ST. Joseph's School Gitdubling

Hard at work Homework time

Meal Time in the Hostel Rice, Dal and Curried potatoes

St. Joseph's School Gitdubling West Bengal, was established in 1948 for the education, of the poor village children of this region.This school educates children up to approximately the age of 15.

St. Joseph's school has 380 students at present. Pupils come from various villages in the Kalimpong Hill Region. Street children from Darjeeling are also sent to St. Joseph's , if they wish to leave the streets and get an education.

The school , has a hostel attached to it. This is very crowded, however, the residents living in it, are on the whole, very happy and contented with their lot. They receive three meals a day, education and a bed to sleep in.Many of them would not receive these basic amenities in their own homes.

Whilst I was working in West Bengal I spent several weekends with the hostel children, and really enjoyed their company. They love to play, dance and sing when they have free time.
However, they also have to spend some time in study and all have jobs to do around the hostel, food purchasing , collecting from the garden, and the preparing of it in the in the kitchen. They also help to keep the surrounding area clean and tidy and have to do their own washing.

Their lives are very different from most children's lives in the Western world.
But the children of St. Joseph's think themselves very luck to be there.