Gyan Jyoti Awasiya Vidyalaya

This school is located out on the Arra Buxer Road in a place called Bampali, near Arrah. Since it is a residential school, things are a bit different here compared to a day school. The kids live on the premises, so the day starts much earlier with everyone getting up for morning exercise and breakfast in the common hall. You can hear the sounds of the kitchen staff getting things ready long before the sun is fully up. The classrooms are just a short walk from where the students sleep. It's a fairly open area with more space than you'd find in the middle of a city. We have trees around the grounds which provide some nice shade during the afternoon heat. The teachers often stay late because there is always someone needing help with their homework or just something to talk about. Life here revolves around the schedule of bells—one for waking up, one for classes, and one for meals. It gets a bit quiet in the evenings when everyone is in the study hall. We see a lot of kids from the surrounding rural areas who come here to stay for the term. It's a lot of work keeping the hostel and the school running at the same time, but we manage. It’s a simple, hardworking environment where the students and staff basically live like a big, somewhat messy family throughout the year.