Green Kid'S School

Shakti Garden in the Amar Colony area of Delhi is a bit like a maze if you aren't already familiar with the local streets. We are located right in the middle of this residential patch. The school is a small place that focuses on the younger children from the neighborhood. It is usually quite a noisy environment because little kids don’t really understand how to be quiet, especially when they are playing. The walls are covered in some old posters and hand-painted drawings that have started to fade because of the sun. We have a small open area on the ground floor where they can move around, but it is mostly just a concrete floor. Amar Colony is a busy place, so there are houses and apartments all around us. We often see the neighbors hanging out their laundry or talking to each other while the kids are out in the yard. It feels very much like a community school because almost all the families live within a short walking distance from our gate. The teachers are mostly local women who live in the same area. We don't have a large, formal office; it’s just a simple room where we keep the registers and the children's lunch boxes. During the rainy season, the street outside gets quite muddy, so we have to keep cleaning the floors. It’s not a perfect or shiny place, but it’s where the local kids spend their days. We just try to keep things tidy.