In this Telangana village, tribal children get their first lesson

Nestled within the forests of Mulugu district — about 200km km from Hyderabad — the tiny hamlet of Neelam Thogu was brought to its knees when the pandemic struck. The Gutti Koya tribals of this nondescript settlement lost their jobs and, with limited resources, were left struggling to plate up one square meal for their families.
Then, 26-year-old Osmania University student Esram Santhosh turned up. The cyber law student, who had returned to his home in Narlapur in Mulugu district after his hostel shut down, landed at the hamlet with essential supplies.

Amid the relief work, Esram realised there was another crisis looming large over the 150-people-strong community — complete lack of access to education. He found that the children of the hamlet hadn’t seen the inside of a school ever in their lives.
Thus, begun the journey. He set up a one-hut school, Bheem Children Happiness Centre, that today has 35 to 40 students learning basic English, Mathematics and Telugu – all this for the first time.
Until now, children spent most of their time playing in the forest. “School in the hamlet gives us hope that our children will not lead the same life as we do,” said Parmesh M, a mason. Before the lockdown, most members of the settlement were engaged in masonry. Now, they collect fruits and wild berries to sell in the market and take up forest work to earn anything between Rs 300 and Rs 400 a day.

“I am happy my children are getting educated and not whiling away their time. Their future, suddenly, doesn’t look too bleak,” said Paddam Sandhya, another member of the hamlet.
Making this dream come true for the tribals hasn’t been an easy task for Esram. Every day, for the last 30 days, he has been travelling 15km — 10km on bike and 5km on foot — to reach this hamlet, which has no pucca road connectivity with the rest of the district.

“It’s a struggle, but seeing the children beaming on learning a new lesson makes it all worth it,” said Esram.
Esram, along with his friends, organised books and stationery and got chocolates, biscuits and eggs for the children. He now wants to construct a pucca school in the hamlet and send them to Telangana government’s residential tribal welfare schools so that they can pursue higher studies.
(This story is part of a series in association with Facebook. Facebook has no editorial role in this story.)