Day 2: Siragu School

Tess Raley
The Siragu School at Montessori in rural Chennai was started by a husband and wife to get beggar-children off the street and provide education and trade-training. The philanthropic nature of this institution has been internationally recognized and funded mostly by charitable gifts.

When we arrived, we were overwhelmed with the amount of children who wanted their picture taken! These children were filled with so much excitement for life, learning, and their futures! This was so amazing especially considering their pasts.

After the picture taking, the children had their morning assembly and prayers, during which they introduced us and gave us welcome pictures they had drawn for us! I was welcomed to the Siragu family with an illustration of a duck on a pond! the students then proceeded to sit outside their classrooms and meditate for 15 minutes or so. Sitting there, with these children, this music, and the peacefulness of the words, it was easy to be overcome with a feeling of harmony, of balance, and hope. These students are so dedicated, friendly, and intelligent!

Unfortunately, many of them were mal-nourished. And while I did not observe their meal, the portion size caused Vidya to cry. Many of these students were obviously ill yet there was not a school nurse, or any tissue or sanitation product in the school. The hardest part of it for me to accept was that there are no solutions to heal or provide aid to these children, seeing as they have so many donations thrown at them. One of the founders seemed more like a business man than a philanthropic educator, and that greatly worried me.

With 400 students living together, it is clear that a better health system is necessary at the Siragu school. And with all these donations, I have to wonder why there isn't one already. These kids deserve to be healthy, eat healthy, and stay healthy.

Hannay Peay and I observed three kindergarten classrooms and were amazed by the knowledge these children possessed. Their teachers had us do flashcards of animals, countries, leaders, foods, etc. with these children and while it was clear that this was not their first time seeing these cards, the thought processes they were capable of amazed us.

The founders had each of us plant a tree before we left. It may sound cheesy, but it felt so uplifting to think that I had left some sort of myself at the school.

I cannot get over the fact that none of these children want (or even have knowledge of) careers in the humanities. I understand the security in being a doctor, teacher, engineer, scientists, etc. But I cannot help but wonder if providing options like that would help retain students year after year (considering there are only 3 students in their 10th grade). PLU is such a strong advocate for turning passions into amazing possibilities and perhaps these children would want to stay in school to further release some new passions....