IndiA - free the children
Kamoda & Lai Communities
The project goal is to increase the rate of school attendance by girls and to reduce their drop-out rates by building a school, providing healthcare services in a new operational centre, supplying adequate sanitation facilities and proposing activities for generating revenue.
Kamoda is located 92 km from Udaipur in Rajasthan. It is made up of two castes: the Bhils and the Rajputs. The Bhils, also known as Adivasis, are one of the indigenous peoples of central India. The Rajputs are a warrior caste superior to the Bhils. The members of this community live below the poverty line. The community has about 130 dwellings and slightly more than 800 inhabitants, including 135 children aged 6 to 14, of whom 54 go to primary school. Of this small number, only 40% of the girls and 60% of the boys will go on to secondary school. The under-representation of girls in primary and secondary school is accounted for in part by the community’s living conditions, social norms and cultural traditions: household tasks, carrying water, looking after younger brothers and sisters, early marriage, teenage motherhood, etc.
Source: Community Profile Free The Children, 2011-2012.
My name is Kesra Kharwad and I am 8 years old. I am in 5th grade and I attend primary school in Kamoda with my brother and sister. I like going to school because I have lots of friends there and I love playing with them. My favourite subject is science, and I love drawing pictures and colouring them. I like to sing and perform in school singing competitions. I want to be a social worker to help children in any way I can.
This is what my day looks like.
6:00 am: I get up, prepare tea for my family and help my mother prepare breakfast.
6:30 am: I get ready for school.
7:00 am: I go to school by bicycle.
7:00 - 12:00 am: I am in class.
10:00 am: I eat a meal provided by the government.
12:00 - 12:30 pm: I play with my friends.
12:30 - 3:00 pm: I return home, help my mother clean the house and look after my brother and sister.
3:00 - 6:00 pm: I go out to help my mother with agricultural work.
6:00 - 7:00 pm: I prepare the family meal with my mother.
7:00 - 9:00 pm: I do my homework and help my brother and sister do theirs.
9:00 pm: I go to bed.
© Dominique & Maria Cabrelli
« Notre objectif était de faire ressortir un échange entre le spectateur et le sujet vernaculaire de nos images, de faire apparaître de la beauté là où elle n’est jamais de mise. Nous avons décidé de travailler très près de ces jeunes filles, à moins d’un mètre, une prise de vue frontale, sans artifices émotionnels, c’est le regard qui parle et le dialogue s’installe ainsi que l’émotion. Le choix d’un fort contraste et du noir et blanc s’est vite imposé face à l’intensité des sujets. » Dominique & Maria Cabrelli
