By F M Britto
Raipur, October 1, 2019: Inspired by the charitable works of the Catholic Church, a Hindu employee has gone an extra mile to educate the under privileged kids in Raipur.
Geetu Joshi, who is employed as a computer teacher at the church-run Seva Niketan (Institute of Service) at Cherikheri in Raipur, donates 3000 rupees of her 10,000 rupee monthly salary to educate the differently-abled children.
“I have been inspired by the teachings of the Bible and by the selfless services of Fathers and Sisters at Seva Niketan,” Joshi, 28, told Matters India.
Seva Sadan set up 38 years ago at the outskirts of Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state, trains and rehabilitates differently-abled boys and girls, irrespective of religion and community.
The 93 school-dropouts in the government-sponsored residential institute are trained in various career-oriented trades according to their choice and ability.
Joshi, a resident of Cherikheri village had come as a minor girl to visit her deaf and dumb eldest sister admitted in Seva Niketan.
“At times I had participated in the Mass and some of the teachings of the Bible have touched my heart,” she said.
After her masters in Mathematics, Bachelor or Education and further studies in Information Technology, she found a job as a computer teacher at Seva Niketan in 2012.
Besides teaching computer to the differently-abled students, on her initiative she coaches privately the school-drop outs to write their tenth and twelfth grade exams, providing them freely all the educational materials.
“Computer education without the 10th and 12th certificate will not fetch them any job,” Joshi said. She has thus educated 320 physically challenged youth.
Some students are preparing for jobs in the railways, Public Service Commission, and private jobs.
With 10,000 rupees monthly salary as manager in the local poultry farm, her father, the only earning member in her family, had to economically struggle to bring up his seven daughters, Joshi recounts.
“I had to struggle to complete my studies,” she adds. “Even I had to discontinue my studies for a year due to finance. This struggle I had, motivated me to help the needy,” she says.
While two of her elder sisters are married off and another three sisters supplement to the family income by stitching clothes and teaching in a private school, “Now there is no (financial) problem,” she says.
Being an active member of the Chhattisgarh Blood donation Foundation, the unmarried Joshi also regularly organizes blood donation camps.
On weekends she visits the government orphanage, some 20 km away, and gives the students free tuition, helping them with her money.
During the summer holidays in May, Joshi adopts every year a new village nearby and gives free tuition to the school kids in Mathematics and English.
“She does lots of social work like offering her blood once in three months, organizing blood donation camps and freely coaching students,” remarks Father A. Sebastian, director of Seva Niketan.
“Though I have my responsibilities towards my family, I wish to continue later too to associate with these students,” she says with a smile.