PROJECT AADANGA

To use the idea of filmmaking, documentaries and social videos to inspire, educate and change the thought process of parents and children, eventually leading them to be more responsible for their life.

In India, Dalits are the most underprivileged community. They are also known as “Untouchables” and are officially recognized as the Scheduled Castes by the Indian government. They are shunned from mainstream society. Even among Dalits, there are people who are more deprived, oppressed, and exploited and these are the ‘Mahadalits’. The term Mahadalits was coined by the government of Bihar in 2007 for the poorest of poor in the category of Dalits. Altogether, there are 18 Mahadalits which constitute 31 percent of the entire population of Dalits. Among the Mahadalits are Bantar, Bauri, Bhogta, Bhuiyan, Chaupal, Dabgar, Dom, Ghasi, Halalkhor, Hadi, Kanjar, Kuraria, Lalbegi, Mushar, Nat, Pan, Rajwar and Turi. We belong to the community called ‘Mushar’, whose population is 27 million according to the census 2022. The community has been struggling to get into mainstream society for over a century. The literacy rate among Mushar is very low with only 4.6 percent, which is the worst of all the Mahadalits. Lack of education among Mushars results in societal curses like child marriage, child labor, smoking, alcoholism, and domestic violence. We are forced to live on the outskirt of the main village. We are deprived of opportunities, and the government has never taken the community and its struggles, except when they need our votes.

Parents are not educated. Most of these parents work as daily wage workers and bonded labourers under landlords. As a result of which they do not worry about providing their kids with basic facilities like food, clothes, housing, and education. Marrying off their kids once they are teenagers and teaching them how to earn a living is somehow their only responsibility. We have grown up seeing everything around us. 

On average, every family in this community has six members. In most cases, the father is the sole breadwinner. This is not enough to feed the family and it often forces parents to send their kids to work who have barely turned teens when they should ideally be in school.  Child labour is one of the biggest problems which needs to be addressed. 

Since younger generations do not go to school, they tend to fall into the habits of smoking, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. They have nobody to guide, help and dream to lead a meaningful life. They have accepted the fact that they are meant to get married at a certain age (10-18), become a labourer, and earn enough to feed their family. 

The problem is illiteracy among parents. Unless and until parents are educated, there is no way that there is a possibility that these parents are going to encourage their kids to go to school. They have nobody to motivate them to wake up every day, go to school and study hard. Educating these parents is very important. Parents are the root cause of all the problems. They have no plans or vision for their kids. Therefore, if these uneducated parents are trained, motivated, and inspired to teach their children, then there is a huge chance of these problems diminishing in the next few years. 

The mission is to motivate and inspire these parents not only to send their children to school but to make them mentally strong to imagine the possibility of a brighter future for the family as well. There are families in every village who believe in the power of education and the difference it can make in the life of their children. Lately, there have been a lot of success stories in these remote villages. As a team, we will visit villages and collect stories that resonate and are inspirational. We will make documentaries, interview them or make videos on these success stories which will inspire these parents to choose education for their children. 

If that happens, which we strongly believe to be inevitable, most of these families might not know where to send their kids to study other than government schools, where education is not reliable. As a solution, our main focus is going to be enrolling these children in schools and NGOs right in their village. It will be taken care of by the team members who are already running organizations that are operational on small scales. Videos, documentaries, and films can be made with a bunch of cameras, and they can even be made by using simple phones.

To begin with, the target population is the Mahadalits, particularly focused on Mushars and then gradually taking to another level to serve all 18 Mahadalits in the state. The solution enables parents and the children of the communities to prepare them through the right guidance and facilities. The first step of the project involves talking to parents and convincing parents to send their children to schools and motivating them to be consistent. We will work as facilitators for these kids and help them find the right schools and NGOs to go to.  It involves getting them ready for admission and enrolment to good schools and NGOs. 

Mushars are typically known as rat-eaters. For most of the year, we don’t have a source of earning a living. And since we mostly live on the outskirts of the main village in the proximity where grains are harvested, it makes a perfect place for rodents like rats to breed. At times, the situation becomes so dire that we end up eating anything that we possibly get. In that case, rats are the easiest options to feed on and hence the name “rat-eaters''. This particular community has been deprived of basic facilities for centuries. They are still struggling to find a place for themselves in society. Over the years, nothing has changed much. Parents are still taking their children to work with them, they are still getting their children married early. Children choose child labor, and child marriage and are involved in bad habits such as smoking drinking wine, and domestic violence over education. It all boils down to a lack of education. Our effort tries to solve not only the thought process of the parents but also to lead them in the right direction once they decide to teach their kids. Once they have an awareness of the power of education, they will make it a point to encourage their children to send them to schools nearby. They will start taking care of their children and the schools will make sure that they get what is needed for their bright future. It will serve our mission of empowering one of the most marginalized communities through the power of education and help liberate them from the darkness of illiteracy. 

Every team member has the skill sets and the motivation to solve the problem. Every member of the team comes from this community and has once experienced the struggles that the community faces every day. Additionally, the solutions have been designed based on the skills and experiences that the team members have.  

Aadarsh Kumar is the founder of an organization called AGL (Above Ground Level). It works with the underprivileged children of this community. Their vision is to teach as many of these kids as possible and help them prepare for qualified NGOs and schools across India. 

Anuj Kumar is the founder of a foundation called Apni Shiksha Foundation. Everyone working at this foundation is on a mission to teach the kids of this community free of cost. 

While other members of the teams are storytellers and budding filmmakers. They aspire to capture stories and make documentaries that help revolutionized a community. 

We all come from the same community. We know each other very well and have been talking about the solution that is required. We know what the needs of the community are, and which solutions will best help them come out of the rut of ignorance and illiteracy. Some of the members have already been working with the community, so they have the experience that can make the solution more effective and efficient. I have also talked to social workers who are already working on a larger scale to understand what exactly they are working on and what more is required. I have talked to parents about why they do not send their kids to school.  The first observation based on the answers I received from these parents is that they do not know the value of education, and they do not know where to send their children to study other than government schools, which is not reliable. And affording private education is a luxury for most of these parents. 

Our solution is innovative in the following ways:

Firstly, our solution is expected to work as a guide for the people of my community. The idea is to first motivate and inspire parents and children to go to schools, and then lead them to a process where they can find good schools, NGOs, and other institutions for education.

Secondly, our solution focuses on the community that has never been the Centre of any policy, that has been neglected by the government for years, and tries to make their life worth living full of dreams and inspiration.

Third, our solution aims to solve a lot of problems in the community at the same time. For example, our solution aims to diminish social evils like child marriage, child labor, drug abuse, and domestic violence in the long run of a particular community.

Fourth, our solution might be the first project that aims to change two generations at the same time. The first generation is the parents, and the second generation is the generation of their children, which eventually will change the coming generations.

Fifth, our solution has a unique way of motivating people by using the stories around them through films, interviews, documentaries, and videos.

We aim to educate children who if not directed in the right direction will be lost in the shackles of child marriage, child labor, and drug abuse. We aim to educate children who cannot afford education and give them dreams which they can achieve. We aim to make parents aware of the responsibility that they have towards their children and realize the value of education.

Our technology uses the existing technology of filmmaking, like cameras, phones, and television. This is important because this will gauge interest more than anything and would be the root of where the change will start slowly. This is also important because the stories that will be shown would be the stories happening around them, which will definitely inspire them to get out of their comfort and take responsibility for the education of their kids.

We plan to serve 20 villages next year which will include 1000 families which means reaching out to at least 2000 children. Out of which we hope to at least enroll 500 children to some schools, NGOs, Foundations or institutions.

All of my team members are in college or in schools so they do not have source of income which might be problematic. Also, we do not have the gadgets of filmmaking like cameras, sound recorder, editing machines, projector and other machines that are important while making videos.

Also, for going to villages our team members need expenses which again can create problem.

AGL (Above Ground Level): This is organization founded by Aadarsh Kumar. This organization helps to enroll kids for schools, NGOs, and other academic institutions. This organization also teaches the children and provides them free books, notebooks, stationary and a place to study together. This organization is at a lower scale with 6o students.

Apni Shiksha Foundation: This foundation was founded by Anuj Kumar and Prem Kumar and co-founded by Ravish Kumar. This organization focuses on teaching kids right in their villages after their school is over without taking any fees.

The Doorway Foundation: This Foundation has been founded by Ram Murari. This foundation also teaches kids free of cost but provides study materials by collecting books and notebooks from government schools or some big schools.

Osara: A team lead by Anoj Kumar which makes short films.

Osara is responsible for making the films, documentaries, interview and videos. AGL is responsible for helping the kids to get enrolled in some school and NGOs which will be helped by the team of Osara, Apni Shiksha Foundation and the Doorway foundation. Apni Shiksha Foundation and The Doorway Foundation is responsible for teaching the kids right in the village and helping them to prepare for exams.

My solution is not a business, it is a social work. But to define a business model it would be business to customer model.

The path to our financial sustainability is through sustained donations and grants.