Rich's Tales from India, Part 1: Gadra GMS
23 / 11 / 2022
Rich, Jangala’s MD and Head of Product, is currently in India meeting with existing and potential new partners. Yesterday he visited Gadra Government Middle School (GMS) in the eastern Indian city of Jamshedpur with Arshad Kauser, Executive Director of the ALIG project. With the support of the Lenovo Foundation, Jangala is providing Wi-Fi using a Big Box to assist ALIG’s work at Gadra GMS. Rich has sent us this update.
The industry of Jamshedpur was on full display as we drove from the centre to Gadra Government Middle School. Tata Steel's plant dominates the city centre and the lofty chimneys of Tata Power's thermal power station rise just to the south-east. The census town of Gadra lies directly beyond the power plant and is vividly green and lush, located just on the edge of the city.
Children playing outside at Gadra GMS, Jamshedpur, India.
Greeting visitors with bright pink walls and rich greenery within, Gadra GMS is one of a number of schools that our partner ALIG works with across the state of Jharkhand. ALIG provides English language skills support which is essential for progression into further scientific, engineering and commerce streams of education - something unavailable to children who study at schools that don't use English as the medium of tuition, such as Gadra GMS.
Recently ALIG has expanded its work at Gadra to provide an Eco Lab, which teaches lessons focused on environmental issues and the natural sciences.
I met one of the participants, Ayank Raj, studying in Year 8. Ayank showed me a powered model boat he and his classmate, Ayush Kumar Sah, had made of styrofoam equipped with a propeller and a battery, and which still worked weeks after its first test on water.
Ayank Raj - participant of Gadra GMS’ Eco Lab, run by ALIG
Ayank and Ayush’s fully operational powered model boat
When I asked Ayank whether he was considering a career as an engineer he shook his head and smiled. "No, I want to work for a space research organisation," he said, "I want to discover life on another planet."
Now this level of ambition would impress anywhere, but it is particularly striking at Gadra GMS. Many of the Gadra students are from the lowest income families in Jamshedpur, with parents performing manual labour in the city's factories or driving its auto rickshaws. Sonali Paul, the inspirational English and Science teacher at Gadra supported by ALIG, speaks of many of the children in attendance being drawn by the hot meal provided by the school. Something their families may struggle to provide.
Rich and some of the students in their classroom at Gadra GMS, Jamshedpur, India.
Jangala has provided a Big Box Wi-Fi system at Gadra and, in association with the Lenovo Foundation, provided laptops and tablets for the school.
Gadra's Headteacher Shambhu Sharan explained succinctly the possibilities arising from access to the internet: "The children won't have to wait to be taught the things they want to know, they'll be able to reach out around the world and grab them."
Thank you for supporting Jangala. It's very much thanks to your generosity, and the generosity of our sponsoring organisations, that Jangala can provide internet connectivity to projects like ALIG and schools like Gadra GMS. Together we are working to connect the 2.9 billion people globally who have never been able to use the internet - fuelling the dreams of young people like Ayank and Ayush.