Little Biyamma, a very distraught child who spent long hours on her own, began attending the Door Step School balwadi in July 2004. The change perceived in her after some months of being in the balwadi was remarkable.

Biyamma lost her father when she was yet a baby. He was a daily wage labourer and there was nothing for the family to fall back on after his demise. A brother, at that time studying in Std. IV, had to drop school and look for means to earn some money. The mother took up work as a domestic servant where she is expected to work long hours. Biyamma was left to her own devices at a very young age. Other families in the vicinity would keep an eye on her while she toddled around. Whenever she saw the Door Step School center open she would wander in and start playing.

Vivacious and friendly as she was, she was starved of attention and love at home. It was probably this that caused her to be irritable, domineering and destructive, as if trying to grab the attention of those around. When she was first enrolled in the balwadi, she could not sit in one place and resisted any attempt to introduce some discipline.
What she got from the Door Step School team in the community was a big dose of positive attention, along with the initiation into the learning process. Today Biyamma’s presence in the balwadi is neither destructive nor distracting. She stings beads, colours pictures, participates, actively sings songs and is one with the class.
Today she is 6 years old and ready to join formal school.