Deepa Biswas Willingham, an Indian living in America read about a child named Jaba, a six year old girl born into a rural family in Bengal, in Piyali, a region beset by abject poverty.
The eldest child in a family, with younger siblings,
Jaba was a trusting happy-go-lucky girl. One
morning, her mother presented her with a new dress, surprising her with the promise of a trip to Kolkata
for a day of fun with her father. Jaba was delighted with the idea and eagerly set off with him, in anticipation of an adventure in Kolkata.
After entering a busy marketplace, her father left her stranded in a shop and while she was distracted with the merchandise, traded her in for a few hundred rupees to feed the rest of his family and his alcohol addiction, and without a backward glance, left her to her fate. Jaba disappeared, never to be seen again.
Deepa, originally from Kolkata, was well aware of
the stark poverty of sections of her birth country,
but she was unaware of how desperate the situation was, and Jaba’s tale shocked her to the core.
She realised that some drastic measures had to be taken to save the girls of Bengal from a fate similar
to Jaba’s.
She decided that the best and perhaps only way to counteract poverty and trafficking was by educating the village girls and young women, to make them self-aware and self- reliant so they would in turn alter the mindset of their families and future generations.
In 2003, when Deepa landed at Piyali, with the dream of starting a school to serve the girls in the community she was met with some resistance from the local people who could not see the benefit in educating the girls in the village.
Not to be deterred from her goal, Deepa started a school in a tin roofed two-roomed structure, gradually persuadng 25 families to send their daughters to the school. Over the years, as the number of students grew especially when some girls graduated and secured positions as nurses and teachers in hospitals and institutions in Kolkata, the school became a beacon of hope for the village.
Deepa’s dedicated work at PLC, was developed
through the U.S. non-profit organization, PACE
Universal (Promise of Assurance to Children
Everywhere) which she founded, resulting in the
creation of a sustainable rehabilitation model that
Class in progress at the original school in 2003
has gone on to transform the village and community of Piyali Junction, home to most of the students that attend the school.
The PACE Learning Centre (Promise of Assurance to Children Everywhere) envisions a world free from the shackles of extreme poverty, where all children are able to pursue their education, empowered to reach their potential and driven to better their communities.
PACE Learning Centre works in and with underserved communities to empower individuals to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and to stand against and prevent child trafficking, achieving this through education, women’s empowerment and village rehabilitation.
Guided by the principle of enabling people to “fish for themselves,” the PACE Learning Centre facilitates the creation of environments where such is possible, utilizing strategic partnerships to maximize the reach and impact of its holistic approach.
Deepa and Dr. Neeraja Rateria, President RCCM, laying the foundation of the present school in 2007
Metropolitans at PACE Learning Centre
The Rotary Grant helped implement the following activities to adopt the community, by implementing the following life changing integrated village development programmes.
They included Adult Literacy Programmes, Vocational Training Programmes with job placement opportunities and Women’s Empowerment Programmes. The grant also focused on Hygiene and Healthcare, Clean Water and Sanitation and Poultry farming. 45 tubewells and 450 sanitation units were installed. 10,000 fruit trees were planted in village homes and at PLC.
Every student of PLC was inoculated with Human Papillomavirus Vaccines (HPV) in 2021 as a preventive against cervical cancer.
Modern hygenic kitchen for serving breakfast
and lunch in school cafeteria
Sister Club agreement between Interact Club
of Moorpark High School and PLC
Sewage Treatment Plant
Computer Laboratory
Playground
Mobile Emergency Unit
Eye Check-up Camp by Dr Neeraja Rateria
