 BIC: BELADEBEXXX · Paypal: hello@rural-changemakers.com
The entire program is a holistic approach in which learning is fun and lifelong. We aim to make these children more complete human beings with a focus on critical thinking and solving real life problems.
issue_02 / APRIL 2019
A Glimpse Of Fame – The Skateboarding World Championships 2018 By Ulrike Reinhard
From the fields of rural India to the shining city of Nanjing in China. No, not on a skateboard – but with a skateboard under their arms. safe yet tricky passage, she felt the difference. It kept her thinking until she concluded after a few days that it was exactly this energy and passion that made the vital difference. The big challenge will be to keep this fire alive and burning and translate it into her daily activities.
Asha, Arun and Shivam (Delhi) leaving the venue.
Asha and Arun have come a long way. It’s only four years since we opened Janwaar Castle, the first skatepark in a village in the heart of rural India. At that time these kids didn’t have the faintest clue about skateboarding yet only four years later they returned proudly from the World Skateboarding Championships in Nanjing, China. The first Skateboarding World Championships ever in the up-run of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. An extraordinary premiere – and these two kids from the middle of nowhere were part of it! The vast distance of 3841 km Asha and Arun managed with ease. It wasn’t their first time out of the country so they were used to the visa procedure and travelling. They flew from Delhi to Beijing, China, jumped on a connecting flight to Shanghai from where 2
they took the bullet train to Nanjing. This train covers the 300 km in only 70 minutes – it must have been quite an experience for them inside this clean and well maintained racer. Just imagine Delhi – Khajuraho – our routine route – in less than 3 hours (instead of the actual 12 hours it takes)! That really would be something! Asha was the first person in Janwaar to get a passport and go abroad. This was no easy feat. As an Adivasi (indigenous people) AND a girl – there was nothing like a green card for the entire process. What a bumpy journey we had to overcome all the hurdles laid out on the way. From intrigues in the village to vicious slurs and defamation on various sides, all kinds of stuff happened which we never thought or even dreamed of when we asked her if she wanted to go abroad to learn better
English. But she managed it all and is now slowly but surely finding her own way. She learnt a lot as she moved forward. Besides English and skateboarding what she has learned the most is how to be herself. She became self-confident and learned how to stand up and fight for her desires and dreams. Even if this means trouble. She has taken responsibility for her own life and is learning to learn. She might lack a bit of passion and energy – but I believe that passion and energy are what she has seen plenty of during her time in Nanjing. She had this kind of all-important spark when she was standing with all the other female skateboarders at the Olympic bowl in Nanjing. When she saw how energized, fearless and passionate her fellow competitors were and how much they wanted to drop into this bowl and master a
Arun was also amazed when he saw the bowl – but after a little practice he became increasingly confident. Luckily, Jean-Philippe, director of skateboarding at Decathlon International in France, connected us to Bob Town, an Englishman now living in Shanghai and training Chinese kids in skateboarding, and Bob open-heartedly included our kids in his evening training sessions. The sessions took place at the Nanjing National Skateboarding Center – one of the largest, if not the largest, skatepark in the world. It includes a huge deep bowl and a more street-like skateboarding outlet, all on the fourth floor of a former industrial building. Arun quickly accepted Bob and the learning curve progressed by leaps and bounds. Arun familiarised himself with the bowl and how to drop in best, and how to make speed and jump over the edges. He trained in the morning hours from 6 am onwards at the competition venue and ended the day with Bob’s session. He lived and breathed skateboarding to the fullest and stood in awe watching the best skateboarders in the world. These guys there were a true inspiration and helped him shape his plans to improve his skateboarding skills still further. He truly got infected by the skateboarding bug. During his runs he showed ambition and passion, everyone in the stadium felt his energy and cheered him along. It was huge fun for him and his en-
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Asha at her training session, Arun to the right watching the scene..
thusiasm and pleasure were obvious for all to see. He wasn’t bothered about NOT being among the best – because he knew he was giving his very best. And the audience rewarded him for this. He left the bowl feeling very proud! Taking part is what really counts! Asha and Arun were great skateboarding ambassadors for India. They re-
Arun in full gear and ready to go!
presented their country proudly and with modesty. They were open and since this was the second trip abroad for both of them, they made contact with others easily. I very often saw them engaging with the teams from Turkey, Brazil and China – using hand signs when words wouldn’t work. Their English is now good enough for simple conversation and they understood that English is for many others a foreign language as
well … This certainly helped and encouraged them to talk. But what I really loved was the fact that it was never ever about themselves. They were easily capable of putting their egos aside and crediting the village and their community for helping them in what they had achieved. I call it the Janwaar spirit. They were always thinking about how to let the other kids benefit from this …. and
once they returned home they put their ideas into action. Asha took care of the little ones at the Villa Janwaar and Arun with not a second to lose started skateboarding sessions with the kids. So very quickly every kid in the village started to share in and profit actively from their experiences of this trip to the World Championships in Skateboarding.
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issue_02 / APRIL 2019
Allez, Les Bleus! By Ulrike Reinhard
At Christmas 2018, Vishakhapatnam, Andra Pradesh, became the capitol of roller sports. 4000 kids in 14 “roller” disciplines attended the Indian Championships – the Rollerskating Federation of India hosted this huge event. Skateboarding was for the first time part of this circuit. For our kids it became a “village outing”.
Les Bleus are having a break.
Durgha wasn’t allowed to participate in the Indian Skateboarding Championships in Vishakhapatnam – that was the status when she jumped on the bus with 20 other Janwaar kids in the early morning hours on December 20, 2018. She was too young, the organizers said. The seven year old couldn’t care less. Full of joy and curiosity she went. And at the end – being the youngest participant in the championships – she won! Durgha looks slightly fragile but this is only the first impression that strikes you. When you look at her fancy clothes she might seem very “girly” – all pink frocks and frills and so on. But her looks and dresses are misleading. When it comes to taking a stand she acts just like a strong boy. And trust me, she does take a stand and can be very convincing. Durgha will never take no for an answer – and she is 4
always pushing the boundaries. Very untypical for a young girl in an Indian village. Fearlessly and with a big smile on her face she was cruising the skatepark. She was simply enjoying her ride. Not a single sign of anxiety. A natural born skateboarder. And by doing so she left everyone else in her category (girls under the age of 12) behind, including four other girls from Janwaar. Durgha rocked the show. And again, she couldn’t care less. With a naughty smile on her face she just kept on enjoying. In ease. With a golden medal around her neck. Back to Janwaar. Emotions and excitement were flying high in Janwaar in the days before departure. The skateboarding bug had once
again spread over the entire village. The kids got their skateboards ready, they cleaned their helmets and safety gear. They packed blankets and sleeping bags for the 30 hours train journey. Arun, one of our eldest, collected all their aadhar cards and assured that every kid got updated with the latest news. Arun also made sure that each kid got a new pair of shoes! He took the entire caravan one day to Panna – our next bigger town. There, they “stormed” a shop and each of them selected her/his own pair. The Barefoot Skateboarders were no longer barefoot! Every day more and more kids joined the caravan and at the day of departure there were 21. The bus was supposed to leave at 5 am so all of them could comfortably reach Jhansi railway station before noon. But this turned out to be wishful thinking. They only left 7.15 am – it took
them more than two hours to gather all the kids from the various corners of the village. While they were waiting for the last ones to finally show up, they weren’t thinking that the train in Jhansi might NOT wait. This didn’t even come into their minds. Such innocent thinking is actually beautiful – what is time? The 15 seater bus packed with 22 people and all their luggage, helmets and skateboards made its way. It must have been cozy and warm in there. The kids were in high spirits and all excited. At 11 am they passed Mauranipur and for the first time we had hope that they might make it on time. And yes, they did! At. 12.20 I received the news that the entire gang was standing with all their equipment at the right platform at Jhansi Railway Station, 15 minutes before the train arrived. The driver had done a marvelous job!
issue_02 / APRIL 2019
A very happy Asha welcomed the kids on the train. She had boarded the same train in Delhi where she is now for her studies. Their beds were scattered over various coaches so it was quite a hazzle to keep them all together – especially when food and chai were served. But the elders among them managed well. They accompanied the little ones when they had to use the bathroom and checked every now and then if everything was all right. The Janwaar gang in full swing! Arun said: “I hardly got any sleep on the train, maybe five hours during the two nights. There was always something to take care of :-)” The ticket-guy on the train had a tough job, he was chasing them all over the train – but unfortunately he could only walk while the kids were leaving him behind on their skateboards. It was in the early evening hours on the second day when the Janwaar Express reached Visakhapatnam. Mannan picked them up at the railway station. If he expected an exhausted and tired gang he was proven entirely wrong. The kids were ready to rockn & roll. Not at all bothered that their bunk beds in the hostel weren’t ready – they went straight away to the venue. They inhaled the atmosphere of more than 4000 young people gathering for one huge sport event and directly dived into it. Fulland open-heartedly.
Once they reached the skatepark they were almost annoyed. Lavkush, a 13 year old Yadav boy and the best illustrator in Janwaar, said: “Our skatepark is much nicer!” Also Arun felt disappointed. The flat concrete arena was popped up with ramps and slopes … it was a completely different setting from what they’ve probably expected. But very quickly their dissatisfaction vanished and turned into excitement. And the arena became theirs. Literally. In their blue tiger t-shirts it’s hard to miss a Janwaar kid. Seven to 19 years old, they all look smaller than their age, all of them a bit too skinny, but they skateboard confidently, fall without fear and are back on their feet in no time and continue to cruise. The parents of other participating kids were mesmerized. Soon conversations started, the people were curious to learn more about these kids. And when the parents heard their story, they just fell in love with it. It wasn’t just the kids’ daringness that stood out, it was above all their willingness to help and support others. When ever a Janwaar kid saw any kid struggling to make a move or master a new trick, they would quickly jump in and help.
Every now and then the kids took a break from skateboarding. There was so much else to explore. While the girls loved the swings, the young Adivasi rascals preferred the beach. The warm sun and the cool breeze from the sea made the weather perfect. The kids never saw the ocean before. It was as if the waves and the power of the water embraced their bodies and took them to even higher heights. The championships were a blast. After two days of practicing, chilling, playing and exploring, the championships finally began. To cheer up the crowd as well as the participants they arranged the “longest Ollie contest” – meaning who could jump over the most boards would win. With each run the number of skateboards to be jumped over increased. In the first round 60 kids participated. After the 6th round (Ollie over 6 boards) only three kids remained in the competition – the beat was on for the first gold, silver and bronze medal. Round seven (jumping over 7 skateboards) marked the final: it was between Durgesh from Delhi and Arun from Janwaar. The crowd cheered them up. The cheers were louder though for Arun. He had to run first. In ease he mastered to jump over eight boards! Now it was Durgesh’s turn. Dead silence. He started up fast, jumped and … got stuck at the last board. Argh!
Enthusiasticly all the Janwaar kids rushed towards Arun to give him a high five! A bit too early though. Durgesh had two more attempts. The tension raised. Durgesh went on his second run … and crashed again. His third try – again he couldn’t master. But now it was no longer about winning or losing – the whole crowd wanted Durgesh to succeed. The judge followed their demand to let Durgesh try over and over again … at the end it was only Arun who mastered eight boards. Finally the Janwaar crowd could scream and celebrate Arun! The championships had begun. The main competition started shortly after. More than sixty kids had registered – Janwaar made one third of them. Allez, Les Bleus! The games were on. And it became a gold rush for the Janwaar kids – for the boys and for the girls. They won all the gold medals and added a few silver and bronze one as well. But just like it was two years ago when we held our first Janwaar Skateboarding Challenge all of them were champions – all of them were part of the very first national championships in skateboarding! It was a premiere and the Roller Skating Federation of India (RSFI) has done an awesome job.
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issue_02 / APRIL 2019
The Fear Is Gone! By Trisha Rao, Rishab Rao, Ugra Narshimha Reddy, Vasudeva Reddy, Deepika S., Lokesh S. and Sai Teja
In ProtoVillage the first skatepark, inspired by the story of our rural changemakers, was built last year. Immediately an exchange between the kids of the two villages took place and friendships were made. This little story here was written by the kids in ProtoVillage – a great job they did!
theatre and the college. We started skating indoors, injuring others and soon we got banned again. We were impatient for the skatepark to be done. Finally it was built, but still we had to wait. It had to cure!!! The day arrived when we started to skateboard and we soon mastered the first steps. The experience was exciting and educative. Soon some of us went to Janwaar and had the most amazing trip. We were given so much love and warmth, it was beautiful. We learnt a lot of things about skateboarding. But there is one particular day that we will never forget.
Ugra flying high.
None of us had ever seen a skatepark – until Anveer Metha arrived. He came from Goa to ProtoVillage, Andhra Pradesh, to help us to build our own skatepark. It was a project in collaboration with Ulrike Reinhard and The Rural Changemakers in Janwaar. Anveer was an instant hit with us kids – because he arrived with a skateboard under his arms. All of us were waiting in line to try out this thing with the four wheels. We were both – excited and scared. Would we hurt ourselves? For us it was love and pain at first try. We learnt to skate our amphitheatre, but soon the amphitheatre was no longer good enough and so we built a wooden ramp to make it even more exciting. Some of us were so brave and started to learn tricks. Then we wanted to explore other places for skateboarding and went out for street skateboarding. We also found a college yard nearby which we secretly entered when it was closed. We were very excited when the news arrived that kids from Janwaar would 6
Most of us were really terrified to drop down the high ramp. A friend of ProtoVillage, Raul Espinoza, who is a life coach from the USA, happened to be in ProtoVillage. He talked to us about fear and not allowing fear to control our lives. He asked us to practice our tricks. We started holding someone’s hand and practiced the drop down till we became absolutely comfortable with it. We could do the trick holding someone’s hand but got scared to let go, though we knew that holding the hand would not really prevent us from falling. Raul explained that it was a mental block and we had to have the confidence to let go. We did and experienced great joy. Since then drop downs have become child’s play for us. What Raul taught us in the skatepark was that: “Bravery is not the absence of fear, it is having the fear but not letting the fear stop us from doing what we should. He taught us that practice turns fear into confidence.” We are so grateful for this life lesson.
Rishab dropping down the ramp.
come to teach us and to help build the skatepark. We were awestruck by the way they skateboarded. We were so inspired!!!
The real and hard work on the skatepark began soon. Some of us would go and help occasionally. By that time we were already banned from the amphi-
issue_02 / APRIL 2019
News Flash Our annual beach party is hard to top!
and blankets. And plenty of good vibes. At our end we prepared 100 balloons filled with water for a fun “water combat”, 200 bottles of drinking water, a huge kettle with fried rice for dinner, 100 eggs and 20 loafs of bread for breakfast! It was HUGE fun! The kids took an extended bath in the river, threw and flipped stones, relaxed in the hammocks, danced to the music and enjoyed being kids!
I live in Madla, 35 km away from Janwaar, right next to Ken River. The kids love this place. Last year we had our first beach party – it was such a huge success that the kids were demanding to make it an annual event. And that’s what we did. On March 23, forty kids came in three auto rickshaws from Janwaar to Madla. They brought our three tents, sleeping bags Fun at Ken River.
Happy Holi! Every year we celebrate Holi, the festival of colors. And every year it’s extreme fun. All the kids from our Open School Project in Delhi came back home. They brought organic colors – and, as you can see they were used abundantly. No one could escape! At the end we spontaneously decided to go to the elephant camp to feed the elephants bananas. We squeezed 34 kids into three auto rickshaws and off we went :-) Holi at Villa Janwaar.
Medical Camp – first step made!
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This was overdue! Finally in early April when the temperatures were still bearable, Dr. Sethi, a retired paediatrician from Gurgaon, and Bharti Batra, chairperson of Prakriti and initiator of the camp, arrived in Janwaar. They brought primary medical care (vitamine E, de-worming medicine, fever, malaria and diarrhea) and educated especially the women how
Summer Camp is on! In June we will have a 3-week summer camp at Villa Janwaar. In the early morning and late afternoon hours the kids who are participating in our Open School Project will engage with the Janwaar kids. Besides music, play and skateboarding, waste management and hygiene will be our main topics. Besides academic learning they will work very practically and hands on, e.g. they will build dust bin, separate waste (solid, liquid, organic) in daily life and practice how to re-use it wisely.
to prevent malaria and other diseases which are quite common in the village by taking care of hygiene and basic food rules. It was highly appreciated in the village. Over the course of two days more kids and parents joined, villagers came and asked Dr. Sethi for advice and happily took the medicines. From now onwards Dr. Sethi will visit every three to four months. It was a great start and it really touched people’s hearts.
12 granite slabs were laid out around the water pump.
Anganwadi is cleaned! Each village in India has an Anganwadi. It’s a government institution where especially the small malnourished kids get lunch. Since more than two years we provide fruits for the kids – so in addition to the lunch they get a banana, apple, orange, mango – whatever is in season. On average 35 children come there every day. Right in front of the Anganwadi is a huge open public space. Unfortunately the locals drop all their garbage there. It stinks and looks like a mess. The water pump adds to the mess – it’s surrounded by a large puddle, a paradise for mosquito flies and source for all kind of infections.
Dr. Sethi enjoying village company.
Finally we decided to clean up the entire place. It was a common effort. We filled it up with miti (mud), laid out stones, built a small “nala” for the effluent water, installed dust bins and educated the people. Let’s see where it leads! 7
issue_02 / APRIL 2019
Our House – what the kids say about Villa Janwaar
My name is Kalpana Adivasi, I study in class 2 and I go to Villa Janwaar to study. My house is close to the Villa. I think good about the Villa. When I go to the Villa, I study there and that’s why I like it.
My name is Dilasha and I study in class 4. I go to the Villa to skateboard and also to study. My house is close to the Villa. The Villa is good. I like it. Over there we all study and then there’s a small skatepark where we skate as well.
Kesuram (right) studies in class 8 and Gopal in class 6. We come to the Villa to teach the kids skating and to learn. It feels good! We paint and do a lot of other things we like. We feel the Villa should keep progressing and more small kids should show up and those who don’t we tell them to come and that’s where we’ll teach them new things.
I am Niha, and I study in class 1. I like going to Villa Janwaar because there is a small park and we skate there. It’s fun and there’s a liveliness which I like.