When I was doing my preliminary visit to Perumathura during the mid-semester break, a boy waved his hand against my scooter to get a lift to drop him at a tuition centre. From him, I first came to know about the free Educational services done by an NGO called Snehatheeram and their projects like Educare and Eduspot. Although Perumathura have produced highly educated professionals in various fields, higher education is not so accessible to all groups of people, especially students hailing from the fisherfolk families. There is a considerable number of high dropout rates among them after matriculation. The lure of fishing and related activities from harbour often diverted students from education.
Snehatheeram is an NGO mainly comprising of successful professionals, businessman and others from Perumathura engaged in many projects aimed at the upliftment and progress of people of this village. Eduspot started as a tuition centre for 10th std. and was later adopted and funded by Snehatheeram. Recognizing the limitations of offering solely high school tuition, Snehatheeram's educational aid initiatives underwent expansion. The scope broadened to address additional needs, incorporating skill development training and encompassing students from lower classes, naming the project Educare. I was genuinely impressed by the centre’s commitment to providing free guidance and training to students. Being a first-generation graduate hailing from similar backgrounds, I felt this is the arena that I should contribute. Drawing on my teaching experience and exposure to esteemed institutions, I saw an opportunity to make a meaningful impact and an outreach to the younger generation of the village.
I got in touch with Sajid, the convenor of Educare who was very kind towards my desire to be a contributor to this noble venture and has always been one of my most helpful facilitator during the fellowship. Except for the Christmas holidays, I handled two hour classes on a regular basing, teaching students from 5th to 10th, Spoken English and tuition in their school subjects, primarily preparing them for their mid-term exams. I was fortunate to spend a whole day with Prof. Anu Joy from TISS Hyderabad and discuss many things who was helping Educare to produce a curriculum for their project that also include Climate change awareness to tackle new challenges in the coastal eco system. Being part of Snehatheeram’s PSC Registration facilitating camp was also a very memorable experience for me.
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