Some of you know this but this has kept me sane for the past 3 months and hence sharing the topic of my dissertation with you and ending this thread with an appeal. So read if you care/would like to know more about teachers in rural India

So through my research I am trying to understand factors in the school environment which contribute to the well-being of teachers especially in rural India. While there is a LOT of research done on teachers in the West, there is almost none around teachers in rural India

Because
1) India so west doesn't care
2) Rural so rest of India doesn't care
3) Many women teachers in rural India, so no one cares

And lives of teachers in rural and urban India are VERY different so we need separate research on both

While doing my background work for this dissertation it was fascinating to see HOW much shit teachers have to deal with, how they largely continue to do their work because it matters and how support for teachers especially in government schools is abysmal

In rural India, all of these challenges increase exponentially. As a female teacher in rural India not only are you having to deal with inefficient school systems, lack of resources, no training and support but ALSO your own personal challenges at home

So there are teachers who travel 20 kms one way to get to school and in rural India that's a HUGE distance which can only be covered by state buses.

There are teachers who routinely face domestic and verbal abuse at home for choosing to have careers and teach to support family

There are teachers who have just given birth to children and do not have anyone to take care or people who refuse to take care of them and have to bring them to school

There are teachers who are so poor they eat only once a day but still come to school

Teachers in rural India are apart from all this are also dealing with the challenges of the children they teach

They teach kids who haven't eaten or bathed in days
They teach kids who face abuse
They teach kids who have special needs
They teach kids who are malnourished

They teach kids who are many years behind grade level
And they do ALL of this with NO training and ZERO support. And one thing common among all these teachers is their will to learn and make lives better for kids in rural India and earn a little money to support their families

Teachers also face the MAXIMUM stress and teaching is the profession that faces the MOST stress amongst all other professions (as you may all realise now, when you have to deal with just 1-2 kids during a lockdown and how it's making everyone tear their hair apart)

No one cares about mental health of teachers of course. Because lol. as soon as things settle down all of us who appreciate teachers now will go back to cursing them and saying working only 6 hours, getting paid in summer vacations and shit so NO ONE CARES/WILL CARE

Teaching is considered a lowly profession, an easy profession,teachers are considered lazy and people who only work few hrs a day and get vacations and time off. People think government teachers are overpaid! Hardly any research is devoted to teacher wellbeing specially in India

Most other organisations will have HR, medical insurance etc which you can use to access a therapist, talk about your mental health and well-being but not teachers. For the amount of stress teachers face it is no surprise that most teachers quit teaching after 3-6 years

While family, marriage, maternity, patriarchy are all factors that contribute to a teacher quitting teaching, stress, mental health and inability to deal with all kind of children's issues without training or support is a BIG thing

Now coming to rural India, all of these challenges are compounded and multiplied exponentially. Female teachers have caste, gender, poverty, patriarchy, motherhood, wifehood, family - ALL odds stacked against them

But they continue to persist because of the 4000-5000 rupees they get every month to support their families. Now with the COVID-19 situation the situation for these teachers has become worse. There is no income for them or their husbands who are farm labourers/fishermen

They have families to support, children to feed and angry, frustrated husbands and in-laws to deal with.
I work with a LOVELY bunch of teachers from Kannarpet village in rural Cuddalore who are all struggling to make ends meet

Here is a picture of me telling the teachers about my research study and their role in it on Skype, JUST before COVID hit! They are the best and most sincere bunch of teachers ever!

ASSEFA foundation, who I work with, runs 5 schools supporting 1200 students in 5 villages in Cuddalore. They've started a fundraising campaign for the teachers and their families.
I know y'all are thinking, why tell such a long story to ask for money?
But context is important :)

And if you are going to donate money, knowing that your money will go into the right hands and will reach the people in need is important and I can assure you that @InfiniteLowe and @insanerobinhood who work in these villages are the BEST people to entrust your money with

You will find the link to the fundraising page here and I would be truly grateful if you or friends of yours can donate to this cause - https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-families-and-children-of-cuddalore-1