This information was gathered on a DIA placement with Sharana Social and Development Organisation in Pondicherry, Summer 2008. By seeing the problems and the improvements in the village through the eyes of the children, we can begin to understand how development affects families on an everyday basis, their daily resilience, and the strategies that they use to improve their own lives. The children also symbolise the change that Sharana has brought to Angallakuppam, and its hope for the future.

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Nandha Kumar is 3 ½ years old. He comes from a family which is considered middle class within the village. Their roof is slate, and they always have food. His Dad is a builder by day, and works through the night as a fisherman. The work is extremely dangerous and he gets very little sleep. Nandha doesn’t see his Dad very often. Thanks to the Sharana Crèche, his Mum is now able to work in the fields. For the rest of the day, she looks after the children, cooks, and gathers fuel. Nandha is an extremely bright student and wants to be a dancer when he grows up. He loves to practice his ‘moves’ at crèche and demonstrate them to anyone who has time to watch.

Vinith Kumar and Manimegalai are brother and sister. They have one other sister who is at school, sponsored by Sharana. Their Mum works in the fields all day and their Dad is a bullock cart driver. Their home is made of clay and straw. They play unsupervised all afternoon while their Mum works. Manimegallai will play with her friends inside, but Vinith likes to play outside and run around. There is sand and dirty water everywhere. He has many infected wounds and open sores on his legs. He also has scabies on his scalp which won’t seem to go away. These give him constant pain. Vinith hates to eat with his hands like the other children, and is very shy. Manimegalai is not as good at English as the other girls. She cries when chalk is brought out because she is scared that she will have to write on the board! Her Mum has cut her hair short so she will look like the little girls in Tamil movies.

Nithya Prakesh is three years old. His Dad is a bus driver and his Mum works as many hours as she can in the fields. The family live in a rented house with clay walls, and a roof of corrugated iron and stolen political campaign posters. The roof materials are extremely conductive of heat. In summer, Nithya and his brother have bad abscesses and pimples on their faces, caused by a constant heating and swelling of the skin. This causes Nithya a huge amount of pain and discomfort.

Prebakaran is two and a half years old. His family have very little money. The women in the village say that his Dad is suffering from an alcohol addiction and beats his Mum regularly in the house. When he leaves the crèche, Prebakaran doesn’t go home for a long time. Instead he goes from house to house trying to find someone to play with. This often annoys some of the other Mothers. He often hits the other children in crèche and is often in trouble. His favourite things in life are bananas and toys, and he has his biggest grin on when he plays with little plastic hoops in crèche.

Tamil Selvan is from one of the wealthier families in the village. His Mum is a housewife, and his Dad is an auto-driver. Their house is one of the few in the village to be made of cement. He loves to run around and his teacher thinks he is a very bright child. At one and a half years old, he is a real hope for Angallakuppam.

Kabilan’s parents are extremely poor, and believe that improving the lives of their families depends on the education of their children. They live in another village but they heard about the crèche, and sent Kabilan to live with his Grandparents in Angallakuppam. His Grandmother caters for all of Kabilan’s needs. She is extremely frail and can hardly walk, but does her best to look after him while working in the fields. His Grandfather is an alcoholic and beats his wife. The future is uncertain for Kabilan, but he looks forward to school and his Grandmother has already taught him to say ‘Good Morning Sir’ and salute the teacher in preparation for school.

Rajeswari is a year old, and is the latest child to join the crèche. Her Dad is a plumber which is a very good job in the village. He brings home a reasonable wage, and provides well for his family. She loves bananas and playing with things that make a funny noise, her favourite being a simple bottle with water in it.

Shalini’s Mum is a housewife and works extremely hard to keep the house clean, and her children happy and well, however in the circumstances, she often fails. Her Father was a fisherman, but became a severe alcoholic and now can’t work. His elderly Mother constantly gives him money whenever he asks for it, although she is only a field worker herself and cannot afford it. Domestic abuse is a huge problem in this family. Shalini and her Mother are both victims, and it is widely known all round the village. However, she is always smiling and rarely cries. She loves spending time at crèche.

Jayshree is four and a half years old, and will soon be leaving the crèche to go to school. Her Mother is a fieldworker and her Dad irons clothes for village people. She is very aware of being the oldest in crèche now, and sometimes bosses the other children around. She can’t wait to go to school. She loves to look at bangles and pretty things.

Athi’s parents are extremely poor and simply could not afford to look after her. She was sent to her Grandparents in Angallakuppam last year. Since the move, Athi has had a lot of behavioural problems. Her Grandmother has to work in the fields all day and often into the evening to feed her, and while she does this, Athi roams around the village, and plays in dangerous and very dirty areas like the river, and beside the main road. Her crèche teachers are very worried about her.

Swathi is one and a half years old. Her family are very poor, but her parents give everything to their children. Her Mum recently had another baby and so Swathi is now living with her Grandparents. She loves to look at picture books, and to have flowers in her hair. Her best part of the morning at crèche is lunch time and she loves her food!