First week in the balwadis!

The 15th of June classes restarted at the balwadis (nursery schools) located in the slums in the north of Mumbai.

For many of the children this will be their second year at the balwadis because they still are not old enough to enter regular school, but for others this was their first day away from their mothers and their houses.

The tears and sad faces are common for the first few days of class, especially at 9am when their mothers leave them at school (as is reflected in the photo above). These are also typical when their mothers come to pick them up because the children can see them through the window and need to run to their arms!

But for this girl, it doesn’t last long… after a few minutes she already has a little smile on her face.

In this photo you can see Ana Andres, responsible for the department of visits, consoling one of the girls who is sobbing on her first day at school. A very normal reaction, right? Who wouldn’t cry when they were small, left at school for the first time?

Others, on the other hand, act as though they had been going to school for all of their lives, playing with their friends, laughing and having fun singing songs and learning their first little words of English.

Some come with their water bottles and backpacks, although they don’t have to bring anything. It is important in their moms’ image of their young children heading off for school. In the mornings they dress them impeccably, comb their hair and are very tidy. These are the norms!

All of the children benefited by the balwadis receive a nutritional lunch everyday, with which their daily nutritional needs are much better covered without any cost to the family.

Photographs: Ana Andres – Department of visits of Bombay.