A flood-hit island in India needed a school. He inspired a community to build one.
| Kulamua, India
Ten years ago, Bipin Dhane, who had completed postgraduate studies at a prestigious Indian technical college, was working for a shipbuilding firm in Singapore. He was paid well but wanted more from life.
鈥淚 had sleepless nights,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 thought I wasn鈥檛 doing anything for the world.鈥�
So, Mr. Dhane quit his job, gave all his savings to his family, and moved to Majuli, a remote Indian island that needed a volunteer schoolteacher. His mother and father were aghast.
Why We Wrote This
The Hummingbird School is named after an inspiring story that Wangari Maathai 鈥� the late Kenyan environmentalist 鈥� often told about a hummingbird鈥檚 courage during a forest fire. 鈥淲hen so many households came to help in building the school,鈥� the school鈥檚 founder says, 鈥渋t really felt like little hummingbirds had come together.鈥�
鈥淚 was the first engineer from the family,鈥� Mr. Dhane says. 鈥淢y parents wanted me to work and earn.鈥�
Within a year, Mr. Dhane had so impressed the islanders that they donated land, bamboo, and their labor to build a permanent place where he could teach their children. Mr. Dhane named it The Hummingbird School, after an inspiring story that Wangari Maathai 鈥� the late Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace laureate 鈥� often told about a hummingbird鈥檚 courage during a forest fire.
鈥淭hat story saved my life; I don鈥檛 have to take the burden of the whole world on my shoulders,鈥� Mr. Dhane says. 鈥淲hen so many households came to help in building the school, it really felt like little hummingbirds had come together.鈥澛�
Innovation and impact
Dressed in light blue and navy uniforms, older Hummingbird School students sit outside reading books borrowed from the school library, while younger ones play catch or tend to a small vegetable garden on campus.聽
Ninth grader Diya Das has studied here for eight years. She says the school has given her opportunities that she would not find elsewhere, such as learning Sattriya classical dance, organizing a literary festival, and performing theater.
鈥淢y favorite place is our school,鈥� Diya says. 鈥淚 love being here.鈥�
Founded in 2017, the school teaches more than 300 students, from kindergarten through 10th grade. Ninety-five percent of them are from the Mising tribal community. More than half attend for free because they can鈥檛 afford to pay school fees; the rest contribute a nominal 500 Indian rupees (about $5.50) a month.
Ninth grader Santosh Pegu lives at a hostel the school operates for orphans and students from impoverished families. 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 staying at my own home,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e stay together, study together, and have fun together.鈥�
Students learn all major subjects, but are also encouraged to get involved in the arts and to learn life skills through group projects. They design wall magazines on which they write poetry, short stories, and jokes.
鈥淭he Hummingbird School teaches in innovative ways,鈥� says Momee Pegu (no relation to Santosh), the founder of RIGBO, a Majuli-based nonprofit that works to build leadership and entrepreneurial skills among young people. 鈥淭he students get plenty of scope to learn and explore, and the school is creating a good impact on the community.鈥�
鈥淟et them become role models鈥�
Each year, deadly and destructive floods ravage Majuli, the world鈥檚 largest inhabited riverine island, centered on the Brahmaputra River in northeastern Assam state. Roads are in poor condition, and few health care facilities exist for the roughly 167,000 islanders. Educational and employment opportunities are also limited.聽
Seasonal monsoons in 2017 and 2020 battered the school, which occupies four whitewashed concrete buildings in the remote village of Kulamua. Each time, residents rebuilt the school.聽
鈥淎 lot of books and school property got damaged,鈥� Mr. Dhane says. 鈥淲e deposited a lot of soil to elevate the land now.鈥�
Residents hope the school will be less vulnerable to flooding. As in the Nobel laureate鈥檚 hummingbird story, the lesson is that the efforts of one individual are magnified when they band together with others.
Still, funding remains a challenge for the school, whose annual operating costs exceed 24 million rupees (about $265,000). A bank headquartered in Mumbai provides some of the money, and individual donors sponsor fees for 100 students a year.
Mr. Dhane says that most people think tribal education should be synonymous with vocational skills. While The Hummingbird School does instruct students in gardening, bamboo craftwork, and knitting, 鈥渙ur focus here is to offer high-quality education,鈥� he says. 鈥淟et them also go to top colleges. ... Let them become role models for their community.鈥�
Mr. Dhane no longer teaches at the school but stays involved in its overall academic planning and management. He also heads Ayang Trust, a nonprofit on Majuli that supports the school.
While Mr. Dhane鈥檚 parents were initially sad and angry that he left behind his lucrative engineering career, they eventually realized the value of The Hummingbird School. 鈥淲hen they visited the school and saw the work that I have done, they were very proud,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y dad used to post about my work on Facebook and elsewhere and talk to everyone about me.鈥澛�
