Report from BHW India Partnership Facilitator Following Visit

Key person: Sushil Tyagi

Recent Events

New School

In the past year Nicodemus Ministry has opened a new school in Bareilly. A few students started in late 2015 but the majority started in April 2016 for the new school year. There are now about 60 students from the local area. The majority of these children come from Muslim families with a few children from Christian families as well. 

Sushil’s father has owned land in Bareilly since the 1960's when he and his wife lived there. They sold this land and were able to buy a new piece of land for a small amount extra in a newly developed area that was more appropriate for starting a school.  Sushil’s father is highly respected in the community and this has meant that they have been welcomed to open the school as it is a way for Mr Tyagi to contribute back to the community. 

Like the other school that Nicodemus Ministry has opened, some students pay no fee while others pay up to a maximum of 500 rupees per month. Comparative schools would charge up to 3,000 rupees per month plus extra for additional activities. This is therefore a real provision for the community and no one knows who pays what so all the children are treated equal. 

There are currently six teachers. Two live on site and will run the additional community training activities outside of school hours for a small additional wage.  

New Computers

BHW assisted with funding for nine new computers to start a computer training centre to be used for the students during the day and as a way to reach out to the community during the evening. However the land developers did not put power to the site and therefore the computer centre has not opened yet. Sushil was told it would cost US$8,000 to access power. He has had to work with the Council to get this reduced and finally now he has it agreed to be brought to the site for US$2,000. The developer has also agreed to contribute US$1,200 to these costs. The power is likely to be put in during August and then the computer centre can get up and running. The plan is to also run English language classes at night as well as the computer training classes.

As a result we did not travel to the computer centre to see the computers. It was also bad timing for travelling on the roads with a major festival having just finished.

Personal Stories

We do not have stories yet as this partnership is still just starting but the influence of the school on the community is already tangible.

Partnership's Influence within the Community

One of the six teachers is a Muslim lady who is the granddaughter of the Chief of the Muslim community. He has also sent a number of children to the school. This is a wonderful commendation for the school and proves the respect that the community has for Sushil’s family. The Muslim teacher attends every morning when the staff have devotions and bible reading. 

The community is also asking Nicodemus Ministry to start working in the local villages where many older people live and are illiterate. Sushil would love to bring some more workers to Bareilly who can then go out to the villages and teach. He is looking at a curriculum for training villagers that has been developed by a large Indian Christian mission called Seva Bharat. It is fantastic to see the community asking Nicodemus Ministry to serve them and shows the respect they have for Sushil’s family. 

Ideas for the Future

Sushil is going to provide a new proposal to us regarding a water filtration business. This would provide income for 4 or 5 families and particularly those who have become Christians and now struggle to find employment. It would also provide an opportunity for them to share the love of Christ with the communities when they deliver the water each day.

I have told Sushil to work through a proposal but also that this could be an idea for starting a kind of Resource Centre model like Niranjan (NEP02b). I have also suggested that he connects with Niranjan to see how it works in practice and he is very keen to try and do this later this year. I will work this through with Sushil and Niranjan as I think there would be real benefit in them meeting.

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Praise for the 60 students that have joined the school
2) Praise for the acceptance of the community for the work of the school
3) Praise for the reduced cost of electricity
4) Pray for the electricity to be finally connected quickly and for people to sign up for the courses
5) Pray for further impact in the community and for the opportunity to move into the villages with the literacy training programme
6) Praise that they have received their FCRA registration for another 5 years