Happy Monday Morning. Happy – to be back in Bombay, back home, and back at my blog (there, I said it) – and earlier than I had planned…
Also happy to have come across this remarkable initiative in flickr – The Kalleda Rural School Photoblog. This is the photoblog of the kids at Kalleda Rural School in Andhra Pradesh, India. The students take their own photographs documenting their lives and post them on their own flickr accounts. This account is a collection of some of their best photos.
Most of these photographs are simple and tell stories from the lives of these cildren – glimpses that would otherwise never be available to the outsider. I have written to the person behind this suggesting that specific themes could be introduced to the kids so 1. we the outsiders get a better idea of what certain notions – like say freedom or modernity or education mean to the kids there, and 2. the kids themselves think more deeply about them…
Photo-ethnography at its most basic and brilliant best… Please check it out. And if you are on flickr, do leave a few words of encouragement on the pics – the co-ordinator says, Photography is new to the kids, so please post comments and suggestions. Thanks!
This is the photograph that led me to this project first…
(The original can be found here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdstone/26457702/)
I checked out the India Rural Development Fund which supports this school project and found out some more… This school started in 1996 currently has a strength of around 530 students, and 10 grades (Kindergarten through Grade 10). It offers high quality education to the children of Kalleda and surrounding villages. The first graduating class (2004) passed with distiction. Atleast 50% of the seats are reserved for girls, and admission to the school is based on a lottery system. Care is taken to ensure all communities are adequately represented based on the local demographics. The children have access to their own computer center and the internet.
Lottery system – does anyone know how this works?
Well lottery system usually works like, if there are 50 seats for girls, and 100 candidates, 50 names will be randomly picked for addmission.
Regarding such rural technology initiatives, you might be interested in the work done by the Azim Premji Foundation in rural schools around Bangalore. I worked with them last year and they’re doing amazing work.
hey, thanks for this! this is wonderful, and it’s nice to have you back! how are you?
That’s a really nice flickr site you’ve come upon. Thanks.
Good to see you back blogging again also.
Saad, thanks – I have never heard of such a system before – is it done fair and straight or is there some corruption there too? any idea?
I am familiar with the work done by the AP foundation – I was in touch with them for a while when I was in Bangalore…
Uma, thanks 🙂 saw your comment on Anand’s blog too. Am fine, brimming with good health – and pain 🙁
Sunil, it is a lovely project – are you on flickr too?
and thanks, feels good to be back too
Welcome back Charu.
Thanks for this link. I was randomly checking some of these photos. Simple and beautiful.
Thanks for pointing this out. What a sense of achievement the kids must have!
Anand, a lot of these pics are quite basic – simple and b’ful as you say – but I found them very touching… I plan to keep going back there…
Sujatha, yes these kids must be feeling great about this.. did you see the pics where they are being trained to use a digicam?
Charu,
I went back and looked at the photos to find the one you mentioned, but could not find it. I found a couple where the kids are looking at a camera, but I don’t think it’s the same. I’ll look at them again. Some of the photos (the guy high up on a tree late in the night) are just awesome.
Sujatha, which one is this you couldn’t find? I can try pull out the uri for you…
this is the photo set for ‘geting it started’ where kids learn how to use the digicam…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalledaphotoproject/sets/574095/
Charu, thanks for that! Sweet of you to go dig it up for me.:))
Sujatha, what to do? I am like that only :))
they have some new pics of the Ganesh festival – saw them?
:)))
I did see them, and I found this photo of a kho kho game in progress. It was great to see that! Took me back 20 years to high school (there, I’ve dated myself!).
we run these free schools and it is gratifying to see the attention it has generated. the idea was thought of by a american teenager by name abby stone. she came and spent three weeks in the village to start this of. thanks again
Very nice initiative. Thanks for the link.