Rural India through the eyes of children

[Sportsdude]

  [div class="mxb"]             [div class="sh"]                Rural Indian children's  photoblog             [/div]          [/div]              Children at a rural school in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh are running a photoblog about daily life in their village, Kalleda. The school gives children from poor families a free education.  The photo project of the RDF (Rural Development Foundation) school has helped school children learn English, connect them with the world and provided the world with a window into rural India. [/p] Read the stories of three of the young photobloggers and click on the links to view their photos.
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[/p][div class="ch1"]RANI[/div]                      [!-- S IBOX --]                                       [table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="208"]    [tbody][tr][td width="5"]
Rani: "A woman and her children were spreading the corn on the road to dry. It has to be dried out before it goes in the bags. "


"Kids from my village eating rice for lunch."



"This man was on his way to the field to load the cotton harvest."



"This man was waiting for his buffalo to come back from the field. He wanted to milk it. "



"My mum, Kethamma, was having her lunch at our home in Ravuru hamlet. "



"These are posters on the inside of the pesticide shop in Kalleda. Lord Krishna is the blue one next to the pictures of pesticide cans. "



"This toddy tapper owns this palm tree even though it is on someone else's farm. He leaves a pot in the tree to collect the sap, then the sap turns into toddy (palm wine). "



"Ravoor villagers going to the festival of Bathakamma. This is the most popular festival among Hindu women."



 

[Sportsdude]

 [div class="ch1"]UMARANI[/div]                     [!-- S IBOX --]                                       [table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="208"]    [tbody][tr][td width="5"]
Umarani: "We were helping with the replanting a field. First the plants grow in a nursery field, and later they are replanted into the real field. "



"These boys were weeding the paddy field. The school grows its own paddy using organic methods."


"This man was carrying a load of firewood. His lunch is in the can."



"This is a farmer from our village. He is mixing fertilizer for his corn field."



"A local woman in Kalleda. She was returning home after dropping her grand child at the school."



"This is a Lambadi tribal woman who came to attend a parents' meeting at our school. "


"This woman was carrying fodder for her buffalo."


   

[Sportsdude]

 [div class="ch1"]ABHILASH[/div]                     [!-- S IBOX --]                                       [table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="208"]    [tbody][tr][td width="5"]
Abhilash: "This is construction work for the new RDF school, Pai Junior College, that's being built right next to our present school. "


"These labourers work on the construction of the new Junior College. They are carrying the foundation stones for the guest house."


"This is the assembly before class. We all gather in the yard for exercise and prayer. The kids were all chanting the Saraswathi Mantra. "


"This is a laundry woman in the village. She was washing other people's clothes in the lake that is close to Kalleda."


"These women are coolie workers. They were hired to remove the weeds from the paddy which is growing in this field.


"This is an ancient temple. It is now being moved, stone by stone, and rebuilt at a new place near the Junior College. Money donated to the temple will help run the new college."


   

[Lise]

I've seen a documentary about something similar. About a photographer giving children cameras so they could take pictures of their lives. It was such a sad story. Some of the children did not escape their lives....... but it was a rare glimpse into their lives. Touching.

  There's a thread on DS about it but I can't remember what it's called.

  Rani does a great job. Very interesting photos.

[Sportsdude]

yeah Rani took AP quality photos there.  Sad indeed poor kids.