Due to Covid-19, schools and other educational institutions in India have been closed since the 23rd of March. In the cities classes were moved to Zoom and Google Meet, but in the rural areas of India this is not an option. This means that many children have been a lot out of school since March. Staying out of school for this long means a lot of the hard work put into their education will be lost. Therefore we decided to start with classes following strict safety measures. The body temperature of each child is measured before entering the building, followed by hand sanitization and proper social distance. Not all of the parents feel safe to send their children to school yet, but 1/3 of the students are coming to class participating in games and activities inside. The teachers also visit the children not coming to school to give them homework and exercises to help them maintain the skills and knowledge they already have. Lu
During our last visit to the Kukurah school, some old, widowed women gave shawls to the children for the cold winter season. This made the children very happy.
After two months of lockdown, the team in Kukurah did outreaches handing out free masks and hand sanitizers to the villagers to help them stay safe from the virus. Most villagers are avoiding wearing the mask, so the staff did a huge effort in making the community aware of the importance.
The school has purchased books, notebooks and uniforms for the students, and the teachers are ready to start classes as soon as the government gives the green signal. We hope this will happen sooner rather than later, but the teachers are prepared to work hard to help the students catch up on the curriculum before the exams. Luckily none of the staff has gotten sick from the virus so far, and are taking care of themselves, the community and the students the best they can.