Nirmala is an 8-year-old, she proudly gets up to count numbers and say the Hindi alphabets with ease. She is the brightest student in the Haranala CSC. With neatly combed hair and bright eyes, she comes everyday from 9 am to 11 am to learn. This colony has no government school. It is the only place where children from 48 families can come and learn.  

To understand why no other form of learning exists, one has to visit the place to know. It is a two-hour walk through dense tropical forest from the boat head. And it's a four-hour walk from the nearest town Diglipur. Pre-tsunami, the boats could come right upto the village through an intricate waterway. After the tsunami, the water has receded making this place more secluded than ever.  

Finding a teacher itself is a challenge for this CSC when it started in May. A few handful of women who are educated, get married and leave. The teacher now is Rajni, who herself has studied till class VIII. She was fortunate as her father was a PWD employee and was posted in Diglipur. Today, she is the most educated in her village and hence a natural choice for being a teacher.  

The school is under a thatched roof and has a raised platform built of woven straw for the children to sit on. The blackboard was the only aid till CNI sent the kit to the village.  

"More children come to school after the kit, they love to play with it," she said explaining her work.  

Rajni admits that she did not have any skills to teach children who have no concept of going to a school. After the training given by CNI and the kit, she says it is easier to hold their attention.  

The youngest, a three-year old boy is accompanied by his brother and promptly falls off to sleep as the lesson begins. A stray dog, a croaking hen or a human presence is enough to distract the kids used to spending their days in the forest. Those like Nirmala, soak in every word that Rajni says. When asked a question unrelated to studies, she is painfully shy.  

In two hours, they leave, trekking back to their homes through a nallah that once had water.