Bengaluru: In 2013, young Bharati Reddy lost her life in a car accident. She would have been a forgotten by now, but her school friends and college friends wanted to ensure that it should not be that way.
“She used to speak about community service and how important it is to help those in need. Her loss made us do something about her dreams,” says 28-year-old Prakash R.M., her engineering college friend, who used to call her Baro.
Prakash and Bharathi’s five other friends started a not-for-profit, educational and humanitarian group, Team BARO, which was borrowed from her nickname. At the beginning, they adopted a girl child, Ganga, and started funding her education and other needs.
“But we knew that the idea of educating and empowering the underprivileged children cannot just end with adopting a few children,” says Prakash. In 2014, the group of six registered the NGO to reach out to a bigger audience.
“Education in India plays a very important role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the development of half of human resources, but also improves the quality of life at home and outside,” he says.
“Earlier it started with us collecting just '200 for Ganga’s education and other needs. But after the NGO was registered in April 2014, we have been saving money from our earnings to help educate and run camps for the underprivileged children," he says.
The team has adopted three schools and takes care of educational needs of students and prepares them for exams. “One of the institutions is Sri Guru Maharudra Swamy High School at Nelamangala where we reach out to students in standards eight, nine and ten. We educate them about the need for good education and how important it is to not miss school. We also try to get teachers from our earlier schools to teach them various subjects,” he says.
Encouraging the students to study, the team also provides books, classes and teachers from other schools. Asked about the need to do this, he says, “It was not just to immortalise our friend, but also to help the underprivileged children. We know the struggles involved in achieving success and the importance of education for children, as none of us are from higher income groups. These conditions make our fight more earnest.”
The team also works actively with two schools in Devanahalli where they encourage the students to study. “These children are from the families of daily wage workers and labourers. Even if they earn a meagre sum every day, their parents prefer them to work rather than study. We have to encourage them not to miss school by various activities and help them understand the importance of education," he says.
Currently, the team is totally relying on their savings to meet the expenses. "Some events cost us around '10,000 and all of it goes from out pockets,” he says, adding that they do not rely on outsiders to fund their projects running at these three schools.
But they have bigger plans. “We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. The short one is to open a computer training school at the Nelamangala school as so many children, despite the aptitude, have no idea of the importance and need for computer education. It will be great if we can set up something there. It will benefit many and also attract more attendance. The long-term plan is to open our own school, but that will be after some years,” he says.
On the conditions of these schools, Prakash asserts the need for the government to intervene and make the environment better. “One of the schools does not even have the basics, like water supply. The government says it is doing so much for the underprivileged children, but the ground reality is entirely different,” he adds.
“We are sure if Bharati is watching us from above, she will be so proud and happy about all this," he sums up.
