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Earth Focus Foundation is working with tribal communities of Kanha, Madhya Pradesh to educate 1300+ Kids

Can humans and wildlife coexist? 

Can development and conservation co-exist?

Several tragic incidents of conflict occurring between the two make national headlines disapproving of any possibilities. 

There is, however, an exception. For generations, tribal communities across the country have survived and thrived in harmony with nature. According to folklore, these indigenous groups considered themselves to be the guardians of the forest with skill and knowledge built around the regional plants and animals

Two such tribes, the Gond and the Baiga, native to the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh have been staring at a bleak future since the forest that nourished them turned into one of the largest national parks in central India. 

Spread across an area of 1,945 square km (consisting of a core zone of 940 square km surrounded by a buffer zone of 1,005 sq km) the Kanha National Park was created in 1955 and later, in 1973, it was designated as a tiger reserve. To stop the dwindling number of tigers and their biodiversity, extensive measures were taken by the government that included relocating and restricting the tribal communities to the fringes —the park’s buffer zone.

“Tigers had been on the brink of extinction due to rampant hunting and poaching in the early 40-50s. Project Tiger put a blanket ban on such activities in the 70s and over time strict regulations at Kanha resulted in making it a success. But the indigenous tribes that called this land their home and were completely dependent on the forest for food and existence were shown the door,” says Vipul Gupta, Executive Director of Earth Focus Foundation that’s working to rehabilitate families from both the tribal groups. 

“They had no idea what to do with the land they were shifted to, how to earn and survive,” he adds. 

The Earth-Focused “Education” Strategies

Earth Focus strives to empower these forest-dwelling communities and restore their relationship with nature through contextual education programs.

It conducts a ‘visioning exercise’ to understand the trials and tribulations of the tribal families. Plans and programmes are then chalked out according to their requirements and aspirations while considering the ecosystem's preservation. The non-profit organisation runs two programmes — the Shiksha Program (Education) and the Samuday Program (Livelihood and Community Building) in 15 villages near the Mukki gate of Kanha National Park. 

Lack of infrastructure, financial resources, and relevant teaching methods have been obstacles for the tribal kids to receive a quality education. To efficiently tackle this, Earth Focus designed its unique ‘Shiksha Program’ for the holistic development of children and stakeholders.

“I have been working in the education program of Earth Focus Foundation for more than a year. The team visited my village and picked me as siksha prerak (education supervisor). I would go to the learning centre every day after an initial training and conduct activity sessions for kids for two hours,” says Malti Yadav, an educator with Earth Focus Foundation. 

“The curriculum includes lessons on language, mathematics and biodiversity. We do not follow conventional teaching methods but make use of fun activities and storytelling sessions to engage with the children and help them grasp and remember the concepts. Due to my outstanding performance, I was recently promoted as an educator,” she shares with a smile.

Malti, 23, hails from Manjitola, a small village in the Balaghat district and comes from a family that had been struggling financially. She had completed her class 12 and had to discontinue her education due to economic constraints. She told that her parents were planning to marry her off soon but an interview with Earth Focus landed her the job opportunity, giving direction to her life. 

“Maine shiksha prerak ka kaam shuru kiya and usi dauran ghar pe baat kari ki main khud se kuch kar rahi hu toh mujhe aage padhai karni hai. Ab main padhai bhi kar rahi hoon aur kaam bhi. Samuday mein bhi ek achi pehchan bani hai humari (I started working as an education supervisor and during that time I had a conversation with my family that I want to pursue further studies. Today I am working as an educator and also studying to upskill myself. The community also looks up to me now).

Earth Focus’s learning centres (Anand Ghars) are open throughout the year as over 1300 enthusiastic children every day wait for their classes to begin. The team explained that kids love the play-based teaching technique and look forward to their lessons. An important aspect has been to make the curricula contextually relevant by including local languages, customs and cultural identities.

“Educating the children about their surroundings is the key to changing their mindsets and helps to restore their relationship with the landscape they live in — to value, protect and take pride in it,” explains Vipul.

Taking the outreach of the program a notch ahead, the team has formed ‘Mata-Samitis’ (Mother’s Associations) to engage and bring together the mothers of these children. This is to take their feedback, keep them aligned with their kid’s educational progress and seek suggestions. These mothers are also given opportunities to swap roles and become teachers for a day( every week)

Currently, there are at least 500 women enrolled in the Mata-Samitis. 

All these successes and impact numbers would have been impossible without the efforts of the relentless team at Earth Focus and the people of Kanha as well.

This brings us back to the question, can humans and wildlife co-exist? 

Earth Focus is making this possible one village at a time.