Making the Best of the Situation

     Just when we thought weaving through the Kolkata streets on a tuk tuk was as wild as it could get, this past Tuesday the Loreto Schools sent a large bus over to pick us up from BMS. That was simply mayhem. As sweat dripped down the sides of our faces on the steamy bus, I took in the sights on our way to Sovabazar, the red light district. There, we would go visit our last MAC, which is a term for the pop up schools placed by the Loreto School. They must be referred to as MAC’s because if they are called schools the government would shut them down.

     Stepping off the bus the 104 degree weather felt like a breath of fresh air. Following a new teacher, we walked to the MAC for children’s whose parents are involved in the red light district. In Kolkata, children who have parents in the red light district are not allowed to go to schools because their parents partake in something that is “illegal.” This creates an ongoing cycle, as forms of prostitution are their only way to survive and provide for their family.

     Women lined the streets as they looked for customers and children wandered as their homes tend to be occupied by different men. We stepped into the one room MAC where we all introduced ourselves and the 12 students did the same. Over about a half an hour we taught body parts, the alphabet, and numbers, while making sure to include the hokie pokie and head, shoulders, knee’s, and toes.

     Jumping back on the large bus, all the students happily joined us as we headed for the organization’s center. There, students learning to be bakers made us delicious pizza and many of our questions were answered.

     The Loreto School, in simple terms, is constantly making the best of the situation. We learned that the MAC we had visited hours prior is the only MAC that has two sessions in the day as those students have no other choice but to be on the streets for the day. While some students disappear and teachers know there is a possibility some of the students will be forced into involvement in the red light district, they hope by getting them off the street for five hours, those chances will lessen.

     The other four MAC’s our group visited last week have two hour sessions five times a week. These schools are mostly for children who are child laborers. In this situation, teachers also know that when not at school, some of the children are child laborers, working in restaurants, sweat shops, really anything. There is not much the teachers can do about this because if they stop students from working they will not be able to get food on their plate at the end of the day. By the students having some source of education, the teachers hope to, what they call, “mainstream” these children into government schools. This would then end the cycle of child labor and these kids may one day become educated parents, who could hopefully get jobs and provide for their families.

     The Loreto School has taught me an incredible amount in just my three visits there. While teachers know they are not ending the issues of prostitution or child labor, they are making the best of the situation for each of their students.

(see above a photo I took on our bus ride to Sovabazar on Tuesday!)

Isabelle Risse ‘20