My Experience at Yuwa

I had quit my job at an FMCG company due to some personal reasons and was at a stage where I needed some clarity about what next to do in life. I have always wanted my work to have a positive impact in the society. Harsha, my friend, is a teacher at Yuwa School. Thanks to him, I could spend a short time there.

Yuwa empowers girls from impoverished families in rural Jharkhand, where they are at a risk of child marriage and human trafficking. Yuwa achieves this through football and education in a way which builds confidence, provides skills and prepares them to be self reliant.

For its outstanding work, Yuwa won the Laureus Sports for Good Award in 2019. As a matter of luck I happened to be in Yuwa at that time.

This post captures my experience at Yuwa through a few pictures and also talks about what Yuwa does.

The village Link to heading

Hutup is a small village in Jharkhand, India. I live in Bangalore, a cosmopolitan city. Living in the village took me on a nostalgia trip to my childhood that was spent in Assam and Orissa. The open and vast countryside felt liberating.

The village wakes up at sunrise and sleeps just after sunset. This fixed my sleep cycle – I could wake up before 6am without an alarm.

School Link to heading

Yuwa was founded by Franz Gastler as a football program to empower girls. The girls couldn’t dedicate enough time to the sport along with school. Besides, the condition of the government run schools in the region is abysmal. Hence, Yuwa school was setup by Rose Thomson who is also the Principal. Around 95 students study there.

Admission at Yuwa School happens after an initial assessment and the student is put in an appropriate grade (class). There were students who had already qualified in their state 10th board exams and yet had to drop back a couple of years after the assessment.

The girls Link to heading

While I thought that I am going to teach children math and science, I learnt much more from the girls and Yuwa than what I could impart.

I mainly taught Math and occasionally Science, English and History to grades 5th to 11th.

In my first week there, Asha (11th grade) asked me if I have come to Yuwa to improve my resume. I was stumped. At her age, all I thought about was getting into IITs or anime.

I’ll list out few of the many incidents there:

I could help a few girls train for interviews for a student exchange program and listening to their introductions moved me. Each girl has an amazing story. The perseverance of the girls is really inspiring. In my school days, I never worked this hard; I had never imagined that anyone can work this hard at such a young age.

During the classes, the girls sit on mats on the floor (there is no furniture, rather no space for furniture). they huddle around the teacher when writing on the boards isn’t necessary.

They are taught with the regular chalk and board, using videos, via skits and dramas and various other innovative teaching methods. The medium of education is English. The girls in the school can fluently converse in English. There are a few laptop computers at Yuwa which I believe were obtained with partnership with Microsoft. The girls are proficient in using computers.

The bond between the students and teachers is unlike the usual schools in India where teachers are considered superior (and culturally divine). Most students call their teachers with their first names. The younger students would call me “bhaiya” (elder brother).

In the photos you can see:

Teachers Link to heading

The teachers at Yuwa are passionate about, well qualified and are experts in the subjects they teach. Unlike the usual schools in India where you need specific teaching degrees to qualify as a teacher, here all you need is the knowledge and the zeal to teach. They hold extra tuitions before and after school hours simply for helping the girls and not due to compulsion or monetary compensation.

I initially taught English and Science to 5th – 7th as their teacher, Po Fong was on a break. After she was back, I taught Math to 5th – 11th and History to the 6th thanks to Harsha who graciously allowed me to assist him with or occasionally take over his classes. I could also conduct few lab sessions with physics experiments as while Adelyn (aka Addy) was an expert in Biology, me being an Engineer, I could help her out in Physics sessions.

Football Link to heading

Every morning around 300 girls of Yuwa wake up at 4am in order to get to multiple grounds to play football. They have formed Teams amongst themselves and are coached by the senior players of the team. After school hours, there are more practice sessions for the coaches themselves.

Yuwa coaches were initially trained by Franz and later as the organization grew, they have regularly trained in various National and International organizations and clubs, one of them being Real Sociedad, Spain. You can check it out here.

Jharkhand ranks 27 out of 30 in India for female vulnerability, with 50% of school age girls not in school, 60% of girls becoming child brides and female illiteracy at 45%. Rates are higher in rural areas. Formal training to be a coach provides the girls employment skills and leadership. As most Yuwa coaches are paid (often double their fathers’ hourly wages), the girls can use their salaries to pay their (subsidized) school fees and avoid child marriage. Yuwa holds weekly team meetings, life skills training and ensures good nutrition.

The football program along with the school ensure a holistic development of the girls. Many of them have spoken at universities, TEDx events, conferences and travelled across India and abroad. Few have studied in schools in the USA in exchange programs. All of the Yuwa girls have managed to avoid being forced into child marriage.

Lifestyle Link to heading

The laid back lifestyle at Hutup is something I’ll cherish all my life.
The first photo shows Harsha’s house (The interior is well finished). We experimented with some healthy recipes and exercise routines. I could spend some time in photography. The night sky was clear enough to capture decent photos with my average phone camera.

Flora & Fauna Link to heading

Just a few photos of the ones found in the village. I had just discovered some photo editing apps on Android and hence oversaturated most of the photos. (I lost the originals)

Picnic Link to heading

(Never though I’ll ever use the word) Part of the outdoor activities at Yuwa.
It was a potluck-cooking where the girls bring ingredients and utensils from home and with their respective football teams, cook food using firewood collected from the surroundings. There is also music and dance.

Farewell Link to heading

It must be obvious by now that it was extremely difficult to leave. These photos are from my last day at Yuwa. Some tears may have been secretly shed.

I am still in touch with the Yuwa team and some of the students and will continue to do so. They will always be in my mind.

The photo where I am holding a card was taken in Bangalore metro when I met my friends. Kajal (6th grade) had sent me a good luck card for my future endeavors through Harsha. The card is multi layered with different textures, hand made stickers & paper doors. A kid spending that much time in making something for me is enough validation that I did a good job there.

What Yuwa does for the girls – the education, the various national and international programs the girls are exposed to, the love and care with which the teachers engage with the kids, and most importantly, the football program – is unparalleled even by the posh international schools in the country.