Hummingbird, Bana · Arunachal Pradesh
In July 2025, a second Hummingbird campus opened in Bichom, Arunachal Pradesh, for children of the Puroik community, one of India’s smallest and most isolated tribes.
The community we serve
Before the school, the figures. They are difficult to read. They are also the reason this school exists.
~10,000
Puroik people in total
One of Arunachal Pradesh's smallest indigenous communities, historically isolated, geographically remote, often excluded from state development.
~2%
Literacy rate
Among the lowest documented for any community in India. Most Puroik children have never met a teacher from outside their valley.
~50%
Child mortality estimates
Health, nutrition, distance to medical care, and historical exclusion compound. The school is being built into a community where surviving childhood is itself uncertain.
Figures drawn from publicly available indicators as well as door-to-door surveys conducted by Ayang Trust on the Puroik community.
Where it stands today
In July 2025, we opened the doors of a rented building in Bichom and began classes. The community had been asking for years, for some children, this was the first time a teacher had come to live in their village.
Today there are 53 children enrolled across the early-primary grades, of whom 42 live on campus. The remaining 11 are day-scholars from the nearest villages.
The teaching team is small. The curriculum is inquiry-driven, the same as Majuli, and carefully tuned to the Puroik context. For many families this is the first generation of children to go to school, and the classrooms are built to meet each child exactly where they begin, with patience and pride.
July 2025
Campus opened
53
Children enrolled
42
Residential
Bichom
Arunachal Pradesh
Roadmap to 2030
We’ll grow slowly. A residential school in a literacy-2% community cannot scale on a tech-startup curve. Here is the honest plan.
2025
Done
Rented campus operational from July. 53 children, 42 residential, classes running daily.
2026
Planned
Land identified. Working with the community on the shape of the permanent campus, building materials, layout, residential design.
2027
Planned
Move into the permanent building. Capacity expanded for the next cohort. The first batch of Puroik children move into proper residential housing.
2030
Planned
Steady-state target: 250 children at the Arunachal campus, residential-first, with the curriculum and teacher pipeline fully indigenised.
Different from Majuli
Residential-first
Majuli is mostly day-school with a Home. Arunachal is residential-first, the villages are too remote and too small for daily travel to make sense.
Smaller, earlier
Majuli is at scale: 309 children, K to Class 10, nine years old. Arunachal is at the start, 53 children, primary grades only, in its first year.
Support the Arunachal campus
The Arunachal campus has the steepest needs in our ecosystem. A one-time gift towards the permanent building, an Adopt-A-Child contribution for a Puroik student, or a Legacy in someone’s name, every path helps. Write to us and we’ll point your contribution where it’s most needed.
