Let me speak

Laila Saein

MIDNIGHT CHILDREN OF WAYANAD

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This morning a cheerful voice , filled with love and excitement called me. It was a telephone call, and one of a student from Koleri Govt.High School,where we all together created history by organizing one of the most memorable training camp ever conducted in Wayanad. She told me about the revolutionary change happened to the students and how they got a new vision to life. Let me go back to my diary notes which I penned immediately after the six day training session............
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As the world switched gear to celebration mode on new year`s eve, as people were waiting to see the last breath of 2010, and anticipating the birth of a new born baby called 2011 or discussing about the new year, in which way to celebrate it, where to organise  a party, dinner in which hotel and while many slept peacefully….

But here when the last  seconds, minutes, hours of 2010 withered away ,two hundred plus children of Kolery higher Secondary school were learning a few  `better Life Lessons`. They were thinking about how to improvise a nation’s pool of young energy.

. They were listening to the lessons patiently at midnight. Throwing away the cozy comfort of a blanket called` sleep` they sang:

“Never say No

Never say No

Never say Nooooo to LIFE!!”

     When we met the children on the first day, we felt like change was the last thing they could embrace.

Some of them didn’t even know the basics of the language and communication was pretty difficult for them, some of them have serious personal problems. The entire village belongs to a backward area of Wayanad, which itself is an underdeveloped district of Kerala State . Almost all the people are farmers and among them many had family problems too.

We had a discussion with the head mistress Ms.Thereseetta, a strong lady who was Kerala State football team captain when she was a student. We gained valuable details from her and Mr. Murali, a teacher at the school, who played an instrumental role in organizing the camp regarding the students .Many of them have personal problems at home, many had single parents, inferiority complexed, they didn’t like to talk to strangers, let alone facing a crowd.

Koleri belongs to a remote area of Wayanad. Like all the villages of Wayanad Koleri offers excellent entertaining sights: if you are a tourist. To spot Koleri from Wayanad map might be a bit difficult. So for the first day of the six day Leadership and Communication camp organized by LeadCapAnneFrank Leadership VillageYLP and Koleri Govt.High School, for us to reach there was a bit difficult.

Most of the Koleri children belong to poor families and many are glad to come for a mite of food. (Govt. schools provide lunch and some times break fast too)

Most families’ children have financial problems, parents divorce, or fathers` addiction to alcohol, suicidesetc.

The children think they are nothing, they can’t change their lifestyle, and they do not possess imagination, ambitions, wishes…….

We thought about the fortunate children belonging to cities, English medium schools, affluent families……

      The first Leadership Lesson of life was to impart self esteem and self respect to the children, make them believe that they are human beings with high voltage potential.

Others need them, people care them, they also deserve something, This is their world too, they have to do a lot of things for others, they have certain duties and they have certain rights, BEYOND THAT THEY SHOULD FEEL THEY BELONG TO THIS   WORLD. This is the only way we can change them, we felt. After all more than 10 years` ground work in Wayanad taught us this lesson. People here need more self esteem, self respect and above all a new path should be opened.

When we joined the children we told them we were not going to teach anything.

“We know something, you also know something. Let’s share all the stuff. Once we unburden our wisdom, then we`ll be free. We will have a whale of a time”

 They got surprised,

 “We know something?!!!”

 We replied

 “Yes, definitely because you are village children, you are really good” .

It was the starting.  The change was amazing.  Even the parents recognized the potential of their kids. They came and opened their mind, their problems. They made food for us and for the children; they stayed with their children at night, always they came and enquired whether the facilities are good enough, what we want. When we were taking the lessons at midnight 12.00 or 1.0’clock they were patiently waiting and they accompanied their children in their classrooms and even keep them company in the class.

It was quiet unexpected! Each and everyone performed on the stage, they were not afraid of the global language, then. Our YLP trainers Roshan (15), and Ramsheena (14) were motivating them. They didn’t think about their exhaustion. After 12’o clock, when darkness enveloped us and it was too cold for the young brave hearts,  we asked them:

“Shall we finish today’s training.”

 “No we want more”

Slowly we gave them basics of a language to help them reach out to the entire world, communication skills, leadership and we showed them motivational movies, we showed English songs, they learned many things about international music and now names like Lionel Richie, John Lennon and Beatles are quite familiar to them, we shared with them stories from the greatest literature of the world….,We didn’t sleep much and definitely when the world was dozing , two hundred plus village children and four village trainers and a bunch of parents and school teachers were rewriting the destiny of an entire village.

    During the body language training we told the boys to keep their shirts tucked and I called a boy, named Jinu Chandran

(one of the teachers told us it was the first time in his life time this boy wished them Good Morning after our class)

 “Come here Jinu, come and sit on the chair at the stage”

Within one second he jumped out of the class room and peeped under one table. We were shocked.

“What happened”.

We called another boy .He came and sat on the chair. I made his crumpled shirt OK.I noticed his trousers  has no button and with a safety pin he pinned it. I patted his hair.

 “Its ok”

During the lunch break Jinu came and told Anil

“ My pant has no zip-fastne, that is why I couldn’t come”

Now we can proclaim very proudly

 “ We, Anil Emage, me Laila Saein, Ylps Roshan, YLP Ramsheena ….  together along with a group of

dedicated parents , PTA members and school teachers  changed two hundred plus lives. We painted the children’s dreams with bright colors for a better tomorrow. We showed them another world of better life lessons, we created among them a craving for  the integration of India, a great nation, and we gave a new meaning to the life of their parents.

At last we showed them they ARE human beings with potential and they too have a voice, which will be respected and a day will come when the entire world will quit sleeping and listen to the midnight children of Leadership Village YLP- Wayanad.

Wo