Hi Everyone, I hope this message finds you in
great health and spirits! I want to take
this opportunity to share with you a recent experience that has had a profound
impact on my life. As many of you know,
I visited India in the spring of this year.
My recent trip to India was wonderful and eye-opening, as the time I
spend in India always is. However, I
departed India this time with a nagging concern, a concern that has inspired me
to write this message to you today.
Despite the progress of India and of today’s modern world, I was touched
and alarmed to see so many young children still living in extreme poverty,
abandoned, and with little hope to gain an education or a means to survive in
adulthood. For this reason, I have
decided to devote my time and energy to try and help, in just some small way,
to alleviate the misery of some of these unfortunate children in India.
In my quest to help, earlier this
year I became involved with the Chennai Primary School in Kotturpuram in Chennai,
India. This school is dedicated to enabling some of the most desperate and disadvantaged
children in India to become contributing members of society and leaders of the
next generation. The foundation fulfills
its mission by promoting health care, basic education, a healthy environment,
and livelihood opportunities to poor and underprivileged youth in South
India.
Currently, the School serves
55 school-aged boys and girls by attempting to provide them a basic education
through its Despite the grand intentions of this School, however, its resources are extremely limited. Sadly, with such meager resources, the school is forced to house dozens of children in cramp classrooms. The school has no tables or
chairs and almost no access to teaching materials. Even clean water and basic lavatory
facilities are often lacking. Most of
the students of this school have been orphaned, abused, abandoned, or otherwise
neglected, and thus the School has become their only hope for becoming
well-adjusted, healthy future members of the society.
It has become my personal mission
to aid the Chennai Primary School through assisting them in teaching
services, and fundraising for the improvement and maintenance of the School's programs and facilities. I
am planning to visit India in September of next year. I intend to volunteer my services including
teaching English while I am there.
I am reaching out to you today
because I would sincerely appreciate your help in this cause that has become so
dear to my heart. One way in which I am
assisting the School is by collecting lightly-used children’s clothing,
children’s books, and funds to be used for the educational and basic living
needs of these children. I plan to personally oversee that any
donation you provide is used productively and solely for the benefit of the
children. If you can spare any of the
above-mentioned items, please let me know by email (azarausa@gmail.com) or call me at 832-545-6561. If you are able to donate
funds to the School, no matter how small, please consider sending a check to my
address indicating Kalaimane Govindasamy as the recipient. Also, please leave me with your physical
address so that I may provide you with a receipt for your donation. Thank you for your time,
love, and support.
My mission is to enable some of the
most desperate and disadvantaged children in India to become
contributing members of society and leaders of the next generation.
“We tend to forget at times that it is the little
ones, the children, who do suffer the greatest hurt. If we cannot comprehend
why certain sorrows are visited upon us, how on earth can they?”
A Plea from the Teacher herself Miss Gowri Gurumurthi...
Dear Potential donor,
“To teach is to touch a life forever.”
I remember using this exact same quote at a debate in school,
back then it was just a sentence. Today it’s a statement. A statement that I
relate with the ‘Miss’ attached to my name. I am a TeachforIndia fellow
and I spend the day teaching 32 whizkids in a “corporation of Chennai public
school” everything from the Solar system to long division. My students and
their families come from a high-poverty neighborhood and in most cases, are the
first in their family to attend school. However these conditions do not deter
these champions from learning and enjoying anything that has to do with
technology and hands-on activities in the classroom. My students “The Scholars”
are on the path to change; change themselves and their families for the better!
Like all good schools that look out for their students, this
school has budgets allocated for their various activities, but like all
government run schools, it lacks the minimum lower limit to ensure it. I do not
want something as trivial as that to get in the way of my students education
and overall development.
I am
therefore raising funds to bring the following to my classroom
(a) Classroom supplies – Stationary is a luxury that they
sometimes cannot afford. I want to keep a ready stock of stationary and art
supplies in the classroom for my kids.
(b) Story Books - My students are more
intelligent than they can express in English at this point. Great books and
exposure to literature can negate the language deficit. I want to set up a mini
library inside the classroom and let my kids fall in love with good literature.
(c) Footwear and Sport shoes – One of the first
things I did as a teacher was to ensure all my students came wearing footwear
to school. No child should have to walk barefoot on hot roads or wade through
puddles and mud on rainy days to get to school. PT is important to nurture
their bodies at this age, canvas shoes will help protect their feet during fun
and games.
(d) Field trips - Because seeing is believing and
believing helps retaining! Plus, there's just so much WORLD to see.
The exorbitant fuel prices at present seem to be eating into my
available allowance and hence, the opportunities I want my students to have are
contesting with the classroom supplies for them. Your contribution might make
all the difference!
(e) LCD Projector – Latest research has shown
that children respond best to a mixture of audio visual and kinesthetic means
of teaching and practicing. I would love to for them watch their subjects come
alive without having to strain themselves in a crowded classroom.
Your
contribution will tip the balance in the favor of my students in their fight
against their current conditions. All the money raised will be utilized for the
above in priority from A to E.
As
for me, I promise to let them be little, fill their hearts with laughter, help
them grow wings, nurture their sense of wonder and inspire them to believe in a
brighter tomorrow. Here's your chance to also be a part of the CHANGE
we're working towards. Be the change you wish to see in the world, and
we'll make sure you get to see it in our classroom. Lots and lots of love
coming your way! 32 hugs included.
Please
click on the below link to donate !
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Gowri Miss and The Scholars.
