Education v/s teach them to fish

When it comes to running any children’s home, there always will be a conflict of thought in two schools of believe. One school of thought believes to provide them all they need, along with the good education; so that these children will be self-dependent later in future so that one day they can survive in this society with ease.

The other school of thought always ready to argue, that no, not just education but these children needs to be trained in vocational works. All kinds of vocational works that is, in need of day in day out works which will help them to live in society; such as sewing, carpeting and weaving carpets. Based on a philosophy like, if you give a fish to a man, it will feed him only for a day, but if you teach that man to fish; he can sustain his whole life with that learning.  

Children’s Vocational Center at Shiphal is one of the branch of Bal Mandir, which was opened perhaps based on the above believe. If you have been reading my blog posts regularly, I have mentioned in my earlier posts that, I was a part of sewing class long before I even entered at the age bracket of teen. If my memory power serves me well, I was only about twelve, but its has to be during holiday. I mean long winter holidays. I along with other group of girls, used to go to Shiphal for learning or maybe sewing dresses. I was so young, when I sit on the sewing machine, I ran the needle on my finger tips. It was my middle finger but which hand [right or left] I don't even remember today; just like I don't remember, who were other girls with me who used to go to learn this training.

Some people may find tailoring and stitching fun, but it may all depend on who taught you or where you learned all this. To me, it was one of the most boring work on earth. At the same time, I was okay student; as for my teacher and she some what kind of liked me also until, I found out the real intention hidden behind it; why she liked me. Read my earlier post, I love you just like my daughter to find out the reason in details.

Then Shiphal was the place where all the dresses for three children’s home used to get ready, including for its own boys. Bal Mandir which is in Naxal, Children's Vocational Centre which is in Shiphal and another one which I dont know its name but only by its area place as its being at Panchkhal. It was the boys, who used to get ready all the dresses for more than 350 children [perhaps]. Bal Mandir alone had and have around 200 children and I don't know how many other two children’s home had total number of children then.

There used to be a cutting master, who used to cut all the dresses and the big boys [ 14 - 16 years of age] ran it on the machine. To most of the people, it was after school program; and some boys used to go to morning classes and they used to sew all day long and once the day school boys came back from school,they used to do it on relay.

I myself did this for about three years after my morning class when I was in class eight; I did this until I was in tenth grade. It was a full day job kind of thing for us. So, it meant by the time I was in eighth grade, the centralized makig dresses had been decentralised and children from the respective home used to make dresses for all the other children.

When I look back, although I have no regrets for what happened to me and how the situation surrounded us, all those teach them to fish idea was stealing our childhood from us, and nothing more than that. Besides its a failed concept also.

I did check with couple of my friends, “do you know, anyone who makes living, based on the vocation classes that was given to us ?”, all the answer came in “No”.  I, myself do not have heard of anyone, irrespective of they being boy or girl who make their living based on who have spent life in Bal Mandir just like me and then they were moved to Shiphal later on when they were in high school. Yes, there are people who got engaged in some garment work for some time; but it was only for short time not for long.

Why even a most practical aspect of making a living like tailoring  and carpeting has also failed attempt,  when some are so fond of designing and the word ‘fashion’  and furniture being a part of a lifestyle ?

Personally for me it looks like that, if a person hates to cook and still cooks and people who have to eat it anyway, will never ever have disciple in his team, who will have a passion for cooking and will follow the dream of it in life time. I strongly believe that, this is the same case here. So much money poured and so many children lost their childhood just to find out that it was an absolutely failed idea.