Chadds Ford Live article 2014

Local woman continues her work at girls school in rural India

On September 11, 2010, Mary Cairns, an interior decorator from Kennett Square, and Mike Mays, travelled to a girls school,  Pardada Pardadi Educational Society, in one of the poorest areas of rural India.  For the next 5 months, they immersed themselves into the culture and lives of some of the neediest children in the world.  Mary had known that she wanted to have an impact on girls who are victims of sex trafficking, and that education is one of the solutions to prevention.   

Girls from this extremely impoverished village region are often sold into sex trafficking, under the guise of marriage, by their parents. Older men come to the village wanting to “marry” their daughters, paying as little as $25 for the girl.  Child marriages, usually between age 12 and 14, are common and an issue that the school is working hard to change.   In order to reduce the economic burden on the family, students are paid 10 rupees/day for attending school and provided with 3 meals a day.

Pardada  Pardadi was founded in 2000, by Sam Singh, the first Indian born man to be hired by the DuPont Company in 1963. Upon his retirement as head of DuPont India, he returned to his ancestral village to fulfill his lifelong dream, of improving the lives of girls and women. Girls had never attended school in the village of Annupshar, Uttar Pradesh. Illiteracy is 70%. Average family income is $14/month. Sam was met with great resistance and death threats, as villagers had no understanding of why he wanted to educate girls. Having met with over 1000 families, he started the school with 45 girls. By the end of the first year, 15 remained. Today, 1300 girls attend the school, with 4000 on a waiting list.    

While living and working daily at Pardada Pardadi, Mary  describes the daily challenges and difficulties that are a part of life in this rural village.  “Everything in rural India is the exact opposite from life in the US.” The school was infested with rats, there is no concept of hygiene, monkeys and pigs roam wild throughout the village, and children can been seen rummaging through garbage, competing with buffalo, dogs and pigs for what they might find. “I will never forget the sight of an old person scooping water out of a muddy street puddle to drink.”   One day, a group of men were meeting on the school grounds. Witnessing a man with a gun walking around the men, Mary approached teachers questioning what was going on.  She was told that it was a political meeting, which often turn violent. There was no concern on the part of teachers, as this was not unusual for them. 

During the first trip to the school, Mary and Mike started a hygiene program, teaching girls to brush their teeth and wash with soap. This was new for most of the students.   The girls have been brushing their teeth and washing hands with soap daily at school since that time.     Mike connected the school to the internet, introducing the staff and students to the world beyond the village. While teaching art, Mary introduced colored paper(only white had been used until 2010!) and the concept of hanging student artwork on the school walls(teacher art only until this time!). They taught English classes, as well.

Upon returning to the US in 2011, Mary and Mike had no intention of returning to India again.  After several months, Mary knew she had to go back. Since there is no health care in this village region of 180.000 they decided to build a Health Center at the school.  With 150 lbs of medical supplies donated by Mission Relief in Coatesville, they were off to open the new center, and hire a school nurse.  While Mike worked to improve the computer system and teach computer classes, Mary worked as the school nurse. 

While in India, Mike applied to International Medical Relief, based in Colorado, to bring a team of US medical personnel to the school. Upon their return to the US, Mary and Mike learned that they had been the one out of 100 applications accepted.  For the next six months, Mary worked with IMR to plan the trip, and returned again last summer, with a team of 22 US medical professionals. During that time, the team saw over 2500 villagers in six days, in 110 degree heat and monsoon rains. 

Mary was able to shadow a pediatrician, who diagnosed a new case of polio in a little boy. The child’s father was heartbroken, as he explained that his son had received one vaccination against polio. What he did not know, as is the case for most villagers, is that his son needed four doses.  This was the third child Mary has met in the village with polio. During the clinic, many malnourished, dying babies were seen at the clinic, as well as so many medical issues we will never see in the US.  Due to the success of the trip, IMR will be returning to the school again in June, 2014.Volunteers are still needed for this trip.

When Mary returns to the school on March 27, she will be taking undies for all of the girls. Last June, she took 1000 bras, all donated by friends and strangers alike.  Due to living in dire poverty, girls do not have underwear. She will accompanying two doctors from Baltimore, who will be running clinics for the girls and their families.  She will also be working on a Child Sponsorship program.  Girls can be sponsored, through the school website, at education4change.org.  For $40/month sponsors provide 3 meals  a day, transportation, textbooks, 2 uniforms and shoes for their child. 

Mary’s new dream is to build a Medical Clinic for women and children of the village.  $35,000 must be raised before her new dream can become a reality.  Having made great strides since 2010, Mary is confident that the center will be built by 2015.  Financial donations to support the school are greatly needed.  To learn more about Pardada Pardadi, or to schedule a speaking engagement, call Mary Cairns at 610-444-2139.