I visited Arunima Illam in the 2007, and met the children for the first time. I hadn't really planned to volunteer, but my great-aunt told me that it would be an amazing experience. I was a little leery, but I accompanied her to the school one evening and met the children. Walking through the entrance, my wariness increased: the building was dilapidated, with a run-down doorway. I'd never seen a school like this before. But we walked into the building, and a wave of children rushed to greet us. As we sat and talked, I realized that I had never encountered such sweet people in my life before. There aren't words to describe the feelings they invoked in me. They asked so little, and were satisfied with so much. They had amazing outlooks on life: they actually sought knowledge. We began to teach them English, and as the summer passed the bond between the children and my family grew stronger. At the end of that summer, as I prepared to say bye to them, one little girl came up to me and said "Enna marukadengo". Please, don't forget me. So I swore to myself that I wouldn't forget her, or any of her classmates.
WISHOF Audit of Arunima Illam »
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After meeting the children, bonding with them, and getting a grasp of their situation, I decided to devote some of my efforts and energy to helping Arunima Illam. Clearly, the school was doing a great job considering the very limited support and funds it received. Would they get more support and funding, if their efforts were publicized? On our first visit, we had noticed two issues - the school was not very well-maintained, and the inside of their classrooms got very, very hot. Since it was a 24-hour facility, providing unconditional care for the children at all hours of the day, these were two issues that needed immediate attention. The school was operating at full capacity. Therefore an additional area to consider was expanding the school to be able to include more students. But the efforts to make improvements along these three dimensions would all require time and effort and the school was already low on funds. So we needed to find a means of fundraising here in New Jersey.
After I joined WISHOF.org, and understood their poverty framework, I realized that under the Arunima Illam umbrella, the nuns were already addressing several of the related dimensions. I felt that my efforts could impact the lives of the wonderful children I had met. Arunima Illam badly needed funds. The best opportunity to fundraise was my Arangetram: if anyone wanted to give me a gift, I'd ask for a donation to Arunima Illam instead. I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to all the donors who contributed to this initiative. Your contribution will make a difference in the lives of these children.
[2015 Update]
Based on the $2,573 raised from 47 donors, wishof.org has had some preliminary discussions with the nuns who run the school to consider possibilities to utilize the money.
Option 1: The children sleep on straw mats laid on the bare floors. They sit on the floor for their classes as well. One option being considered is to acquire multipurpose tables that can aid learning, but alternate as beds.
Option 2: Another issue is poor ventilation and cooling in the living areas and classrooms. In summer the 105 degree F Chennai heat, can make these children feel very uncomfortable. The nuns proposed that we use part of the funds to install a ceiling fan in each of the rooms. We expect to update the site in October once we finalize the plan. We are working with some local officials to obtain quotes from various wholesale stores, in an effort to maximize the benefit to the children.
Project Plan »
Invoice - Student Desks »
Invoice - Bunker Cots »
Images for Project Completion »
