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.