The Maywood friends Asfiya M. Naufal
Written & Illustrated By: Asfiya M. Naufal Produced By: Al Qamar Academy Contact: Al Qamar Academy 14, Kalyani Nagar, Opposite Journalists’ Colony Kottivakkam, Chennai 600041 Ph: 044 24511226/ 9677019226 info@alqamaracademy.in www.alqamaracademy.in An Al Qamar Trust publication. Al Qamar Academy is a micro school in Chennai, India. As an alternative school, Al Qamar focusses on inculcating curiosity, enabling real learning and developing a social conscience in children. The school constantly innovates in its pedagogical delivery. The school was founded by IIT’ian Hauroon Jamal and Aneesa Jamal. This book is an outcome of a bookmaking workshop at Al Qamar Academy followed by three one-to-one mentoring sessions for the young authors conducted by renowned conservation educator and nature photographer K. Ramnath Chandrasekhar. The storytelling module used by him during the sessions were designed for Karthavyam, an initiative on public-problem solving.
To
 My best friend Hema and her family.
In 1970, there were two friends named Riyah and Sarah. Their school days started in the Maywood School. The girls were in the last year of their middle school. They often spent days together, enjoying their hostel life.
Being very close to each other, the girls always found themselves lost in doing doing research and writing papers. One fine day, Riyah shared an idea of doing a project on the lifestyle of people suffering from poverty. Sarah agreed happily at once, because she always wanted to help the needy.
One day, Riyah got a call from her aunt Maria, about a trip to Cuddalore. Riyah was excited and decided to take Sarah along with her. Soon they told their Principal, Mrs. Mahel and got approval for their research trip.
The next morning, they went to their Principal’s office and she guided them how to collect information about the poor, their living conditions and their jobs. That night the girls packed everything they wanted. They took some notes about what they had to do.
The next morning, the girls were super excited to start their journey. Sarah and Riyah were eagerly waiting at the bus stop for the bus. The bus arrived and they got into it.
After a short time, they reached Cuddalore. The girls reached Riyah's aunt’s home and had a short nap. In the evening, the girls went to a house nearby to collect certain information. The house was small but nice and cute.
The girls knocked at the door. An old man opened it. They told him the reason they were there. Riyah asked about his work. He answered, “We are basically poor and mostly workers. We do work which is allotted to us by the Corporation like cleaning the garbage, streets etc. Two weeks back my son and two of my friends got stuck in cleaning a block of underground drainage. It was a very hard task, but we do this only because of poverty. They went inside and started to clean the manhole, but they did not get enough oxygen. There was air, but it all turned poisonous, and they died.” They went to few other houses and inquired. Everyone said the same problem that the old man had said. The girls were feeling sad. Suddenly Riyah thought of her mother’s advice to her, “Don’t look up at the people who are richer than us. Look down on the people who are poor. Then only we will come to know how much blessing we have !” Riyah had never paid importance to her mom’s words. But today, she knew what that really meant. Then Riyah promised herself that she would never disobey her mom again.
After two days the girls went back to their school. The girls had a discussion with their school Principal about the Cuddalore problem. Sarah suddenly asked, “How about using the modern technology? Why don’t we get machines and clean the manhole block in the underground drains?” They all thought it was a good idea and their Principal suggested looking for the models of the machines, the price of each machine and the place of availability.
Quickly the girls started to collect information. Even though the work was hard, they did with hope and a smile. After a few days the girls felt tired, so they felt like taking short break in the park.

Two days later, the girls submitted their notes. The next morning at the assembly, The Maywood School’s Principal and teacher's appreciated the girls for their hard work.
That evening, the girls sent a letter to the government explaining the drainage problem and requesting for a machine to clean the drains.
 After a few days, they were happy to receive a reply from the Government side, saying, that they would shortly approve their project. Riyah and Sarah felt very happy. They jumped on their beds and danced with joy.
The next day, the girls conveyed this happy news to their Principal and asked her whether they could visit Cuddalore again? The Principal said, “Sure, but this time I will come with you!� The girls smiled widely.
After a few weeks, Riyah, Sarah and their School Principal visited Cuddalore. It was a pleasant surprise for the people over there to see the girls. They all went to see the drainage. When the girls saw the new machine had started work. They felt delighted and Principal felt proud of the girls.
The next day, Maywood School was ready for the Friday assembly. After the prayers were over, the girls were given oral appreciation, loud applause and a BIG memento to honour to hard work. Sarah’s mother always used to tell her, “You will be awarded for what you have done”. Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. She thought "Machines can solve problems!"
MESSAGE TO THE READER “HAVE THE COURAGE TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART AND INTUITION. THEY SOMEHOW KNOW WHAT YOU TRULY WANT TO BECOME.” - STEVE JOBS
Acknowledgments It was my first bookmaking experience. I would like to extend my thanks to my head Aneesa Aunty, my mentor Nazreen Aunty and Ramnath Uncle for guiding me throughout this journey and giving me this wonderful opportunity. Thanks to my Al Qamar friends and teachers for helping me write this book. I thank my Mom and Dad wholeheartedly for their encouragement to me for write this book. Love you all.
NOTES Public problems are everywhere. Observe them and make a note here. Find out how you will solve them.
About the Author Asfiya M. Naufal is a 6th grader at Al Qamar Academy. She loves sports and enthusiastic about nature. This was her first bookmaking experience. She enjoyed doing the book using her thinking and her imagination.
Riyah and Sarah were students of The Maywood School. They love to do research and write papers on their ideas. They worked very hard to solve the stumbling block. How did they do it?