GlobalGiving.org: Sponsor children’s education in rural India

Highlights from Academic Year 2010-2011

Jyothi Pattabhiram — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:20:34 GMT

School building

Dear Donor,

I am founder director of Sadhana Vidyalaya. It has given me immense satisfaction in working to realize our dream of building a school for children in rural area near Bangalore. At Sadhana Vidyalaya we recognize that each child is unique and nurture this uniqueness by integrating regular academics with yoga, meditation, dance, art, music and community service.

I am very excited to report highlights from the just concluded academic year.

1. Started residential school for 30 students.
2. Offered program for students in which they demonstrated scientific experiments and ideas.
3. Organized annual program, in which maximum participation by students in games and cultural activities was encouraged.

4. Conducted 10 workshops for teachers in the surrounding area with following program content:
- Orientation program
- Communication skills
- Lesson planning
- Subject contents
- Evaluation techniques
- Personality development
- Language teaching skills

In the surrounding villages Sadhana Vidyalaya (School) is becoming an example of high standards of teaching focussing on all round development of children. I am proud to be associated with the school.

With support from donors like you we are able to subsidize the education of rural children in rural area near the city of Bangalore.

Vijay from Toronto reports on visit to Sadhana Vidyalaya School

Vijay Muthukrishnan — Sun, 01 May 2011 14:18:20 GMT

School Classrooms

I visited Sadhana Vidyalaya, the school for rural children in January after a gap of three years. The travel from Bangalore to the school is much quicker, thanks to the great Bangalore-Mysore Highway No. 17 and newly laid rural road connecting the highway to the school campus.

The school campus was filled with lush green trees that have grown much taller since my last visit. A deep calm and chill prevailed the campus and it was refreshing after the jet lag filled journey from Canada. A renovated school office and new computer lab welcomed me as I entered the school. Beautiful landscaping with flowering plants and trees surrounds this small building. The computer lab has many PCs to create the modern learning experience for the school children.

The kitchen used to prepare free mid-day meal for school children has been renovated with a large steam cooking system. A large dining hall stands adjacent to the kitchen. It was wonderful to share a nutritious lunch with school children. The children demonstrated great discipline in the dining hall and enjoyed the meal thoroughly. The meal was very balanced with fibrous vegetables, lentils and rice.

Residential facility has been added to the school. There are more than 25 students staying in the school dormitory and studying in a residential setup. It is a wonderful setting to have the teachers and students reside in the same campus and live a life guided by strong holistic values. The teacher’s hostel has 8 newly constructed rooms each room with a capacity to accommodate 4 residents.

I spent time with children who were playing after the school time and they were full of energy and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see their curiosity to know who am I and where do I come from. Imparting this educational experience in a holistic value based environment is such a noble cause. I felt very inspired to see first hand the benefits of serving the local rural communities through this educational endeavor. I spent some more time interacting with the teachers and participating in a New Year celebration dance and vocal performance by the school children.

I felt a deep sense of humility and pride to have been associated with this noble cause for many years.

Charu and Salil Pledge Support for School Library Project

Suresh Paliwal — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:00:39 GMT

Charu and Salil lay foundation stone

I would like to share the story of a young american couple, Charu and Salil, who got married in a simple ceremony at Sadhana Sangama Trust Ashram near Bangalore on Dec 27, 2010. They laid the foundation stone of the school library. They are supporting the library project. They donated all the money received as gift from relatives to the school project.
Dr Charu Chaudhry is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., where she conducts research on the molecular mechanisms of a class of proteins in the brain. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a doctorate in biophysics from Yale University.

Salil Mehta is the director of analytics in the Office of Financial Stability at the US Treasury Department in Washington. He leads a group that provides analysis on how the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, passed by Congress in 2008, has affected the economy. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and received a master’s in mathematical statistics from Harvard University.

Instead of a typical expensive marriage ceremony, the couple decided to get married in a spiritually vibrant atmosphere of the ashram in a simple ceremony attended by few close relatives and in the presence of Guruji Shri Pattabhiram and Mrs Jyothi Pattabhiram. Being a school day, the school children participated in the foundation laying ceremony of the library. Their mid-day lunch of the day was a special lunch served by the relatives of the young couple.

By getting married in the ashram and supporting the school project, the young couple has set an example. Charu and Salil are a source of inspiration for all of us.

Charu, Salil with Guruji in a classroom

Children praying before the special mid-day meal

Joyful school children on the marriage day

Update from the field

Pattabhiram — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:22:46 GMT

Class Rooms Building

We take this opportunity to thank you personally for generously supporting our School. May your good deeds be touched by Divinity. We are pleased to update you with the activities, infrastructure developments and the future vision of the school.

I. Infrastructure Development In the year 2009-10, we have built the following for the school at a cost of Rs.60 Lakhs ($140000): • Full-fledged Dining Hall (Capacity: 300 Children). • Kitchen with Steam Cooking facilities. • Teachers’ hostel consisting of 8 rooms with attached bathrooms. • A Computer Lab and Library. • Renovated classrooms (4 numbers).

II. Sadhana Vidyalaya Update As you know, we started Sadhana Vidyalaya in 2005 with 120 children. Now, with your support, it has grown up to Std. 7 with 300 children. We have been providing good education with free food and transportation to the children coming from neighboring villages and towns.

III. Vision for 2010-11 - Residential School At present, children are coming by our school buses from far-off villages spending a lot of time and energy. When they go back home, they are neither able to study nor able to spend time leisurely. Hence, we have decided to provide hostel facilities for the children of Std 4th - 7th. This provides lot of space and time for the children to learn, play and enjoy. We have started to provide hostel facilities for the children. In the coming year, we plan to take up the following activities: • Purchase of two new school buses. • Construction of new school building costing around Rs.64 Lakhs ($145000). • Recruit a larger team of well-qualified teachers to reside on campus.

To meet the above requirements and to create well-planned congenial atmosphere for the Children to grow, magnanimous support from well wishers like you is very much needed. As you have been supporting in previous years, I affectionately request you to continue the support and join us in building a vibrant Rural India.

We have been visiting different parts of India, UK, US and Canada with our two-fold mission of spreading the message of Himalayan Masters and seeking support for the school development. We will be visiting Canada, USA and UK during the period of August-November in 2010.

With Yogic Fragrance Pattabhiram Director & Managing Trustee

Update from Sadhana Vidyalaya School

Suresh Paliwal — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:41:52 GMT

Dear Donor,

Pranams from Sadhana Sangama!

In 2005 Sadhana Vidyalaya School was started with enrollment of 120 children. With the support of generous supporters like you, it now has 300 children studying in classes from Kindergarten to Seventh grade. The school strives hard to provide excellent all round education to children. It also provides them with free food and transportation to the children, who come from neighboring villages and towns.

Once again thank you very much for your continued support.

With best wishes,

Globalgibing challenge update

Suresh Paliwal — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:15:47 GMT

Dear donors,

Pranams from Sadhana Sangama!

On behalf of Sadhana Sangama International I would like to thank you all for your generous donations. Your donations have enabled us to secure a permanent place on the globalgiving web site.

Now we can continue to raise funds on this web site. We can also add more projects to our page.

With regard and best wishes, Suresh Paliwal

Links:

Please visit Sadhana Sangama International web site