Gopalwadi Primary School

Gopalwadi Adivasi Girls School
Ketuaguda, Rayagada, Orissa, India

The Gopalwadi girsl school is a residential primary school for Adivasi (tribal) girls that has been operational since 1994. It operates at full capacity, dedicated to the education of fifty children in grades 1 through 5. The school was founded by Mrs. Annapurna Maharana, a veteran Gandhian leader and a relentless social worker who has dedicated her life to the empowerment and education of women and children in Orissa. The objective of the school is to construct a foundation of equality and fraternity and the goal is to do so by creating a social order free from ignorance, illiteracy, poverty and exploitations. With a balanced union of self knowledge and primary education, Mrs. Maharana believes this is achievable. In addition to educating the children, the female school teachers also play a vital role in empowering the women of neighboring villages. Twice a year, for two weeks at a time, these dedicated teachers take walking tours of neighboring villages. During their tours, they organize meetings with the village women to impress upon them the necessity of prohibition, propagation of literacy, childcare, and importance of setting up women societies.

This school was initially funded by the government of India and had a budget of approximately Rs. 4.25 lakhs rupees (USD $10,000). However, over the past four years, the government of India slowly stopped funding the school for unspecified reasons. Mrs. Maharana has sent a fervent request for support as she could not monetarily sustain the school. Late last year we held a fundraising email drive and collected a total of $25,000 for the school. In late December 2006, Board members from Foundation for Freedom also visited the school. We were pleased with the school's operation and hope to continue to support Mrs. Maharana’s goal. In addition, during our visit, we identified some additional needs (ie. Malaria prevention, better classroom infrastructure) and are hoping to generate funding for the meeting of these needs.