Mother'S Pride Public School

Up here in Bara, things are a bit different than in the big cities. We are in the Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, so the weather really runs our lives. When it snows or rains heavily, the roads get difficult and some of the kids can't make it to school. We just work around it. The school is a simple stone and concrete building. We have thick walls to help keep some of the heat in during the winter months. We have a small wood stove in the staff room where we make tea and try to stay warm during the coldest weeks. The playground is just a cleared patch of land with a couple of old swings that have a bit of rust on them. We don't have expensive uniforms; we just ask parents to get basic colors so it is affordable for everyone. Most of our books are second-hand and have been passed down from older students. We don't have a computer lab or anything like that. We use charts and maps pinned to the walls to teach. The mountain air is good, but the life here is quite rugged. We don't do much marketing. If a family is happy with us, they tell their neighbors in the village. It is a quiet, practical place where we focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic. We just want the children to have a decent start. It is a very simple, honest way to run a school.