The first test drive caused great excitement among the children at Penthakata School. Since July, the new school bus – made possible by the generous donation of an Indian supporter – has been in regular use.

Every morning, the children from the informal fishing settlement on the outskirts of the city make their way to Penthakata School. By Indian standards, the journey is not particularly long – but it takes them along a main road to the school grounds. Safe pedestrian paths are rare in India, and in more remote villages and neighbourhoods, even pavements are often lacking. The children therefore walk along the roadside, passing fast-moving traffic, noise and clouds of dust. To make their journey to and from school safer, Penthakata School now has its own transport service.

Around 30 kilometres a day

Before its first journey, the new bus, with its bright yellow seats, was inaugurated in a puja ceremony and sent on its way with good wishes. The reliable operation of the service is ensured by the bus driver and his assistant – a former student of the Penthakata School.

The bus can accommodate 39 children per journey and makes ten round trips every day. This means it covers around 30 kilometres each day. For a small fee, more than 180 children are picked up each morning at the entrance to the Penthakata settlement and safely taken home again after school. For some families, even this small fee is too much. They live in poverty and depend on the often uncertain income from fishing. To ensure that their children can also use the school bus service, the fee is reduced or waived entirely for these families.

Indian donor makes school bus possible

The purchase of the school bus was fully funded by a major Indian donor. Such local donations are particularly important to our Indian partner organisation: they are not only an expression of appreciation for its work, but also strengthen its financial independence and the long-term sustainability of its projects in the local community.