Dear Friend,
With the support from friends like you last year more than 3,000 children received quality education through Seva Mandir’s Bridge Schools, Residential Learning Camps and through various interventions with Government schools.
Life in remotest villages of Rajasthan is already very difficult for people, especially children, with most of them being 1st generation learners and no background and environment of education in household.
Sharda, a 12 years old girl of Khati Kamdi village is partially blind (visual impairment) from birth. Born to father Baluram, a farmer by profession who has 5 more children, is very much keen to let his children study and do something well in their respective lives. Sharda because of her partial blindness finds it very challenging to do daily life chores and at the same time, she is very much interested in studying and playing with other children.
One of her brothers come to Seva Mandir’s Bridge School and Sharda also comes to the school with him. She puts all her zeal to read and write and at the same time she tries hard to help her mother at household chores as well. But because of her visual challenges she faces difficulties and challenges.
The teacher of our Bridge School, Ram, has encouraged her a lot to continue her education and assists her in all ways. Sharda is a very friendly child and a quick learner. With special attention of the teacher, she is continuously learning new competencies day by day. She tries hard to write as well but faces issues. She confidentially tells stories and poems that she learned at our Bridge School.
We are able to achieve all this success only and only because friends like you are continuously supporting us.
It takes only $60 to send a child to school for a year. A small gesture from you can be life changing experience for many kids out there. We hope you continue to be part of our journey.
We are happy to share that we are participating in GlobalGiving’s April 2023 Little by Little Campaign which is a 5 days crowdfunding campaign, taking place from April 3-7. All eligible donations up to $50 will be matched at 50% during the campaign. Therefore, every donation will have deeper impact and will enable us to reach out to more children in need.
We do hope that you will once again extend your generous support.
We would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for joining hands with us.
Best Wishes,
Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team
Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir
Links:
Dear Friend,
From all of us here at Seva Mandir, we wish you and your family Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the New Year bring to you lots of love, laughter, and joy.
Your generosity is bringing cheer and hope to so many children from less privileged communities. In 2022, we were able to ensure access to quality education to more than 6,000 children in rural and tribal areas of Udaipur in Rajasthan. For most of the children, this could have been the only opportunity to experience learning.
The intervention is not only bringing hope for the children it serves but for teachers and individuals associated with the cause.
Priyanka, one of the teachers of our Residential learning camp has recently been selected as a physical trainer in the government school. She is the sole earning member of her family, taking care of education of her four younger siblings as her father is physically challenged. She is very happy for her achievement and feels that she got some relief from her struggle. She says- “It is through the earnings from teaching in Seva Mandir’s school that I was able to prepare for my exam and take care of family.”
There is no joy better than the joy of giving and we do hope that you also feel the same pride by being part of our journey.
It only takes $60 to send a child in tribal areas of Aravalli (mountain range) to school for a year. A small gesture from you can be life changing experience for many kids out there.
We hope you continue to be part of our journey. Please do consider visiting us when you travel to this part of the world. Children will be very happy to meet their secret Santa.
Best Wishes,
Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team
Links:
Dear Friend,
Recently, Seva Mandir was elated to welcome 2019 Nobel Laureate Prof. Abhijeet Banerjee, Economist, Director J-Pal (The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab) and Mohammad Abdul Latif Jameel, Chairman and CEO, Abdul Latif Jameel Group and J-Pal team. This visit was a special visit for both parties due to the exciting exchange of thoughts and ideas shared on the mutual interest in the development of rural communities in Rajasthan.
Prof. Banerjee and Seva Mandir have had a longstanding and strong relationship since 1996. The Nobel laureate has worked extensively on studying various development problems and has helped in contributing to their solutions.
The few days of their Udaipur visit were jam-packed with visits and productive discussions. The J-PAL team, along with Seva Mandir’s team, traveled to remote villages Jalpaka and Jhabla; where they were formally introduced to Seva Mandir’s initiatives including natural resources, early childcare and nutrition, women empowerment and education.
A notable highlight of the visit was Prof. Banerjee’s enthusiastic discussion at a women’s Self Help Group (SHG) regarding the growing challenges of poverty and need for climate action in vulnerable regions and communities such as theirs.
During the community discussion, Prof. Banerjee vocalized, “Climate change and water scarcity are global challenges, and it will worsen in future. In India, the rural community has vast knowledge of water related challenges and its solutions. I look forward to understanding community perspectives and suggestions on tackling the future challenges and its solutions. This democratic approach will enable us to find collaborative solutions to the future challenges.”
Thank you so much for all your faith and continuous support to our programme.
Best Wishes,
Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir team
Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir
Links:
‘I owe my success to the Shiksha Kendra (Seva Mandir’s Bridge School) and my teacher. Without them, I would not have achieved what I did today’. These are the words of Kokila, an ex-student of one of Seva Mandir’s Bridge School, who graduated from 12th Standard with one of the highest marks in Udaipur District. However, 7 years ago, just enrolling into a government school seemed like an unreachable dream.
Kokila was a student in one of our Bridge School located in her home village in the remote rural and tribal area of Kherwara, around 80km from Udaipur city, where the average daily wage per-capita is just $0.70. Her parents struggled to look after their large family of 6 children, supporting them through subsistence agriculture. In our working area, many girls are kept home from school and instead perform household chores. But Kokila didn’t let this deter her - she was determined to get an education.
Kokila excelled and she passed through our Bridge school with flying colors.
Since 2007, more than 12,500 children have graduated into government or private schools from the bridge schools, but even with her success, Kokila’s family’s poverty prevented her from going any further; they just could not afford to pay her school fees. For Kokila, it felt that all was lost. Her education had given her basic literacy and an understanding of maths but most of all it had started a flame inside her to learn more.
Our Bridge School teacher saw that longing inside her and he was determined to get her back into education. He made regular visits with her parents, trying to persuade them to send her back to school. Eventually, her efforts paid off and they agreed. Kokila was soon enrolled into a local government upper-primary school.
7 years later, Kokila has exceed all expectations – even her own. She is now studying in her third year of university in Udaipur and, even though she is not sure what will come next, she has become an inspiration to the girls from her remote community.
Just as with Kokila, it is vital that we support children and ensure that they receive a quality education and your donation can help us do just that.
We are happy to share that we are participating in GlobalGiving’s September Little by Little Campaign which will last 5 days, from from September 12, 2022, at 00:00:00 EDT to September 16, 2022, at 23:59:59 EDT. All eligible donations of up to $50 USD will be matched at 50% for the duration of the campaign. Therefore, every donation will have deeper impact and will enable us to reach out to more children in need. It takes only $60 to send a child to school for a year. We do hope that you will extend your generous support towards education of less privileged children.
Thank you,
Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir team
Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir
Links:
Covid-19 has caused profound changes around the world. This is the worst shock to education systems in decades, with the longest school closures. In India, more than 250 million students got affected due to school closures because of lockdown induced by Covid-19. The pandemic posed several challenges in schools which included an expected rise in dropouts, learning losses, and increase in digital divide.
The economic condition of families has also declined further due to various lockdowns and that has increased vulnerabilities of children. The children are facing pressure to engage in household and labor work and hence losing interest in education. Seva Mandir team is regularly working on the strategies to fill this gap happened because of Covid. Our paramount focus is to keep the level of engagement consistent with children, counsel them and their caregivers to realize the importance of the continuity of education.
Apple, a 14-year-old girl, is an alumnus of Seva Mandir’s Kheraghati Bridge School. She graduated from Seva Mandir’s Bridge School in 2017 and joined class 2nd in the government school. In 2021, when the pandemic hit the country and schools were closed, she was studying in class 6th. She did not have a mobile phone to attend to the content shared online or talk to the teachers. The school teachers also did not visit her during the lockdown, as her house was far from the school. So, she got engaged in household and agriculture work, and gradually lost interest in education. She had completely lost touch with education, so, her parents also didn’t motivate her to continue her studies.
Arjun, her teacher at Seva Mandir’s Bridge School met Apple during his routine home visits, during this time. After understanding her situation, he counseled her parents for continuing education and persuaded them to send her to the mentoring support classes of Seva Mandir. Apple joined the classes and with time regained interest in education. Now, she is a regular student in her school. She feels very happy that she received timely support, and has started to motivate other children to continue education.
Arjun happily says "This is something I would have done for my own daughter."
Thank you so much for all your faith and continuous support to our programme. The quality of the education provided by our Bridge Schools, and their accessibility, has given rural communities a more positive attitude towards education. For only $60, you can send a child to school for a year. We hope that you will continue your support to our programme.
Best Wishes,
Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team
Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir
Links:
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