Gift an education...Make a life !

Dear Patrons,

Thank you for everything that you
are doing to support Isha Vidhya.
With your continued support, Isha
Vidhya is striving to educate rural
children at this difficult times of the
Covid-19 pandemic.

We just wanted to let you know that
spreading the word is a great way to
help raise funds for Isha Vidhya.
There are several ways:

Starting an online fundraiser

If you have a very good social
media reach, or if you have a large
social circle of friends, colleagues,
relatives, or well-wishers, you could
start a fund-raiser for Isha Vidhya. The
link to get started is:
https://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/fundraisers/start/?fundraiser.projids=14516

Inserting Isha Vidhya donate widget in your webpage

If you have a website of your own,
you could embed Isha Vidhya’s widget
into the webpage code, so that it shows
up in your webpage, and people who are
visiting your website will consider donating
for Isha Vidhya! Note that this method
won’t work in websites that block javascript.

The code for the widget is:

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.globalgiving.org/javascript/widget/widget.js"> { "projectids" : "14516" }</script>


Social Media Sharing

Share in your social media networks with
an appeal to your audience to donate to Isha Vidhya.
The social media links are as follows:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Gift an education...Make a life ! on %40globalgiving&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoto.gg%2F14516

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalgiving.org%2Fprojects%2Fishavidhya%2F&t=Gift%2520an%2520education...Make%2520a%2520life%2520!


We hope that you could use any one of
these methods to spread the word about
Isha Vidhya. If you have any questions
or need further information, you can
email us at global.giving@ishavidhya.org

We thank you for all you have done
for Isha Vidhya, and we look forward
for your continued support!


Thanks & Best Regards,

Links:

• Start a recurring donation for Isha Vidhya at GlobalGiving

Dear Patrons,

We would like to update you on the
timelines and possibilities of the
reopening of the Isha Vidhya schools
post Covid-19 pandemic.

We have got information that it is
unlikely that the schools will open
until December 2020 in Tamilnadu.
We are assessing the situation for
our one school in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, online classes are going
on the students who are attending them.
As the students live in the rural
areas, it has been very difficult to
make them use the smartphones, as
many of them don’t have smartphones,
and the Internet connection is poor in
the rural areas. We are trying our best
to keep the children engaged by
constantly communicating with the
parents.

At the same time, our operational
expenses stay high, as we have to
pay salaries for the teachers, and
partial salaries for other staff. We
will be uploading our 2020-21
operational budget in our project
documentation at GlobalGiving.

We thank you for all the help and
support at this juncture. We will
continue to update you on the status
of schools reopening.

Thanks & Best Regards.

Links:

• Start a recurring donation for Isha Vidhya at GlobalGiving

This is a sharing by Isha Vidhya Nagercoil
Principal, Mrs. Betsey:

Namaskaram,

I joined Isha Vidhya in 2011 when I relocated
to Nagercoil to take care of my ailing parents.
It took me a while to adjust to Isha Vidhya as
I had earlier worked in conventional schools.
I even contemplated quitting three months into
the job, but I gradually began liking the place
and the children.

I started by teaching Class 2 and Class 3 children.
One incident is etched in my memory – during a
casual interaction, I asked my class to name their
favorite food. They named various food items but
one child said that he could only like the food but
not have it. That's when I realized the importance
of the nourishing noon meal served at the school.

We have students from different backgrounds
and many of them study with a 100% scholarship.
Their struggles naturally impact me and I strive to
help in transforming their lives. The students have
taught me to be more humble than any other
person ever did.

Pranam.

Notes:

‘Namaskaram’ is a Tamil language greeting,
and ‘Pranam’ is a Hindi language greeting
used extensively in India.

Links:

• Start a recurring donation for Isha Vidhya!

Dear Patrons,

In continuation with the last
week's report, we would like
to update you on some more
activities that we have taken
up as part of education during
lockdown.

Getting the creative juices flowing

From the comfort of their homes,
students of classes 9 and 10 are now
able to be part of fun–filled activities
which range from learning about
robotics, solving puzzles, being part
of surveys on education, social and
psychological issues. The students
also learn how to design projects
with the help of scratch program –
a blog-based visual programming
language.

Atul Pant, founder of Timeless
Lifeskills (TLS), a London–based
educational charity, is now helping
Isha Vidhya students upgrade their
knowledge base on a variety of
subjects. Pant interacts with our
students daily through WhatsApp.

Learning from Experts

It proved to be a rare treat for our
senior students when they received
an introductory video on basics of
Chemistry made by Ryan, a scientist
from Max Planc Institute.

The students reciprocated with a
number of questions for Ryan who
replied to each query in detail. This
is just the beginning as we plan to
continue this online interaction
between our students and experts
like scientists, economists and
entrepreneurs.

With all these initiatives, we hope
that the students will shine as ever!

We thank you for your attention,
and look forward for your continued
support.

Best Regards.

Links:

• Donate To Isha Vidhya

Dear Patrons,

Thank you so much for your
continued interest and support
to Isha Vidhya. We are indeed
overwhelmed by your support,
and we thank you from the
bottom of our hearts.

We would like to update you on
the further steps that we have
taken to get the education going
for the Indian rural children.
While our schools are currently
closed, we have introduced new
ways of reaching out to the
students and the parents, and
continuing to educate the children
during the coronavirus lockdown.
Please find below a couple of
steps that we have taken, in this
report.

Home Schooling 2.0

Isha Vidhya has launched a series
of home learning programs to
engage students and teachers.
Those home–based activities which
find favour among pupils and
academicians are being implemented
on a larger scale. Projects which do
not achieve the desired results are
being modified to improve acceptability.

Whatsapp Classrooms

The lockdown has blurred the distinction
between homework and classwork for the
students. We have overcome the hurdle
posed by the pandemic by sending lessons
via WhatsApp groups. Our teachers prepare
short audio/video notes and post them on
the groups. Students submit the completed
assignments in the same groups. A record
of students’ responses is also being maintained.

To help students who need extra attention to
catch up with their classmates the Central
Academic Team sends worksheets on subjects
like Tamil, English and Mathematics. Special
modules have also been designed to help 10th
grade students prepare for their exams and
to provide career guidance.

We hope that you are excited like us as we
continue to educate the children in spite
of the lockdown. We are continually monitoring
the situations in the communities that we
serve in through Whatsapp feedback from
parents and communicating through the
community leaders. We will keep you updated
on the happenings.

Thank you again for your support, and look
forward for your continued engagement and
support! Please feel free to write to us in case
if you have questions, or if you would like to
help us in any ways possible.

Best Regards,

Links:

• Donate To Isha Vidhya