Mission Statement

The motto is "Hum Honge Kaamyaab" meaning "We Shall Overcome". The mission is twofold.

One is befriending that section of society which is neglected and rejected by regular schools/work places thereby alleviating their stress and suffering. Two is teaching the attendees a self sustaining livelihood which creates confidence and earns respect.

Training begins with basic fundamentals like sanitation, hygiene, correct eating habits, alphabets etc. Hostile behaviour like hitting, crying and screaming is untaught.

Within a short span, PEHAL has become the centre of belonging for these under privileged attendees.

They feel welcome, happy and secure around one another. Visible changes can be observed like better hand, eye and mind coordination through the various activities. Physical exercise and cleanliness keeps health and weight in control.

Overall there is significant improvement in behavior and attitude of parents and community towards accepting lifelong challenges of such children. Neighborhood villages have begun inviting them for weddings/ cultural events. Slowly but surely they are being integrated into society and this acceptance is creating a far reaching ripple effect.

Pehal Children [View all ]

Jyoti

Saloni is 11 year old. She has an abnormally big head and a peculiar gait. She opens her legs too wide while walking. She also has some problems with the eyesight. Saloni comes from a joint family and is the eldest among her siblings. She has a younger brother and sister. Besides her parents, her grandparents also live in the same house. Her father is a farmer with modest income, but is addicted to liquor. He devotes least care to the family. Her mother is educated up to eighth standard. Saloni has received medical attention in various hospitals in Karnal, Panipat and nearby areas but without success. When she joined Pehal, she had unclean looks, was short tempered and would hit and pinch children, sometimes even adults, around her. She would often wet her bed. She had no knowledge of the alphabet and numbers. She knew some Haryanavi songs and would dance enthusiastically to their tunes. She would vigorously shake her head while talking or singing. Within a period of about six months at Pehal, her behavior significantly changed. She started maintaining cleanliness, washing hands before the start of every meal and pointing at other children whenever they did not wash. She learnt English alphabet through songs and could count up to twenty. Her anger level also came down substantially. She got interested in learning painting and singing, participated in all activities and always wanted to take the lead role. She could orally learn and cram up English sentences and could respond to simple questions like "What is your name"? "How are you"? etc. She has become very affectionate with her teacher and fellow children. Saloni's grasping power is good, but she has problem in writing partly because of defect in her eyesight and partly because of improper grip of pencil. Efforts are constantly being made to improve her grip and make her hold the pencil properly. A small incident which occurred after a first few months is worth mentioning here. She was taken by the teacher for eye check up and the doctor asked her to read the alphabets on the board in front. Instead of saying 'A' she said uhpas ls mij, mij ls uhpas chp esa MUaaMk that was the way she was taught to write 'A'. One significant improvement in the behavior of Saloni has been that her habit of bed wetting has been controlled to a great extent as told by her "dadi" (grandmother).She is very attached to her teachers and other children at Pehal. She is fond of talking on phone and wants to talk to anyone who happens to call up the teachers at Pehal. She is very good in activities like singing, dancing, reciting poems acting etc, and tries to play a leading role. She also takes interest in other activities like making of greeting cards, necklaces and envelopes, like other children. Saloni often falls sick and has to go to the hospital, which fortunately is adjacent to school building. Before joining Pehal, she had suffered from some kind of infection in vagina as a result of which she found it difficult to walk properly. She kept her legs wide open and walked with a wide gait. This was treated in course of time, and her style of walking is gradually improving. Her eyesight was also got checked and she was given a pair of glasses, but she lost them after some time. Saloni is a sensitive girl and understands the pain and discomfort of others. Once one of the teachers was unwell and was sitting in her chair in the school. Saloni happened to go to her for some work and noticed her pulled down face. She immediately enquired from her as to why she was looking unwell. The teacher told her the reason and the little girl advised her to take some medicine and rest and not worry about her work and stood by the side of the teacher reassuring her. This gesture on her part moved the teacher- especially considering the fact that this girl herself falls sick frequently. Perhaps her own sufferings and neglect at home have made her sensitive to the discomfort faced by others. She sometimes get jealous when she sees other children being loved but not herself, and then she gets angry and has to be assuaged. She is also deeply conscious of the fact that in academics (which in any case are bare alphabets of both English and Hindi and numbers) she lags behind other children. She however picks up oral lessons fast, and has learnt to answer questions like "what is your name" "how are you" "what is the name of your school etc, and feels proud that she is ahead of all other children in the class in this respect. Salonis' parents remain completely indifferent to her. Although the economic condition of the family is comparatively satisfactory, yet Saloni is not given even proper clothes to wear. She is altogether bereft of parental love - only her grandmother takes care of her. Her parents are so indifferent to her that they refused to even come and watch a cultural programme in which she took an active part and her role was appreciated by one and all. Saloni's father came to School only once during the last two years. The teachers remonstrated with him that he did not love Saloni and never found time for her. The man told the teachers that he loved her the most. Saloni heard it and started crying and told the teachers in front of her father that he did not love her and was telling a lie. Recently the children of Pehal School enacted a dance performance "Tare Zameen par " in a competitive programme for the schools of differently - abled children. It was for the first time that these children had gone out for such a programme. Saloni was the leader of the Pehal group. The children performed very well in the programme and their mannerism (touching the feet of the judges and saying namaste) impressed everyone.
Chand Kaur

30 years old

Chand Kaur is 30 years old. She has four younger sisters and two younger brothers. Her younger sisters are all married except the youngest one. Her parents work as laborers. One of the younger brother who is 20 year old also works as a laborer and helps the parents in earning a livelihood for the family. Chand Kaur has not been mentally normal since childhood - though physically she is like any other girl of her age. She was shown only to the village physicians who was of no avail. She had never been to any school, nor was ever interested in studies. She would loiter around in the village aimlessly hurling abuses at people, hitting and troubling them - especially smaller children. She also had the habit of biting people. She would keep dirty and was very short-tempered. Everybody - even her siblings - used to avoid her company. Sometimes she would pounce upon her mother in a fit of temper and try to strangle her. She was also used to smoking bidis offered to her by some women in the village. Once Chand Kaur's mother learnt about Pehal School and brought her here. In the initial days Chand Kaur had a lot of problem at Pehal. She was not used to a school environment and company of children. She was very indiscipline would do what pleased her and if anyone tried to control her; she would vent her anger on smaller children by hitting them. She would laugh awkwardly without reason. Slowly, with a lot of patient handling, Chand Kaur started coming round and listening to the teacher. As she was not interested in anything except dancing, her familiarization started with group dances and songs in which other children also participated. She slowly became friendly with them. In course of time, her hygiene, habits and appearance also improved. She developed the habit of washing her hands before and after meals and pick up refuse if any. She also developed a special attachment for a small boy Prince, and would always ensure that Prince has eaten his food properly and washed his hands. This was a pleasant change in her personality as otherwise she never showed any attachment with even her own sisters or brothers. Now she has become very fond of the school, and as informed by her parents, hurries up every morning to get ready for the school bus. Her anger level has shown a significant reduction. One day during a brief absence of the teacher, some children tore up her notebook and one girl bit her hand. Instead of hitting them back as was her habit earlier, she started crying. When the teacher returned and came to know of it she assuaged her and scolded the other children. Chand Kaur is the eldest child in the family and all her younger sisters except one got married right in front of her eyes. She remembers very well the fine clothes worn by them, the bangles, 'lehanga', 'chunni'and necklace etc and insists that she would also get married. One day all the girls of Pehal School were given glass bangles of different colors. Chand Kaur was very happy to wear them, and started singing and dancing. Chand Kaur's progress in studies has been extremely slow. She has learnt very little of alphabet and numbers and is not interested in learning them. She is, however, interested in painting and necklace making. She also enthusiastically participates in all extra – curricular activities like sports, singing and dancing. Recently in a competition among differently abled children of similar schools in Karnal, her performance was appreciated by one and all. Her overall behavior and personality has changed a lot. Now she greets everyone with a 'namaste'. Her aggressiveness has also vanished. Her parents and the villagers are very happy to see the change in her.
Kamlesh

19 year old

Kamlesh is a 19 year old girl. She has two older sisters and two younger brothers. Her father is a small time electrician and his meager earning scarcely suffices to maintain the family. He is an asthmatic patient and often keeps unwell. As told by her parents, Kamlesh was normal at birth. However at the age of eight, she suffered a paralytic stroke and despite all available treatment could not be cured fully. At present, besides mental problem, she is physically too very weak. Her all round growth has suffered. She cannot walk properly and has a slur in her speech. She has a very weak memory and poor grip. Kamlesh is a very simple girl. She never picks up quarrel with anyone despite the fact that she is often teased by the children in the neighbourhood. At the time of joining Pehal she used to be very reserved and would not talk to anyone and also salivate from the mouth. It took some time for the teacher to befriend her ( 25 ) before she could open up. She was, like other children, taught to keep clean, comb her hair, clean her teeth regularly and not to wear dirty clothes, and greet the teacher when joining the class. She was also taught alphabets, numbers and nursery rhymes. Her progress has been very slow. She enjoys singing and still feels a little coy while doing so before the class, and feels very happy when praised for it. An incident of Feb 2009 deserves to be recalled. Pehal School at Nagla Megha is run in the government school building after the normal school hours. On this day there was a farewell party in the school for the children of class X, and when the Pehal Teachers and students reached the classroom in the afternoon, it was very dirty. The remains of food and pieces of paper were strewn around in the entire classroom and on desktops, and the benches were dirty. The teacher asked one of the girl to get a broom from a nearby house, and started brooming the room. As soon as Kamlesh and another girl. Manisha saw this, they came forward. Kamlesh took the broom and asked the teacher to sit down, and started cleaning the room herself. Manisha picked up the pieces of paper and both of them later cleaned up the benches and the tables. After the job was done they told the teacher that they were going to the water tap to wash their hands and returned after a while. This gesture on the part of these two girls was really moving and amply showed their love and respect for their teacher. The stay at Pehal has done a lot of good to this shy, unassuming girl. She takes interest in all activities of the class like card making, singing, reciting poems and enthusiastically shows the written work done by her in the notebook. She keeps clean and even at her home if she notices any dirt, removes it. Earlier she used to come to school at her own time. Now she has become punctual. Her parents and others are happy to see that she is happy at school and is progressing well, albeit slowly.
Raj Kumar

8 year old

Raj Kumar is an eight year old handsome looking, happy and mischievous child and looks like any other normal boy. He is mentally challenged since birth. His parents are marginal farmers and also work as casual laborers. He has an older sister (12 yrs) and a brother (4 yrs). His father is a liquor addict, and is barely able to meet the family expenses. Raj Kumar and his sister had joined the village school about five years ago and remained there for almost three years. He faced neglect and ridicule at the school and did not learn anything and later quit the school. At home also his behavior was not acceptable to the family members and he faced a lot of neglect where Raj Kumar joined Pehal he was shy and withdrawn, and did not like staying at the school. He had an unkempt appearance, unhygienic habits and unacceptable social behavior. He was, however, fond of singing and dancing. The teacher at Pehal began with Raj Kumar by trying to be friend him by singing and dancing with him together with other children - an activity he was very fond of. Slowly she won his faith and in about a month's time he started coming closer to her and liking the school. Gradually he started obeying her and she utilized this to impart clean habits to him. Personal hygiene – including washing hands, nail cutting, combing of hair etc was slowly introduced to him and he was also taught not to throw litter around. Simultaneously he was also introduced to Hindi and English alphabets and numbers and colours. The Pehal School at Kaimla was being run in one of the rooms of the village community building. It was not a clean location. Although some teaching aids was provided to the school, yet because of the location itself quite a few problems came in the way. The room was available only when not required by the villagers for any purpose. On such occasions the classes had to be cancelled as there was no alternative available. The people were initially curious and would come to see the school frequently, as a result of which the attention of the children was diverted and they could not concentrate on their daily routine. In course of time the village community became altogether indifferent to the running of this school as these children belonged to very poor families. It was therefore decided to shift these children to Madhuban Police Complex with the consent of their parents. Haryana Police authorities agreed to provide transport to ferry the children and their teacher on a daily basis. The children were very happy and enthusiastic – as this gave them a free joy ride to Madhuban. The shifting was done as 5th May 2008. The progress of this child at Madhuban has been good. His personal hygiene has improved and his social behavior has also shown a significant improvement. He has learnt to paint, and can also make envelopes and necklaces. He ( 23 ) enthusiastically takes part in games and sports activities. His progress in academics is rather slow, he has not yet properly learnt the alphabets and numbers. His concentration span is very short. The one thing that has become noticeable about this child lately is his sense of responsibility. This is proved by an incident, which occurred about six months ago in his village. All the children had boarded the bus in the morning to leave for school and on a head count it was noticed that one boy, Satvir was missing. The teacher was worried and looked around for him but could not locate him. At that point of time she also enquired from the children in the bus whether anyone of them had seen Satvir. Raj Kumar pointed out that he was sitting behind the bus. The teacher went there, found him and brought him inside. This was a pleasing demonstration of the sense of responsibility cultivated by him.
Mamta

Swati is a nine year old girl belonging to a very poor and indigent family. Her father is a labourer having meagre income but is addicted to alcohol and a major part of his income is squandered in drinking. Her mother runs a small shop in the village and out of her small earnings the household expenditure is met. Swati had fallen ill during childhood and for want of proper treatment her brain was affected. This, coupled with an unhappy environment in the family, had made her a very reserved and reclusive child. Swati has two sisters and a brother. The frequent quarrels between her mother and father over money and liquor have created a very negative atmosphere in the family. Little attention is paid to this girl. She never goes to her father. When Swati joined Pehal, besides being a loner she also had the habit of pulling her hair. She always had a scared look in her eyes. She would not talk to the children around her and would very often stick her tongue out of her mouth. We started befriending her by holding her hands often, rocking her and giving her friendly body touches. Slowly, she started enjoying group dance with children. During games like "ring a ring of roses", she would especially enjoy when everyone fell down at the end. Her shyness slowly waned. Gradually she started mixing with other children, taking part in group songs and dances and games and also started laughing. She also became a little mischievous like other children of her age and quite shedded the habit of pulling her hair and became very particular about washing hands before meals. She started participating in activities like envelope and card making and stringing beads to make necklaces. She liked to play the role of a teacher and sometimes posed like one with a stick in her hand teaching the class pointing to the board with a stick and saying 'A' for apple and 'B' for ball. She learnt quite a few nursery rhymes. She could also read and write a part of Hindi and English alphabets and some numbers. She recently took part in a small play "mai to so rahi thi" enacted by Pehal children, which was staged on the Annual Day of Haryana Police Public School, Madhuban. She also participated in the sport activities and throughly enjoyed it. Swati suddenly stopped coming to Pehal school in March 2008. It was learnt that she was enrolled in a government school under 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' on promise of some monthly stipend as she belongs to a scheduled caste. She came to Pehal only towards the end of September 2008. During this period she had reverted back to her old habits, would keep crying for no reason and again became aloof, as she was a year ago. It took quite some time and effort on the part of Pehal teachers to bring her back to her old level. She continued for about 4 months and again stopped coming in February 2009. The teachers met her parents a few times to persuade them send her to school regularly but to no avail. They are indifferent to her and by and large have left her to herself. Sometimes she would see the school bus and other children boarding it, and ran to it and came to Pehal. It was learnt that she rarely went to the village school either as no attention was paid to her and they never bothered about her absence. On the whole it was a big tragedy for this child who suffers from all round neglect. Since September, however, she has again started coming to Pehal as the government school in the village has refused to allow her to continue there.
Saloni

11 year old

Saloni is 11 year old. She has an abnormally big head and a peculiar gait. She opens her legs too wide while walking. She also has some problems with the eyesight. Saloni comes from a joint family and is the eldest among her siblings. She has a younger brother and sister. Besides her parents, her grandparents also live in the same house. Her father is a farmer with modest income, but is addicted to liquor. He devotes least care to the family. Her mother is educated up to eighth standard. Saloni has received medical attention in various hospitals in Karnal, Panipat and nearby areas but without success. When she joined Pehal, she had unclean looks, was short tempered and would hit and pinch children, sometimes even adults, around her. She would often wet her bed. She had no knowledge of the alphabet and numbers. She knew some Haryanavi songs and would dance enthusiastically to their tunes. She would vigorously shake her head while talking or singing. Within a period of about six months at Pehal, her behavior significantly changed. She started maintaining cleanliness, washing hands before the start of every meal and pointing at other children whenever they did not wash. She learnt English alphabet through songs and could count up to twenty. Her anger level also came down substantially. She got interested in learning painting and singing, participated in all activities and always wanted to take the lead role. She could orally learn and cram up English sentences and could respond to simple questions like "What is your name"? "How are you"? etc. She has become very affectionate with her teacher and fellow children. Saloni's grasping power is good, but she has problem in writing partly because of defect in her eyesight and partly because of improper grip of pencil. Efforts are constantly being made to improve her grip and make her hold the pencil properly. A small incident which occurred after a first few months is worth mentioning here. She was taken by the teacher for eye check up and the doctor asked her to read the alphabets on the board in front. Instead of saying 'A' she said uhpas ls mij, mij ls uhpas chp esa MUaaMk that was the way she was taught to write 'A'. One significant improvement in the behavior of Saloni has been that her habit of bed wetting has been controlled to a great extent as told by her "dadi" (grandmother).She is very attached to her teachers and other children at Pehal. She is fond of talking on phone and wants to talk to anyone who happens to call up the teachers at Pehal. She is very good in activities like singing, dancing, reciting poems acting etc, and tries to play a leading role. She also takes interest in other activities like making of greeting cards, necklaces and envelopes, like other children. Saloni often falls sick and has to go to the hospital, which fortunately is adjacent to school building. Before joining Pehal, she had suffered from some kind of infection in vagina as a result of which she found it difficult to walk properly. She kept her legs wide open and walked with a wide gait. This was treated in course of time, and her style of walking is gradually improving. Her eyesight was also got checked and she was given a pair of glasses, but she lost them after some time. Saloni is a sensitive girl and understands the pain and discomfort of others. Once one of the teachers was unwell and was sitting in her chair in the school. Saloni happened to go to her for some work and noticed her pulled down face. She immediately enquired from her as to why she was looking unwell. The teacher told her the reason and the little girl advised her to take some medicine and rest and not worry about her work and stood by the side of the teacher reassuring her. This gesture on her part moved the teacher- especially considering the fact that this girl herself falls sick frequently. Perhaps her own sufferings and neglect at home have made her sensitive to the discomfort faced by others. She sometimes get jealous when she sees other children being loved but not herself, and then she gets angry and has to be assuaged. She is also deeply conscious of the fact that in academics (which in any case are bare alphabets of both English and Hindi and numbers) she lags behind other children. She however picks up oral lessons fast, and has learnt to answer questions like "what is your name" "how are you" "what is the name of your school etc, and feels proud that she is ahead of all other children in the class in this respect. Salonis' parents remain completely indifferent to her. Although the economic condition of the family is comparatively satisfactory, yet Saloni is not given even proper clothes to wear. She is altogether bereft of parental love - only her grandmother takes care of her. Her parents are so indifferent to her that they refused to even come and watch a cultural programme in which she took an active part and her role was appreciated by one and all. Saloni's father came to School only once during the last two years. The teachers remonstrated with him that he did not love Saloni and never found time for her. The man told the teachers that he loved her the most. Saloni heard it and started crying and told the teachers in front of her father that he did not love her and was telling a lie. Recently the children of Pehal School enacted a dance performance "Tare Zameen par " in a competitive programme for the schools of differently - abled children. It was for the first time that these children had gone out for such a programme. Saloni was the leader of the Pehal group. The children performed very well in the programme and their mannerism (touching the feet of the judges and saying namaste) impressed everyone.
Manish

Manish comes from a very poor family. His father is a labourer, but whatever he earns is blown by him in liquor. He does not give anything to the family. His mother does odd jobs in the neighbourhood households and her meager income is the only means of meeting the household expenses. He has an older brother who too is mentally challenged. His grandmother lives with him. His father's drinking habit causes a lot of problems for the family as a result of which there is always tension and quarrel between husband and wife. His father has no attachment with the children. Manish was studying in a village school before joining Pehal at Kaimla. He was very irregular and did not learn anything there - mostly because the school environment was not congenial for a child like him, and nobody paid any attention to him. He also had the habit of pilfering things. In the beginning Manish found Pehal School strange, as the environment here was informal, there were few children and the teacher paid individual attention to all children. He liked the singing, dancing and playing with which the school started its daily activity, but would often attempt to leave the school by jumping over the gate (The school at that time was being run in the village community building). Once he remained absent from school for a long time on account of some wedding in the family and then he altogether stopped coming – after which the teacher had to meet his mother and persuade her to send him again to school. He became regular after that and slowly started liking it. He was also gradually introduced to Hindi and English alphabets and numbers. After a few months, in May 2008, the school was shifted to Madhuban. Manish enjoyed the bus ride in company of other children and now he regularly comes to school. Besides reading and writing, he has also been taught necklace making, colouring and card making. He participates in sports and other physical activities conducted at the school. His mother and other people in the village are very happy to see improvement in this child.