Vardhana - Education Sponsorship Program
When a sincere and bright child is forced to drop out of his/her academic pursuit, together with his/her future, any chances of the family rising out of poverty also disappear.
Sincere parents try to support their kids’ education no matter however poor,however broken they are until they find themselves in a situation where they simply can’t afford it anymore. As a result, the child who had left a traditional way of life to look for salvation through education is forced to give up half way.
When a dedicated child is forced to quit school - All his/her hard work and their parents’ sacrifices go to waste.
Rural and Tribal children often leave their traditional way of life behind in hope for finding a brighter future through education.But when they are forced to abandon their pursuit half way they find themselves in a situation far worse than when they took to education as means to empower themselves. They leave and forget their old ways and find themselves deserted half way on their new path.
Such incomplete education fails to empower or transform thier lives desirably. They are forced to go back to doing same labor work. Only diference is now they can read and write to a degree. Reluctantly kids are either forced to go to work at a young age or are married.
This program is live in our project regions in states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Assam. We are trying to reach out to as many children as possible.
This program is currently being supported by Kara Foundation, Delhivery and a few individual contributors. Some of the students will have to be supported for a few years till they can finish their education. We are currently accepting funds towards this project. We only support children who come from BPL families and have scored 70% or above in their last two academic years.
Through Vardhana we have been able to sponsor education of over 500 children since 2017. We are currently raising 4,00,000/- to reach out to 100 children in 2021.
Vardhana is Rest Of My Family’s education sponsorship program with a vision of Empowering as many bright, dedicated and underprivileged children to complete their education, at any stage of their academic career (from school to post graduation) as possible. Allowing them to realize their true potential unaffected by their personal financial situation at any step of their journey.
This campaign aims to raise 4,00,000/- to sponsor education of 100 children.
Aniket and Nikita are siblings belonging to extremely poor family from Bhise Vagholi village in Latur district.
Just a few months back their elder sister Mohini committed suicide after passing 12th with distinction. class The family owns 1.5 acres of land which has not yielded any produce for last 4 - 5 years. Due to drought there is absolutely no work in other people’s fields either.
Their father is bank pigmy agent who earns 1000-1200 per month on commission basis. It is needless to say that 1000-1200 rupees a month are grossly inadequate to run a family. After clearing her 12th with 80+% marks, Mohini wanted to pursue MBBS. But due to poor financial situation she was forced to drop out.
Soon after parents started looking to get her married. While many families liked Mohini and were willing to marry their son to her. The talks never got finalized because Mohini’s parents didn’t have any money to pay dowry. One night, both mother and father were discussing that they should sell their 1.5 acres land and get her married of with that money.
Mohini overheard this conversation and next day while her mother went to neighbor's house to borrow some wheat flour to make chapatis, Mohini hung herself. In her intelligent and sensitive suicide note she wrote that in order to avoid any further trouble to her parents she is ending her life.
ROMF Intervention
Aniket and Nikita are fairly brilliant kids as well. We got them admission in 7th & 9th standard in a good private school in Latur city and put them up in a hostel.
Zir Sangpui, 10 years old, carrying her younger sibling 2 year old Thlethle.
The Biate tribe reside in Dima Hasao district of Assam. This community is a rather obscure minority and largely ignored. They are endangered and there are currently 15,000-20,000 Biate people in all.
The community still lives in the forests and farm using traditional techniques (jhum cultivation). They produce large amounts of organic ginger, turmeric, oranges, chillies etc. However, they have been exploited all along and get extremely poor rates for their produce. For example, the price of organic ginger can go as high as Rs. 250/kg but they are forced to sell it for Rs. 8-10/kg. As a result, they are extremely poor and are unable to take care of their basic necessities.
As we spent some time with the villagers, we realised that a lot of good students have been forced to drop out of schools or are on the verge of dropping out. Some even have pending dues with schools because of which their report cards have been withheld.
Zir Sangpui is ten years old. Her little feet scurried along the paths of Thingdol throughout the day. Two-year-old Thlethle hung on her shoulder. She takes care of her little siblings while her parents go to the fields every day. Some days, she carries tiny logs of wood on her back and on some days, she carries pots of water.
One day, we asked her why she didn’t go to school. “Because my father does not have money to pay for the fees,” she said. Her mother and father never went to school. They are one of the poorest families in the village. Her father David had to make a tough choice between feeding his family and sending his children to school last year. So, they had to drop out. They would keep asking him when he would have enough money to send them to school. “I felt helpless and would cry quite often. I don’t want them to have a life like mine. I want them to study well.
“They should have a chance at a better life,” David told us a few days ago. As they left, one evening, Sangpui asked her father how many of them would go to school this year. “All of you,” David replied after confirming their admission. She had the biggest smile on her face as she ran towards home.
ROMF Intervention
With out support Zir Sangpui has taken admission and has been going to school for the last two years. She is studying hard to build a self-sustainable life for herself and also to support her family.
