Pooja lives in the Chinhat slums and belongs to the Tharu tribal community. Her father plays musical instruments with the kinnar community and performs at marriage bands. As the oldest of seven siblings, education was not a priority for her family. In her community, girls were commonly married off at the ages of 12 or 13, before Sarthak Yellow Rooms opened there. Pooja joined the Sarthak Yellow Rooms at the age of 11. She could attend a local school through the school inclusion program within a year.
Yellow Rooms is the name of the community-based intervention. Each Yellow Room setup is located in the heart of slums/villages and has two bright yellow painted rooms and two full-time Educators. Yellow Rooms are permanent safe spaces that every child in the community comes to for 3-4 hours every day, all year round for decades, to get classes on school subjects and social and emotional well-being. This immersive and long-term project aims to turn children from very marginalised backgrounds into complete and well-rounded human beings by taking education, financial empowerment, and emotional and physical wellness to their doorsteps.
Over the years they have ensured that almost 100% of the children in the community attend formal schools. Further, they also fund their college education so that they can become empowered and provide them with digital and vocational skilling for older children to make them more employable. The aim is to not just impart cursory literacy, but do more – ensure that the children are equipped to use the tool of education to move themselves and their families out of poverty.
The Yellow Rooms are completely free of cost for the children and the community.
In addition to subjects, the Yellow Rooms curriculum covers topics on values, etiquette and manners, health, hygiene, industry exposure, nutrition, gender awareness and gender equality, general knowledge, animal welfare, communication and etiquette. They also provide nutrition and physical supplies and work closely with parents – counselling them, making them aware of government schemes and helping them receive their government entitlements.
The impact of Yellow Rooms is life-altering for Pooja. She enjoyed going to school and continued her classes at Yellow Rooms after school hours. Her exposure to discussions about gender, child rights, and the digital world of learning fueled her curiosity. However, spending so much time with books and learning to speak and write was not a priority for her parents. They would have been content if she worked as a housemaid or stayed home to care for the household and her younger siblings. But Pooja had bigger dreams—dreams of independence and following her heart. Yellow Rooms provided her with the nourishment she needed to blossom into a beautiful human being. They counseled her parents, who finally agreed to delay her marriage and allow her to continue her studies. With Sarthak’s STEM and SEL interventions, she gradually transformed into a confident, capable, independent, and strong woman.
Defying community and family traditions, Pooja refused to discontinue her education or get married. This was not easy; she faced opposition, as well as physical and verbal abuse, in her pursuit of education, but she persisted. Pooja completed her BA and is now set to complete her B.P.Ed (Bachelor of Physical Education) from Lucknow University, where she is performing exceptionally well. Additionally, she works at a fitness studio as a Zumba instructor and is training for more advanced levels. Her dream is to become a consummate Zumba instructor.
Today, Pooja and her story stand as a ray of hope and a beacon of inspiration in her community. She is a role model for the girls in her community, and her example has made it easier for other girls to pursue higher education and seek employment.
