Archana Dange bends down and says something to the children milling about her knees. They scamper off giggling. It is annual day at a school in Tirupur, and Archana, with her team of drama coaches, put finishing touches to their production. Archana manages the operations of the Helen O' Grady International Drama Academy in Tamil Nadu. The academy works with children across schools using drama to develop speech and communication skills. We watch as bright-eyed three and four-year-olds perform “An old woman who lived in a shoe” and “Wolf! Wolf!” Archana says she loves watching the kids let it all out on stage. Kids are central to Archana's scheme of things. It is the business of her organization Anand Deep to make childhood a happy experience. She describes it as “a resource centre for children, parents, teachers and schools in helping education become happy, exciting, creative and meaningful—with no compromise on quality.”
Spreading light and cheer
When she started Anand Deep seven years ago, Archana drew from her many years of work at the Centre for Environmental Education. “The long years of creative teaching there have stood me in good stead and ensured that I look at working in a meaningful way rather than do something which has been done over and over,” she says. The first activity of Anand Deep was to become the master franchisee for Eurokids (an international pre-school chain that is the largest education services provider in the pre-school segment). Today it is in charge of all Eurokids operations in Tamil Nadu. From just two Eurokids in Tamil Nadu, one in Tirupur and the other in Chennai, there are now 84 across the state in 19 districts, including 30 in Chennai alone.
While the curriculum of Eurokids excited her, Archana also saw it as a great opportunity for women entrepreneurs. “Even though the initial investor is a male, in the pre-school sector it is mostly women who are the working force. Women who have never entered a bank before or even signed a cheque are now in the forefront of operations. Eurokids has also given people in smaller towns a chance to provide their kids with ‘a good education'. The schools in places such as Gobichettipalayam, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Hosur are doing extremely well,” she says. Highly driven people have been motivated to join the endeavour. Many of those who run the schools have given up promising corporate careers to devote themselves to kids. For Archana this was a way to realise her dream of giving the kids in her schools the best kind of attention and care.
Archana vehemently believes in the right of the child to be safe physically and emotionally. She is currently immersed in work related to child safety, not just in Eurokids but in many other schools as well. When she learnt about an 11-year-old in her friend's daughter's class who was routinely sexually abused by her father, she was horrified. “The little girl actually thought that this was how all fathers showed their love.” Archana had never given child sexual abuse (CSA) a thought till then. Then, she read a report on the subject that jolted her into action. “Did you know that many children who are sexually abused are six years or younger,” she asks, visibly anguished. She decided then and there to do something that could make a difference. Archana started an awareness campaign on CSA in her schools and she plans to take it to other schools as well. “Children this young do not even have the vocabulary to report abuse,” she says. Anand Deep enterprises tied up with Tulir, a Chennai-based organisation that deals with CSA at a national level, and Archana took part in an international TAALK-a-thon organised by Talk About Abuse to Liberate Kids. Teachers, parents, counsellors and social workers all over the world came together to share their experience, ideas and commitment to put an end to CSA.
“Talking about CSA and making a noise about it is the only way to get people to sit up and take note,” says Archana. And the earlier you do it the better it is. “Pre-school is the right place and time to empower kids to say no if they are uncomfortable with someone's touch. It may save them from being sexually abused. Ninety-three per cent of abused children have been abused by someone they know,” she informs us.
Small things can make a big difference. “We put up posters that loudly and boldly announce ‘This school knows about Child Sexual Abuse'. This sounds a warning to potential offenders. Anand Deep Enterprises along with Tulir works with children, teachers and parents telling them about CSA. Workshops for teachers impart practical information on how to tell if a child is being sexually abused, how to handle it and what to do next about it. Children are told about good touch and bad touch. Simple activities teach them that their body belongs to them. Archana hopes to work with as many schools and parents and teachers as she can to keep children from being sexually abused. She makes an appeal: “Anand Deep enterprises is more than willing to provide literature, worksheets, posters and expertise to any school that wants to protect its children. Please call us.”
