DOCTOR @ HOME!

Arogya Foundation of India, initiated a pilot project on Managing Anemia / Malnutrition & Training Village Health Volunteers (Arogya Sevika) for treating primary health problems through Home Remedies.

The pilot project is proposed in 120 Ekal Vidyalaya Villages of Ooty Anchal (Nilgiris district and part of Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu) and the Ekal Schools of Ooty Anchal is supported by Coimbatore Chapter of Friends of Tribals Society.

Smt S Hemamalini shall be the Project Coordinator and one housewife from each village will be identified and trained residentially for five days as Grama Arogya Sevika at the Training Centre in Coimbatore. The training will make Arogya Sevika capable of identifying primary health problems and Home Remedies to treat the villagers. Arogya Sevika receives a certificate after the training. These Arogya Sevikas shall identify the women / girls with Anemia for Intervention. Total beneficiaries are expected to be 2400 women. They will also educate the village women on Home Remedies and using the locally available resources for better health care. Monthly ‘Deepa Pooja’ will provide them opportunity to get together. Entire process will be documented scientifically and the final report will be submitted. The period for pilot project will be 12 months. Ashoka India (http://www.india.ashoka.org), an organization working for supporting innovative ventures is interested in the knowledge part of this project. Their consultants help in documentation of the project. Dr C Satheesh Kumar, an Ayurveda Physician will be the Director of the centre and he will guide the entire program. The AVP training academy (www.avpayurveda.com) of Padmashri P R Krishnakumar will extend full cooperation and support to the entire program.


The two days Workshop on Tool Kit for the entire program was organized on 23 and 24 November in the Arogya Foundation Training Centre at Coimbatore. 20 delegates participated in the Workshop. The delegates include Ayurveda doctors, experts in herbal related subjects and field workers. The Workshop suggested the framework on the syllabus to be followed for the five days training program. Few volunteers have accepted the responsibility of working on the syllabus to be published as a book. This Expert Committee and the team will guide the entire pilot project.

First five days Residential Camp for the Arogya Sevikas was conducted from 25th to 29th of November in the Arogya Foundation Training Centre in Coimbatore. Arogya Sevikas from ten villages participated in the camp.

Future Programs

• Two Camps per month with 10 participants in each camp will be organized.
• 20 women in the age group of 15 to 25 years will be treated for Anemia and the response will be documented.
• Tool Kit which include books for the Arogya Sevika and guidance for Anemia / Malnutrition will be published along with the improvement recorded during the intervention.

A film by Arogya Foundation 'Arogya Anemia Control Programme' has been uploaded on YOUTUBE on 02 Dec 2013. Click the following link to watch.

http://youtu.be/ToAH_zXor8U

Helping Hand from Unique Maritime Group

Unique Maritime Group (UMG), one of the world’s leading integrated turnkey subsea and offshore solution providers has recently joined hands with EKAL Vidyalaya as a part of its continued CSR initiative.

The scope of this project is to reach out to underprivileged children across rural India to receive education. The initiative to sponsor 50 EKAL schools per year over a period of 5 years is led by Shri Harry Gandhi, CEO of UMG, who along with a team of like-minded individuals and the staff of UMG, formed a group ‘Unique Friends Group.’

On this occasion, Shri Harry Gandhi asserted that after the success of LABL (Lighting a Billion Lives) initiative, UMG is overwhelmed to partner with an organization that aims at eradicating illiteracy in rural India. Partnering with EKAL Vidyalaya, UMG can bring a smile on the face of millions of parents who under normal circumstances may not be able to send their children to school.
For more information about Unique Maritime Group visit www.uniquegroup.com

Kerala SVO Members’ Visit to Kottayam

The Committee Members of the State Voluntary Organization (SVO) of Kerala consisting of Sri.S.Muralidharan, President, EECS, Sri.N.V.K.Potty, Sri B.Rajesh, Sri.K.Sreevallabha Senan along with Karyalaya Pramuk Sri.Abhilash visited Meenangadi on 7 Dec 2013. The SVO members interacted with Smt.Krishnaveni, Sankul Pramuk of Sultan Bathery and and had detailed discussions with the Karyakarthas.

Later, the SVO members had discussion with the Samithi members at auditorium of Mariamman Temple, Sulthan Bethery. The meeting discussed about the modalities of opening new schools in the colonies under the Sankul. The SVO members visited an Ekal Vidyalaya at Ponnan Valavu and had discussion with the Acharya, Sri Sooryajith and parents of the students at the Vidyalaya. The students responded to the answers of the members and sang songs and slokas. The SVO members handed over 25 story books to the children and had a meeting with Mananthavady Sankul Samithi Members at Pazhashi Bhavan.




On 8 December 2013, morning the SVO members visited Pazhashi Balabhavan, Thonichal, Mananthavady and met Sri S Balachandran, Patron of Ekal Mananthavady Sankul Samithi. The members proceeded to Ekal Vidyalaya at Cheenipullu and met the students and Sri Gopalan, Acharya at the Paniya Colony, Cheenipullu followed with the interaction with the students. The SVO members visited the Ekal Vidyalaya at Madoor and met the Acharya Kum Ambily. The visit also included Vidyalayas under Noolpuzha Sanch. Later, the meeting with Kalpetta Sankul Samithi was convened at Kalpetta. Talks and discussions were held on activating Sankul and Sanch Samities, Orientation Classes, Grama Sabha in Tribal Colony, appointing Caretaker Families for Ekal Vidyalaya to name a few. The SVO members expressed happiness and decided to revisit Wayanad on 11 January 2014 for follow-up and review.

Govinda Ke Dware Van Bandhu Hamare

It was 11th December 2013, a Thursday morning 4.30AM and normally a quite platform number 11 of the Chennai Central railway station was buzz with activity of a peculiar type. At one end there was decorated stand with banners while the other end a group of young volunteers were receiving children of different kind. While at other places lots of packets were getting unloaded. In the center more than 1000 children were sitting quietly in the platform along with their guides.


The train arrived at 5AM. It was a train with a difference. There were special stickers put up and some volunteers were affixing some more. On getting the clearance from them the children started moving to the compartments as they knew in advance where they have to go. And here was a great surprise. These were blind, deaf and dumb, physically challenged and small children from Chennai, Salem, Namakkal, Cuddalore, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and had come for the special darshan of Lord Balaji by a special chartered train organized by Friends of Tribals Society (FTS) Chennai. FTS Chennai had involved local organizations like RAJAT, RYA Metro and RYA Metrostar to execute the logistics of safe handling of this mammoth activity. At 5.30AM sharp the social welfare and mid day nutritious meals minister of Government of Tamilnadu Smt Valarmati arrived and was pleasantly surprised to see the magnitude of the arrangement. She met the children, organizers and wished them success. She also flagged off the train along with Sri krishnan, GM, IOB at 6AM.


After the train moved from the platform, the compartment coordinators took over the charge to take care of the children and ensured everyone got a proper seat, breakfast, water bottles, snacks and biscuits.

In some compartments Antakshari was going on. In some tattoo or mehendi or astrologers were interacting with children. The media students of MOP Vaishanv college for women, Chennai were interacting with children and taking their photographs and interviews.

At 10.15AM the train reached Renungunta railway station where volunteers were waiting to receive them with 35 buses to carry them to Tirumala. As every child has been briefed which bus to board the group shifted smoothly to buses and reached Tirumala at around 11.45AM. After assembling at Tirumala all proceeded for Annaprasadam and assembled near main gate of the temple where special permission was accorded to the group for Darshan of Lord Balaji.

The whole Tirupati Temple was filled with children wearing YELLOW SHIRTS AND VOLUNTEERS WEARING WHITE Tshirts and having an exclusive Darshan of Lord and received HIS blessings.
After the Darshan while a group was busy arranging Laddus the other was arranging the boarding buses for return journey. The buses started for their return journey to Renungunta where the chartered train was waiting for the journey back home.

The group sat in their allotted places, took freshly cooked food, shared experiences and received the return gifts during the return journey. The train reached Chennai around 11.30PM with all safe and all blessed. Many of the group went home the same day, around 200 stayed back and went to their destination the next day. The arrangement for their night stay was also organized for this purpose.

This whole exercise was done as a part of public awareness activity relating to the silver jubilee celebrations of FTS. This unique activity was the brainchild of the Project Coordinator Sri Ravikant Choudhry. This not only resulted in awareness of the FTS and its activities during this silver jubilee year but also generated funds to run nearly 400 EKAL Vidyalayas!

On 15th of December the Sunday, a thanks giving program “Miracle on wheels” was organized to thank the sponsors, volunteers and donors of FTS Chennai by showing the famous program of Ability Unlimited, Delhi on wheel chairs.

  

Deepavali Celebrations by Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad

Ekal Pariwar Diwali Milan was organized by Bharat Lok Siksha Parishad (BLSP) on Sunday, 10 November 2013 at the auditorium of Guru Govind Singh College, Pitampura, Delhi. The program was inaugurated by Shri Subhash Aggarwal and Shri Sat Narayan Bandhu, the Honorable Trustees of BLSP by doing ‘Deep Prajwalan’ followed by the Ekal Geet presented by Smt Sonal Rasiwasia, the President of Mahila Samiti of the Parishad and all those present.


Shri G D Goel, Chairman , BLSP presented his views on peace and humanity, supporting with a brief history of ‘Albert Nobel’ that how the institution of Nobel Prize was established. Shri Pankaj Jeswani and his group presented cultural program based on ‘National Integration’ and displaying colorful Indian culture of different Indian States together on one platform including the famous “Dandia Raas.” All those present in the auditorium participated in this Dandia. Prizes were given to the top three performers.


Ekal Youth Team introduced themselves to the Guests and also performed the ‘Nukkad Natak,’ a touching play and an eye opener through the status of world of the girl child, promising yet gloomy and hopeful picture, a meaningful performance with a message to discourage ‘Selective Human Breeding’ which is rampant as India represents one of the world’s most adverse child sex ratio figures.


The concluding item was a soul stirring musical solo by a teenager Ms Shruti Agarwal.

‘Bharath Maa Thujhe Pranam’

A cultural program ‘Bharath Maa Thujhe Pranam’ was organized by Bharath Lok Siksha Parishad (BLSP), North Delhi Chapter, at Siri Auditorium on 15 Dec 2013. This program was directed by Shri Suresh Shukla based on patriotic theme created an awareness of Ekal Abhiyan.


Chapter President Shri Deepak Jain shared his experience on Vanyatra and said that every one attached with this Abhiyan have put all their effort to bring ‘vanvasi’ and ‘girivasi’ children to join them with the main stream of nation.


Chief Guest Shri Basant Bansal of M3M group, Shri Roup Bansal, special guest Shri Nand Kishore Agrawal of Crystal Group, Trustee Shri Naresh Kumar, Shri Vimal Mandeya and Shri Sathyanarayan Bandu lit the lamp. Chairman Shri Ghanshyam Goyal spoke on Ekal and its services.

Trustee Shri Naresh Kumar in his concluding speech said that it is a social necessity to support groups like Ekal Abhiyan.

Grand Finale of Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Ekal Abhiyan at Kolkata

Whole of this year, there were events, workshops and many programs throughout the world to mark the Silver Jubilee of Ekal and 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The concluding program of Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Ekal Abhiyan will be held on January 5, 2014 in Kolkata. The tentative program according to the message from Shri. Ramesh Kumar Saraogi, General Secretary FTS, would be as under:

Three processions -starting from the ancestral residence of Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and from Ramlila ground. In each procession there will be some tableau. The processions will start at 11.30 a.m.
The main program will start at 1.30 p.m. and will be for two and half hours. 
The impressive list of guests likely to attend are Swami Subirananda, Ramakrishna Mission and Math, Sri Pravrajika Amalaprana, Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission, Dr Pranav Pandya, Gayatri Parivar, Sri Brahmachari Mural Bhai, Ramakrishna Addya Peetham, Swami Dibyananda, Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Dr Anil Kakodkar, Former Director, BARC, Ms P T Usha, Sprint Queen, Sri Sanjib Chattopadhyay, Bengali Writer and Sri Surajit Kar Purakayastha, Commissioner of Police.

Date : 5th January, 2014
Venue : Kolkotta
For additional information, contact: nirmalya@ftsindia.com

Expression of Dedication

Smt.M.Kalyani worked in the Ekal movement for 10 years as fulltimer. She left it consequent on her appointment in the Kerala Government Service. It was her dream to adopt an Ekal Vidyalaya. She realised her dream when she handed over an amount of Rs.16,000 to Shri.S.Muralidharan, President, Ekal Education and Charitable Society (EECS), on 8 Dec 2013. EECS whole heartedly congratulated Smt.M.Kalyani for her dedication and affection towards the organization and its services.

Sharing Vanayatra Experience

Ms Geetha Chhabra is an award winning poet and writer. Her website shares her experiences and through her website she wants to spread the bond of spirit of peace, love and brotherhood around us. A multifaceted person, who had travelled around the world, has recently experienced the thrill of undertaking Vanyatra to a Ekal Village in Maharashtra. The link below will take you to her website where she shares her experience of the Vanyatra and also her other passions.

http://www.geetachhabra.com/photo_news/Geeta_Chhabras_Vanyatra.php

US high school student passionate about educating kids in rural India!

Ekal Jananni Rathnagiri, a freshman at Monta Vista High School, in California performed a Bharathanatyam Dance program on May 4th, 2013 at the Campbell Heritage Theatre.

Jananni has been learning Bharathanatyam from Guru. Smt. Meena Logan (http://www.pushpanjali.org/) for the past 8 years. She was interested in Bharathanatyam from a very young age and learned under the able guidance of her Guru. At the dance performance she performed about seven dance pieces and enthralled audience for over two hours.

She enjoys dance and enjoyed the experience of a solo dance performance! She also saw this as an opportunity to use her Arangetram as a means to raise funds for a cause that she believes is necessary.

Jananni became interested in Ekal and its cause of educating kids in rural India couple of years back when her parents participated in an half marathon sponsored by Ekal. She too wanted to spread the word about Ekal and decided to generate donations through her dance performance. She was able to generate around $2750 for Ekal’s cause. Jananni wants to adopt two Ekal schools in India and support them throughout her life. Her plan is to continue to generate more funds for her adopted schools through many more events. She believes other kids will be motivated to follow suit. She used the following website -  http://www.crowdrise.com/Bharathanatyam04may2013/ and other means to raise funds. She has the blessings and absolute support of her Guru in this cause as they continue their Bharathanatyam journey together!

To quote Ekal Executive Director, Smt. Ranjani Saigal, "We are so touched by your efforts to raise funds for Ekal through your Bharatanatyam concert. I am a Bharatanatyam dancer myself and it really touches me to see you not only pursue this great art but use it as a vehicle to do so much good. "

Her dance performance video highlights can be found at:
http://youtu.be/jSxBaH_1NDI

Marathon at Ranchi Silver Jubilee of FTS

FTS Ranchi’s Silver Jubilee Celebration was marked by several colorful events. The main amongst them was the Marathon Run organized in four different parts in which thousands of people participated. The biggest run was from Bersa Chouk to Moorhvadi Football Stadium covering 11 kms. The participants include a significant number of ladies and school children. Sri SS Bhatiya inaugurated the function.

The price distribution was at Morahavadi Football Stadium by the Chief Guest Sri T.P. Pathi. On the occasion Sri Ajay Kumar of EKAL reminisced the starting of the EKAL movement in the year 1989 which has now spread all over the nation to 52000 villages. The function had several cultural programs. However, the most important was the Signature Board where all signed to demonstrate their literacy through EKAL services.

 

 

 

Village Vignettes

• On 6 Oct 2013, Ekal Vidyalaya Abhiyan in Aarua village near Faridabad conducted 31 Kundeeya yagya. Thirty villages and 256 members participated and the program was presided over by Sri Snehpal, Sambagh Adhikari of UP and Nepal.

• A 13 member team of young CA students visited Khargon Anchal’s Adfata village on 10 Oct 2013. Sri Bhurelal and Sri Sanjay Palvi organized the trip to the village of the tribes. They spent valuable time and interaction with the Ekal school students and the villagers and enjoyed the hospitality extended by the villagers. 

Maharashtra’s Nagar Mahila Sangathan Varg

The yearly congregation of Maharashtra’s Nagar Mahila Sangathan Varg was organized successfully on 28^th and 29^th September at Savarkar Sadan, Nigadi (Chinchwad Anchal). Women volunteers from Vidarbha and Nasik Bhag participated in this Varg. The various sessions were inaugurated by Smt. Kunjlata Bhansali and renowned littérateur Dr. Ashwini Tai Dhongde. Smt. Chandralekha Rungta, and Smt. Uma Pachisiya, from Mumbai, participated.

'Timiratun Tejakade' souvenir was launched by Smt Ashwini Tai Ghongde during the inaugural function which was the sincere effort of Smt. Shobha Joshi. A dance program was presented by Nigadi Group on the night of 28 Sept, 2013.

All the participants found the Varg very inspiring, enriching and encouraging to proceed further with definite goals and to accelerate the Ekal Abhiyan with vigor and zeal.

Several targets of the Varg have been set such as a Karyakarta Samman program at Sanch level, connect equal number of families as Ekal Vidyalayas in that Anchals, to conduct Vanayatra every month from Anchals, to establish Mahila Samiti at every Anchal level and Sanch level and to increase the number of Nagar Sangathan Varg.

Ekal Abhiyan’s Kendriya Abhiyan Pramukh, Sri. Madhavendraji’s motivating oration in chaste Hindi was interspersed with sagacious Sanskrit shlokas. Ekal Abhiyan’s National head of women’s wing, Smt Priyanka Dihingia’s presence, guidance and discipline at all the steps need special mention. Chinchwad Mahila Samiti had managed to generate funds through advertisements and sponsorships. Credit goes to the team spirit of the ladies under the leadership of Smt. Savita Kamthe, President.

Nagpur Ekal Abhiyan’s Activity Report

The second five day meeting of Nagpur Ekal Abhiyan was conducted from 17 October 2013. 39 Chapters and 5 Central Committee Members participated. The inauguration was done by Sri. Ajay Kumar and organized by Sri Sunder Damani, Smt. Shama Devi, Sri. Nikhil Mundle, and Sri. Lalan Sharma. Totally, 26 classes were conducted on Health and Village Developments. A trip to Government Vigyan Center nearby educated them on the bio products from cow. Some of the important points discussed during the program were on Basic Education, Health, Natural Farming, Rain Water Harvesting, Sports Activities and celebrating Gandhi and Vivekananda Jayanthis. 

The Genesis of ‘Friends of Tribals Society’ (FTS)

Jharkhand_Bandarkonda village

A project in the name of ‘Phulbani Jilla Unnayan Prakalp’ was started in the year 1985 for the development of tribal community of Phulbani District in Orissa, by few concerned souls. Under this, 490 schools and medical centres were working. Extending the work, they invited some prominent citizens of Kolkata for evaluation and advice. The members from Kolkatta visited Phulbani as Vanayatri. Moved by the poverty and living conditions of the tribals, the team decided to raise resources for supporting the service projects for tribals. That was the genesis of ‘Friends of Tribals Society.’ FTS was inaugurated on January 15, 1989 on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti. The First Executive Committee had Sri. Ramdas Agarwal as President, Sri. Bimal Lath as General Secretary and Sri. Mangi Lal Jain as Treasurer.

Jharkhand_Bandarkonda village

Since its inception FTS has stressed on the importance of education to bring about any change or development. It is education that empowers people, develops a sense of confidence and fraternity amongst them and gives them the courage to resist exploitation. To accomplish the primary aim of eradicating illiteracy, the Friends of Tribals Society started a unique project - 'Ekal Vidyalaya Yojna' in 1989 in the rural and tribal areas of Gumla district of Jharkhand. FTS patronizes 20,571 villages, which is a whooping 41% contribution by them and about 5 lakh tribal children are getting the benefits by the project as on July 2013.

The most important factor for the success of FTS is its system of Nagar working with regular weekly and monthly meetings, Vichar Gosthi and various other programs involving large number of eminent citizens. Chapters and State Voluntary Organizations were formed in different parts of the country. As on date FTS has 30 chapters across all states of India.

There are five zones, North, South, East, West and North East under five Chairmen with Presidents, Vice Presidents, Secretaries, Coordinators and Treasurers.

Visit www.ftsindia.com

A Pleasant Surprise!

Shri. Gunasekaran, Secretary, Gobi Anchal of Tamil Nadu writes:

While we were returning from our visit to a village after our monitoring activities on 10 November, 2013, our vehicle got struck on the way. We were upset and were looking for some assistance. Soon some village boys surrounded the van. For a little while, I engaged them and asked them to sing a song. There was initial hesitation but finally a boy came forward to sing.

To our utter surprise he recited GAYATHRI MANTRA! I asked him from where he learnt this. To our pleasant surprise, he said that he learnt it from EKAL VIDYALAYA. Our full time workers from that area informed us that the area is Arihiamkovilur and it is one of Ekal Villages in that area.

Gobi Anchal patronizes 120 Ekal Villages in the forest area of Thalavady, Sathyamangalam Hills, Tamil Nadu.

Ekal Impact

Sri Jayprakesh murmu, Jharkhand state, Dhanbad district, Banderchua village.

He studied in Bartand Ekal Vidyalaya between 1998 to 2000 for 3 years. Then joined government school in 4^th standard. Finished 10^th in 2005 and passed 12^th in 2007 and college in 2010. But from 2005 when he finished his 10^th class exams he joined Ekal Vidyalaya in his village Bertand as a teacher and later became Sanch pramukh.

He says “if I had not joined Ekal School then I would never have touched paper or pencil in my life. I would have been illiterate. Ekal has made me a literate man as well as a patriotic citizen”.

He wants to be like “swatantraveer vanvasi siddu – Kanhu", and do serve the Nation.

Chennai School Children as Brand Ambassadors

FTS - Chennai introduced Krishna Sudama School Raffle Scheme in the year 2008 with Sri KK Maheshwari as the project organizer. The yeomen services of FTS in different parts of the country were made by video presentation as well as personal talks. The objective is to sensitize the students in helping their brethren in the remote areas of our country and provide education support to them in the Ekal Vidyalays. FTS Chennai team has initiated one more regular activity of fund raising through students’ involvement in the last five years. 600 schools were approached and 1lakh children from 85 schools enabled the contributions to 262 Ekal Vidyalayas. They have become brand ambassadors for FTS in their schools and created awareness among 40000 parents while simultaneously raising funds for the noble cause.

Here in one of the programs Sri KK Maheshwari is receiving the cheque from the correspondent of Shri Kola Saraswati Vaishnav Senior Secondary School in the presence of their Chairman Sri Govinddoss Purusottamdoss along with the current coordinator Smt Vimala Damani and the Principal of the school.

FTS Kolkata Silver Jubilee marked by ‘Mahalakshmi’

‘Friends of Tribals Society’ Kolkata Chapter celebrated its Silver Jubilee Year Annual function by organizing Bollywood actor and Friends of Tribals Society’s Brand Ambassador Smt Hema Malini’s Dance Drama on ‘Mahalakshmi’. The cultural program was held on 20th October 2013 at Science City Auditorium. The program began with the lighting of the lamp and Ekal song sung by Smt. Soniya Khator. The Program was conducted by Sri Jaideep Chitlangia (Vice President, Kolkatta Chapter). Sri Radhe Syam Agarwal of Emami Group and Sri Vikram Swaroop of Paharpur Cooling Tower were the Chief Guests. The eloquent speech of Sri Shyamji Gupta of Ekal Abhiyan was followed by Smt Hema Malini’s ballet. The scintillating performance of Smt Hema Malini was enjoyed by nearly 2000 patrons.

Ekal Impact

Sri. Madhusudan age 21, Jharkhand State, Dhanbad District, Cempather village, studied in Cempather village Ekal Vidyalaya between 2000 to 2004.

He participated in ‘Baal Mela’ conducted by Ekal Vidyalaya, which he enjoyed very much. Ekal vidyalaya gave him motivation and interest towards education. In 2008 he became a teacher in the same school. He cleared his matric exams and joined Ekal as a full time worker. He was initially ‘saha sanch pramukh’ then became ‘sankul pramukh’. In 2010 he finished his higher secondary exams and joined college. He says “being a boy from a Village like Cemapather, a place literally unknown to the world, I finished my primary and secondary education and presently in college only because of Ekal Vidyalaya”.

Ability Unlimited

The Friends of Tribals Society (FTS), Erode Chapter in Tamilnadu was inaugurated on Aug 3, 2009. Since its inception, it is supporting 120 schools of Gobi Anchal in the hills of Thalavady. This year, Erode chapter celebrated 3 functions at a time; 150th birth year of Swami Vivekananada, 25th year of FTS and 4th Annual Day of Erode Chapter on September. For the first time, local Tamil speaking elites of Erode participated in large numbers with great enthusiasm to support the cause of Ekal. A Rath with Swami Vivekananda on it, was on show at the venue of the event. There was a stunning dance show by physically challenged youth on Wheel Chair. These dancers were trained by ‘Ability Unlimited Foundation’. It was really ‘Miracle on Wheels’. FTS Erode had done a great job.

“ATHITHI DEVO BHAVA”

On 22nd September, 2013, forty five members visited Barvatoli Village consisting of 21 Udham Bheel families. They were received with garlands, thilak, a welcome song and dance by the village folk and Ekal School children.

Though the 21 year old Ekal Vidyalaya teacher Ms. Sugan Kumari’s mother in law had died just a week ago and the village was under deep grief and sadness they didn’t show and covered it with a smile in front of the visitors… showing the true sprits of “athithi devo bhava”.

The sponsors were Ranchi’s Sri. PV Parival and Sri. Jhunjhunwala. The visitors enjoyed bhajan singing by the children and an interactive session with them. The children exhibited their intelligence which impressed the visitors; the visitors gifted the children with new clothes, bakery and confectionery products.

Sri. Prem Prakash Arya, Sri. Manoj Tulsayan and Sri. Sanjay Podhar who arranged the Vann Yatra provided a rejuvenating experience for the visitors and children.

Chapter at NEW VALLEY, USA

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation held their first Musical Event at Royal Delhi Palace in Canoga Park on Sept. 29, attended by a sold out crowd of over 200 guests to mark the inauguration of a new Chapter to serve areas north of Los Angeles .

At THOUSANDS OAKS, CA, as part of the inauguration of the new Chapter and to mark the Silver Jubilee celebrations, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation held their first Musical Event at Royal Delhi Palace. The duo of Bader Iqbal and Mosami Shah regaled the audience with old and new Bollywood hits. Anis Chandani provided able support on the key board and flute while Rishi Thakar on the tabla.

The event was coordinated by the Los Angeles Chapter of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, a non-profit organization based out of Houston, Texas, with a mission to eradicate illiteracy from rural and remote tribal villages of India. Sri. Suresh Iyer, Member of Board of Directors, EVF USA, officially inaugurated the new chapter of Ekal Vidyalaya in San Fernando Valley. This event was also to commemorate Ekal Vidyalaya’s Silver Jubilee celebrations, providing 25 years of continuous service with the above noble objectives, he said.

The music program went on till late night to the delight of the audience. Sri. Iyer highlighted the mission and objectives of Ekal Vidyalaya and their efforts to provide a holistic education to make the villages economically self-sufficient and in improving literacy rates. As of July 2013, Ekal had educated over 1.5 million children through 52,000 schools almost doubling in three years. Sri. Iyer mentioned that just $365 would support an Ekal school of 25 to 30 children for a whole year.

Silver Jubilee Celebrations at Ekal, Dubai

From left: Smt. Geeta Chhabra, Sri. Parthiv Gohil, Sri. Pradeep Goyal,
Sri. Harshad R Mehta, Smt. Juhi Chawla, Sri. PNC Menon,
His Excellency Sri. M.K.Lokesh, Smt. Sangita Gupta

Ekal Support Group UAE Chairman Sri Harshad R Mehta along with President Smt. Geeta Chhabra, and VPs Sri. Ashit Gandhi, Sri Sunil Sharma and the managing committee decided to organize Parthiv Gohil and Janvi’s music program and dance by DansMe on 18th October to celebrate the 25th year of Ekal along with 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The packed Sheikh Rashid auditorium, Dubai, was the fruit of their effort. The audience include members of various social groups like Jain Social Group, Soni Samaj, Gujarati Samaj, Tamil Ladies Association, Telugu Association, Mercantile Hindu Community of Thatha and others. The program lived up to its theme – ‘COLORS OF INDIA’.

Ekal Souvenir entitled ‘Glory to Education’ was released by the Chief Guest, His Excellency Sri. M.K. Lokesh, Ambassador of India to UAE in the presence of Guest of Honor Bollywood actrees Smt. Juhi Chawla. The other distinguished guests were Dr. Juma Al Matrooshi and Engr. Abdullah Al- Khashrami and Guests from India, Sri. Pradeep Goyal , President of EVFI and Smt. Sangita Gupta, Global coordinator of Ekal.

There were smiles on the face of the sponsors, Sri. PNC Menon of Sobha Group, Sri. Naresh Mehta of Diamond Village, Sri. Paresh Bhai from Brilliant Diamonds and Lead sponsors Kiran Gems, Shreya Life Sciences from Mumbai and Unique Maritime Group from Dubai, as the program drew large crowd.

Success of the event goes to the Organizing team of Sri. Sameer Mavani, Sri. Arvind, Smt. Aparna, Sri. Jagdish, Sri. Dinesh duo Sri. Kailash Mutha, Smt. Meena Kumari, Sri. Pathmanabhan, Sri. Krishna Kumar of Aryaas, Sri. Ashok Dasani, Sri. Rudra, Smt. Babita, Sri. Gunjan, Sri. Paresh, Sri. Sufiyan Badshah and the team from Rosy Blue, Sri. Ravi samarokone, Sri. Shankar chellaram, Sri. Vernon, Kum. Suma, Kum. Vimala, Sri. Dheeraj, Kum. Preethy - the list goes long and the contribution of Ekal Support Group UAE to Ekal is remarkable.

My Ekal visit to Sillan Kuppam

When my mom said we will be visiting Ekal during our trip to India – I was very excited. We were finally getting to see an Ekal School after serving as volunteers for Ekal over 4 years from Dallas.

Meeting the kids of the village Sillan Kuppam, Cuddalore, in Tamilnadu, made us so happy, after our anxious ride. We settled down and the students engaged us by singing, dancing, and two girls even gave speeches on a Mathematician and an Indian lady freedom fighter. They did all of these with a great smile on their faces. When one of the kids forgot her lines, her classmates asked her to finish up with Namaste – but she hung on despite her embarrassment, recollected and finished her speech. It was wonderful to see such determination.

How hard life must be for these kids? Upon talking to a few of the kids, I found out that despite all the challenges, these kids were highly motivated to have a good education. As our time was limited and it was getting dark, we started distributing pencil bags, sweets and chocolates. The kids were ecstatic and eager on receiving them.

Their sense of gratitude, openness to strangers and cheerfulness amazed me. My friends and I take our privileges for granted. But after seeing these kids made me see my everyday life through a different light.

Going to the Ekal School was the most heart changing experience I have ever had – it has taught me that hope always exists where there is motivation and positive thinking. It has made me want to see if I can do more to spread the word of service to others also. I am happy to be a part of Ekal Vidyalaya volunteer group, making a difference, at least in the life of one small village at a time.