October and November updates

13 December 2008

School Events in October and November

Annual Day: Tumbling, singing, dancing and performances - that was the scene for the biggest event of the year: Annual Day. The weather was sunny and pleasant, and guests from India and abroad were greeted by hundreds of students and presented with a busy schedule of events, tours of the school and a delicious lunch. Suzanne Schwartz of New York City was very impressed with the school. "I have worked as a volunteer for schools in Delhi, but I was surprised by how large Pardada Pardadi Girls Vocational School was, yet it was much more organized and the students were intelligent and fun to be with."

The chief guest, Andrew Horne, the South Asia head of Xerox, and his wife, distributed prizes to the top students in the school. These include girls with the best grades and with maximum attendance. Dave Prager, of New York, most enjoyed the reception he received when he first arrived. "We were each assigned a student as our guide. My guide spoke English, and she gave me a tour of the school. The students were unfazed by our attention and were very confident."

Diwali: the biggest Hindu festival of the year, fell on October 28th. The students decorated the school with rangoli and lit up diyas and feasted on some yummy sweets.

Volunteer Update

Recently, we've had the honor of having two volunteers at the school. Elissa, of New York, came 4 months ago to shoot footage for a documentary, and is also teaching English and compiled profiles for our students which record information students and their family. As she prepares to go home, Elissa reflected on her time at PPES, "As I wrap up my projects, I realize I'm learning more from the girls who I had originally come to teach."


Jacobi Wade (pictured), of Florida, came for 6 weeks and in between teaching English, she organized a library in which students can check out books to take home. Basic Hindi books are very popular, as well as Dr. Seuss books because they use very simple words and the illustrations help you understand the meaning of the words (for example, you see that a cat is indeed "in the hat").

If you would like to help stock up our library with books or other educational materials, please contact Jenny Steeves at jenny (at) pardadapardadi.org.


Mela in Delhi

On Saturday, October 11th, we held a benefit mela event in Delhi. It was a unique opportunity for us to sell our home-furnishing items, as well as get out the word about what we do. We were joined by over thirty exclusive and export quality vendors, so it was a big shopping opportunity for all the invitees. Many thanks to Ellen Schwartz for hosting and organizing.

On this day, we were raising money specifically for our Residence Complex project. Though there is no shortage of eager students for our school, PPES is struggling to find well-trained teachers. Because of the poverty and lack of good education in this district, it's necessary to recruit teachers from outside Bulandshahr. But because the villages nearby the school do not offer any rental accommodation, the girls are missing out on the opportunity to get the best possible education.

The school is located in a remote part of Bulandshahar with the nearest hotel located two hours away. When volunteers or visitors come, they stay at Sam Singh's (President/Founder of PPES) home. Since he can accommodate only two people at a time, so there is a tremendous need to find additional housing. Click here to contribute. Many thanks to Sherry Fuchs and Ernst & Young for their contributions.

A visit by Axis Bank Foundation

We were recently visited by Mr. MV.Subramanian and Ms. Shubhanjali Roye from Axis Bank Foundation. Impressed by our work, they have decided to renew their commitment to PPES and sponsor students for a second year, and have even increased their support to a total of three hundred students.

We are thankful for their support, and encouraged by their continued commitment towards rural girl child education.

1 comments:

workhard said...

The lack of teachers also is because of work pressure and low pay. Now a days we see even social activists working for pay.

Haiku