Rotary Girls Hostel

Sunday, 9 April 2017

The Vapi Riverside Rotary Club funds a hostel for girls in a village about an hour outside of Vapi. Without a hostel, the girls would live too far away from the village school to be able to get an education. Before leaving in 2015, we made a contribution to this project, but we were unable to arrange a visit at that time.

The outside of the hostel. It’s not apparent in this photo, but the hostel has a large lot on the top of a hill. Right now everything is dry, dusty, and bleak, but in monsoon it would be a beautiful site.

The hostel serves about 85 girls. Rotarians are in the front row in this photo.

The girls entertained us with two traditional dances. The younger girls went first.

The older girls’ dance. The hostel serves girls from 3rd through 8th Standard (the equivalent of 3rd through 8th grade in the U.S.).

We wanted to bring something for the girls. While we thought they might need some school supplies, what they really wanted and needed was fresh fruit. So we brought lots of oranges and watermelon. (Vegetables are inexpensive in India, but fruit is relatively costly and a real luxury in many Indians’ diet.)

The hostel kitchen. The hostel serves breakfast and supper daily. Lunch is provided by the government at the school.

All visitors have their picture taken at the hostel’s haystack.