Old Ways out New ways in

We have rescued 7 boys & Girls from the clutches of village Tantrik and successfully convinced their parents to take their children to Doctors.through our ‘POL KHOL’ programme we uncovered the truth behind the outdated & institutionalized practice of ‘DEVI CHADAN’.

The attendance of the school was going low for a weak & the reason was chickenPox. This disease is considered as the curse of goddess & does not require any treatment leaving the patient in unbearable pain for days.To work against this belief was taken as the idea of the campaign.

The Reasons behind the Idea1.Chiken Pox: Also known As Mata Ji Goddess herself has appeared on the patient body in the forms of eruptions. No cure is required. Patient is not allowed to take bath.2.The population of monkeys is thrice the population of people.3.A famous Tantrik Malkhan Singh.4.Practice of witch Craft

The village is blindly besieged in the superstitions. The scenariois common in all the adjoining villages like Palhora,Banskheda & Marena.People in the village are going to Tantriks to seek solution to the problems which requires urgent medical attention.The monkeys population growing at an alarming rate is a risk for the safety of children but people relate this to the happiness of Lord Hanuman

We imagine a campaign where some thing solid and authentic is required to divert the attention of the masses from the superstitions. Our campaign against this social evil was fraught with dangers as a group of people were benefitting from these practices. Scientific logic against false miracles has to be provided to counter the propaganda of the Tantrik.Be the Change that you want to see in this world

1.Students were divided into teams.2.Literature regarding fake miracles & their reality was procured and students were briefed about it.3.The entire plan of seven days was discussed and made ready for implementation.

Classification of Superstitions:1.Mild in nature causing no harm 2.Serious & cause bodily harm.

Superstitions causing harm1.Declaring a woman as witch.2.Some girls considered as cursed.3.Chaining mental patients at Mazars4.Performing rituals of Tantrik.5.Bali Chadana

Jind Baba ka ThaanA huge banyan tree considered as sacred abode of Holy Jind Baba.People go there to seek cure & also patients with mental retardation or illness are tied to the tree in the hope getting blessed by the Baba.Offering in the form of money & goods collected at this place crosses one crore mark.

We started the campaign by organizing a health camp calling some senior doctors. The community was called in large numbersAnd after the camp a lecture was given by the doctors to the community

Health Mela act as an ice breaker & the Doctor talking to them strikes at their thinking process

Newspaper

A science based play presented by students to

show the negative impact of Superstitions on people life's

It presented a clash between two views prevailing in the same family.One represented rituals while other stands for logic & rationalism. The second one ultimately triumphs over the first.

18th Sept 2010.

Students & volunteers took out a huge rally from Kurria Kalan to Palhora village where the tree called Zind Baba Ka Thaan is located.High pitch slogans & corner meeting inspired the people to join our campaign.The Rally culminates with a public meeting addressed by Mr Rakesh Mishra local & influential leader.The rally gave us the strength & belief that people are fed with wrong practices as many people appreciated our efforts

20th SeptemberVaibhav from class Vth convinced Usha Shukla to take her child to the Doctor in the city. School arranged her trip.Usha Devi, was persuaded to bring her only sonchained at Zind Baba to her home & consult doctors on the nature of his illness.

22nd SeptemberNityanand,member of the team forced his fatherto take her sister to village PHC instead of the Tantrik, which they usually do

24th SeptemberThe DFC Team got a big success, when it Was able to convince Mrs. Kanti Devi against Malkhan Singh. She was very much worried as her daughter in law was not having children

The journey of Change

25th September10Our approach to deal with the people as individuals paid off. The students were very happy on 25th Sep as today Mr Human Azad,a renowned rationalist & magician visited our village.He shows to the people how through the use of some chemicals miracles like things can be done like walking barefooted on fire, causing fire from water, blood coming from stone etc.The students and the community enjoyed his tricks very much.

Maya Devi of 69 years becomes the biggest challenge as she bluntly refused all our efforts. All her life, She has been an ardent follower of Tantrik Malkhan Singh.Her Grandson Mridul a member of DFC School Team never gave up &

finally she relents a bit.

Many factors contributed to the change brought by us.We targeted 50 families And were able to convince about 23.The rally, Skit and individuals meetings played a role but the use of technology and demonstrations decoding the pranksof the Tantriks helped us a lot.Our biggest achievement is the rescual of seven children from the ‘Zind Baba ka Thaan’ where they were chained in inhuman conditions.The Health Camp was very helpful as doctors were successful in building a rapport with the people.The village Sarpanch Mr.Brijesh Singh, promised to open a charitable Homeopathic Dispensary for villagers.

School leader: Mrs. Vandana SharmaMentor Teacher:Mr Poonam Mishra

Students:Archana, Sudha ,Ankit, Amanpratap, Anteryami, Ashu Singh, Neha ,Purti, Poonam, Priya Shukla, Priyam, Prayash, Pushpendra, Dhandevi, Radhadevi,Rajeev kumar, Rohit Singh, Ramji, Preeti, Shivani, Shivani ,Rajat Mishra, Neera Singh, Rinki, Sachin ,Roopam ,Vaibhav, Luxmi ,Shivani devi ,Manoj,Reetadevi, Kshama ,Shubham, Neha