In the small hilly village of Piplodi in India’s Rajasthan, a farmer who never went to school has become the reason dozens of children can.
When heavy rains destroyed the village’s schoolhouse, 60-year-old Mor Singh didn’t hesitate, he handed over his own two-room home so the children could keep studying.
“If I had not taken that quick decision, many children would have dropped out,” Singh told the BBC over the phone. “The only other school is in a neighbouring village, which is a two kilometre trek in the hills. While the older students would have managed, the younger ones wouldn’t have.”
Singh, his family, and his two-year-old grandson now live in a makeshift bamboo-and-tarpaulin shack a few meters away. “It is not an ideal accommodation,” he admits, but for him the trade-off is worth it. “That’s why it is essential for these children to go to school, get an education and accomplish their goals.”
The gesture has turned him into a local celebrity. “He is a hero for the entire village,” says resident Ram Dayal, whose daughter was injured when the school roof collapsed on 25 July, killing seven children and injuring 21 others. Another villager, Ram Kumar, added: “If he had not offered his house for the school, many of the children would have dropped out. We all appreciate his gesture.”
Singh’s pink-walled home now serves as an upper primary school for 50–60 children. The government has since declared Piplodi a “model village,” which means new facilities, including a proper school, are on the way. “Building a new school in the village will take at least another one and a half years,” said local official Ajay Singh Rathore.
For Singh, who spent three years building the house before moving in 13 years ago, the sacrifice feels natural. “We are a poor community and have hardly seen any development,” he says.
But for the children of Piplodi, his act of kindness has opened a door to possibility, and reminded the world what it means to put others first.
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