Providing Education & Training to Women in India

Dear Supporters, 

As we ease our way into 2017, we would like to share with you what we have been up to over the last 3 months!

Sensory Therapy 

The end of January marked our 150th sensory/therapy session since June 2016! 

These sessions help the children at our local special needs school to develop and work towards their individual goals. Since June we have seen the children progress both physically and socially and both the children and the GVI team love spending time in the sensory room. Thank you to all the volunteers and donors that have helped us achieve this, here's to many more sessions and even more progress!

Back to School

Another school we have a long-term collaboration with celebrated their Silver Jubilee.  With a substantial contribution from a generous donor, the celebration was a huge success.

With the students back in school after the school holidays. We’ve been continuing Tuesday morning book club. Every week we go to one of our partner schools half an hour early so the students can practice their English reading skills with us.

Substance Abuse Awareness

At the end of February, we supported the D.A.R.E programme on substance abuse prevention, we have been working with pupils at one of our partner schools to create a stage play and dance performance raising awareness of the dangers of substance abuse and promoting a life without drugs.

New Toilet Block

February also saw the (near) completion of the construction of a new toilet block at one of our partner schools. For this project, we have been receiving much assistance from parent association members who come out every day to support the work and are not afraid to get their hands dirty. It has been a lovely collaboration and will enable the school to continue to provide support to all students in the traditional fisherman area by complying with the new health regulations.

Thank you for your continued interest in and support of this project! 

With Gratitude,
GVI India

Dear Supporters, 

Kochi embodies much of what makes present day India great and interesting; thousands of years of human development, vast ranges or cultural, social and religious influences and fast-growing communities that are continuously merging. Within the rapid stream of development, we are working with some great local partners that make sure development benefits everyone.

Local School

Sister Jancy, head of the local Mundamveli school, is ensuring top-level education for 200 students from a school building which is basically a leaky barn. In 2016 we’ve supported Sister Jancy and the school by turning the back of the school mud-pool into a high-supply vegetable garden and we’ve installed windows.

Next up, in 2017, is a safe place for the children to play outside. Together with the school, we are thinking about designs for a playground and a perimeter wall or fence.

Relief Settlement

At the request of Cochin mayor Mrs Soumini, we’ve been providing relief at a shelter for homeless people with mental disabilities. With your donations, we were able to organise weekly activities as well as a bus trip to the nearby ocean. Continued attention for the shelter has drawn other benefactors and increased support and attention from local governments.

In 2017, while taking a back seat to hopefully see the development of local support structures, we are also ready to jump-in where needed.

Auxilium School

After work in Ethiopia, sister Maria returned to Cochin to put all her efforts into the education of young people. Her well-running and high-scoring primary school for 1000 pupils offers a large number of sponsored places for students from families that cannot afford school fees.We support the education of 25 of these students that have the potential to make large changes within their extended families and communities. The long-term and continued funding means that the school can support these students long-term and shift resources from fundraising to quality of education.

Boarding School

Sister Valsa who’s managing a local boarding school for girls on a day-to-day basis is known for running a tight ship. She’ll demand GVI support with homework or English classes to be well prepared, evaluated and to have clear educational, rather than recreational emphasis. During the holidays, when about half of the girls travel to extended family, Valsa dropped her guard and suggested we organise a bus trip for the remaining girls. The trip, paid for using your donations, was a great success. Thirty girls, most without family or from complicated backgrounds, simply had a great time at the waterfalls in the foothills of the Western Ghats, the South-Indian mountain range.

In 2017, the boarding school will certainly still be on our mind and provide support where requested.

We want to thank all donors and other supporters for their funds, passion and for showing to care about our partners and their amazing efforts. With your support, our key local partners are able to change people's days, years and even lives.

We wish you a happy and prosperous 2017!

With Gratitude, 
GVI India