Finding Strength in Unity

Jitu Pradhan studies in the fifth standard at the Sechan Bihar Primary School, Bhudan Nagar, Puri Municipality. According to him, his sister Buli Pradhan, is his best friend. Since Buli studies in the seventh standard of the same school, the two get to spend a great deal of time with each other, looking after each other and their home in Puri.

Their father passed away many years ago and their mother works hard to provide for the family. As a daily wage earner she leaves home every morning at 6.00am to stand at the Mandir (temple) nearby, hoping to get hired to help out for functions at home or party halls. Some days she doesn't get any work and earns nothing.
Every school day Jitu and Buli attend school after eating a meal of leftover rice with some mashed potato. "Their mother returns only late evening but she can work peacefully since the school is a safe place and lunch is also taken care of. They run out of basic necessities like electricity and water too," says their teacher, Prabhamani Devi.

The family cooks rice on a 'lakdi ka chulha', a make-do cooking unit made out of wooden sticks and twigs. Buli helps her mother collect wood on the days that she has no school. Buli says, "We have never bought Dal at all. We make only rice and eat it either with water or potatoes. I like the vegetable curry and paneer served in the mid-day meal. We miss the hot lunch on Sundays when there's no school."

The mid-day meal programme of The Akshaya Patra Foundation is aimed to help children like Jitu and Buli who study hard, and ease the burden on their small family. To help make their lives easier, donate or volunteer with The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

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