NGO: Maharshi Dayanand Mahila Sikshan Sansthan Samiti

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NGO: Maharshi Dayanand Mahila Sikshan Sansthan Samiti

Maharshi Dayanand Mahila Shikshan Sansthan Samiti was established in 1982, by the IDRF Board Member and world renowned mathematician and social worker Dr. G.R. Verma. This educational institution for women’s education is dedicated to educating and creating a variety of professional and technical opportunities for high achieving girls in the various fields of sciences in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

IDRF partner since: 2001

  • Focus Area: Education , Women Empowerment
  • Location:  Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan
  • Project Title: Construction of Staff Quarters, College Corpus Fund
  • Details:  IDRF has provided valuable direction and dynamic leadership, which has enabled Maharshi Dayanand Mahila Shikshan Sansthan Samiti to provide quality education to girls from the villages of Rajasthan. This has made a significant contribution in women’s education and empowerment to make Jhunjhunu district’s identity in Rajasthan and whole of India. IDRF has partnered with the institution in order to build staff quarters on the school premises in order to assuage the difficulties associated with daily commuting for staff.

    In the past, IDRF has also supported the construction of computer rooms, physics and chemistry laboratories, English language lab, and conference hall for the staff and students.

Dr. Verma teaching mathematics to students at the Institution during one of his visits

Institution’s Building

Physics Laboratory

Please click on the link to know more about Maharishi Dayanand Mahila Shikshan Sansthan Samiti’s programs.

http://www.mdbvcollege.com/

NGO: Society for Welfare of the Handicapped

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NGO: Society for Welfare of the Handicapped

Society for Welfare of the Handicapped is a pioneer in North India in the field of education for Children with special needs. This Society was established in 1967 and started Special School for the Blind and the Patiala Special School for the Deaf and Dumb, that have been providing crucial education and life skills training to those that need it most. No fees is charged from the students for tuition or hostel facility and everything is free of cost to them. Over the years the school has become the most sought after special education facility for deaf and blind children in Punjab, Haryana and some of the neighboring states.

IDRF partner since: 2016

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Punjab
  • Project Title: Operational Funds for the Hostel, Sponsorship of Children
  • Details:  The Patiala School for the Deaf, Patiala School for the Blind and Patiala School for the Deafblind are co-educational and residential. The students enrolled here vary from early intervention stage (Pre-nursery) to class 12th. There are about 350 students here and 280 of them are staying in the hostel. This is the only school for the blind in Punjab with a hostel for girls. There is a great demand for admission to these schools and to keep up with demand, Patiala School has begun a massive expansion, doubling capacity for both classrooms and hostel facilities.
    The school have the latest teaching aids and infrastructure for deaf and blind students. Patiala School also provides vocational training to the deaf and blind students, and helps them to earn a livelihood after the completion of the schooling and become productive members of the community. The schools take pride in molding these children with special needs- as “Service Providers-Not Service Seekers”.
    In 2014, Society for Welfare of the Handicapped was adjudged as the best NGO in India in child welfare activities. This organization is not in receipt of any government funding or corporate aid and depends on the support from private voluntary donations. The marginal cost of educating a student (including hostel expenses) is around INR 18,000 or approximately $ 270/ year. Funds are still needed for operational costs to continue offering free education to those in need.

Deaf students in the classroom

Please click on the link to learn more about the Society for Welfare of the Handicapped- Patiala School.
http://patialaschool.org

NGO: Shree Banaskantha Anjana Patel Kelvani Mandal

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NGO: Shree Banaskantha Anjana Patel Kelvani Mandal

Banaskantha District in Gujarat is mainly an agricultural economy. The standard of education has been very low and only 45% population was literate at the time of India’s independence. The people of the district wished to do something for improving the education standards in the region and established the Kelvani Mandal in 1955 as a registered Public Trust. The eminent people of the community collected donations and started a secondary school and hostel on 18 acres of land. Today, Anjana Patel Kelvani Mandal has established various educational institutions that are providing quality education to students irrespective of their caste or religion.

IDRF partner since: 2014

  • Focus Area: Women’s Empowerment and Education
  • Location: Karnataka
  • Project Title: Co-Ed Commerce College, Girls’ Hostel

NGO: Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals

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NGO: Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals

Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) was established in 2001, by a group of agriculture and management professionals for capacity building of small and marginal farmers’ agricultural practices that would enhance their livelihoods and income. This would lead to a better quality of life for rural communities. However, with limited access to employment opportunities in rural areas, large scale migration of labor to urban informal sector with inadequate social safety nets and poor living conditions in slums, is a rapidly growing problem. ISAP conducts vocational skill training in below poverty line areas. Rural youth from poor households are trained in various trades to enable them to earn livelihood.

IDRF partner since: 2015

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Odisha
  • Project Title: Skill Training and Job Placement of Unemployed Urban Youth in the State of Odisha
  • Details:  ISAP has conducted eight batches of vocational skills training. Youth from poor households are trained in various trades for a period of 45 days in classroom settings and 15 days of on-the-job training. The skill development trainings were imparted in the four domain: Information Technology Enables Services, Bed Side Patient Assistance, Hospitality and Sales and Marketing. An elaborate mobilization process was conducted around the economically backward areas in Odisha in order to identify youth for classroom and practical training through a screening process. Training content was prepared by ISAP subject matter experts. Classroom sessions included presentations and lectures along with live workshops and multi-media presentations. During the on-the-job- training phase, emphasis was laid on hands-on-experience, industry visits, short term apprenticeships, etc. Career counselling was provided to students on the completion of the training program in order to guide and direct their career paths. Training completion certificates were provided to students, and their profiles were shared with the relevant industry people who could be prospective employers.

  IDRF-ISAP Skill Development Program
  Batches 1 to 8 (2015-2016)

BATCH
LOCATION
DOMAINS
STUDENTS ENROLLED
STUDENTS TRAINED
STUDENTS PLACED
1Jaipur (Odisha)Information Technology Enables Services (ITES)303024
2Kandhamal (Odisha)BSPA  (Bed Side Patient Assistant)303025
3BhubaneswarHospitality606046
4Jaipur (Odisha)Information Technology Enables Services (ITES)252519
5Khurda (Odisha)Hospitality & Information Technology Enables Services (ITES)505040
6Baripada (Odisha)Security Guard & Information Technology Enables Services (ITES)505050
7Kandhamal (Odisha)Hospitality & Information Technology Enables Services (ITES)282821
8 Baripada (Odisha)Security Guard & Information Technology Enables Services (ITES)303020
 Total303303245
 

Students in the Lecture Hall

Students in the Computer-lab

Distribution of Completion Certificates

Please click on the link to learn more about the various programs of Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP).

http://www.isapindia.org/index.php?

NGO: Gwalior Hospital and Education Charitable Trust

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NGO: Gwalior Hospital and Education Charitable Trust

Gwalior Hospital and Education Charitable Trust (GHECT) runs a project named “Help Children of India”. Snehalaya – the “home with love” is a multi-disciplinary campus with community living that promotes environmental, economic and cultural sustainability for vulnerable marginalized and underprivileged people. Snehalaya spreads across 25 acres near Gwalior City, Madhya Pradesh.

IDRF partner since: 2015

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Madhya Pradesh
  • Project Title: Corpus Fund for Snehalaya and Education of Poor Girls from Villages
  • Details:  GHECT is responsible for executing the majority of development projects including Snehalaya campus where a special-needs school, a girls’ school and from which rural medical programs are run. The Snehalaya School for predominantly girls, was started in 2011 with about 70 students that were mostly drop-outs from nearby villages. Snehalaya aims at empowering the women by educating girls and helping them break out of the cycle of oppression and stand on their own feet. These women can help their families by being productive members and also be able to educate their children. The school had started with classes from Kindergarten to 6th and gradually added 7th, 8th and 9th classes. The number of students attending the school has also increased to about 300, and has a capacity to accommodate 500 students. The school is planning to expand yet again by adding classes up to 12th.

    The school is also planning to pay all girls Rs. 10 per day of attendance in school. This will act as an incentive for parents to send their daughters to complete their studies. The money will be deposited in the bank account of the girl and she will be able to get a lump sum amount for her use on the completion of her schooling. The school provides free education, transportation, books and uniforms, etc. to all the students. As the number of students attending the school is increasing, the school is in need for more school buses to help more rural students get to the school. IDRF provides funds for running this school. IDRF provides funds for the maintenance and running of Snehalaya School.

Please click on the link to learn more about Snehalaya School.

https://www.helpchildrenofindia.org/what-we-do/snehalaya-school/

NGO: Swami Keshwanand Smriti Charitable Trust

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NGO: Swami Keshwanand Smriti Charitable Trust

Swami Keshwanand Smriti Charitable Trust was set up in 1983, in the memory of Swami Keshwanand, a renowned freedom fighter and social worker. The Charitable Trust is a social service organization that focuses on educating and empowering rural youth in Rajasthan through educational programs and financial assistance.

IDRF partner since: 2003

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Rajasthan
  • Project Title: Scholarships, Construction of Trust Office building
  • Details:  IDRF collaborated with Swami Keshwanand Smriti Charitable Trust to provide financial assistance to students in medical, engineering, and technical colleges, as well as colleges focused on teacher training, and other such rural institutions. Over 200 male and female students benefitted from these grants. In addition to providing scholarships to deserving students, the organization also conducted drug rehabilitation and vocational training programs.
    Until recently, the Trust office was functioning in a small dilapidated, 80 year old building. It was very necessary to construct a new and safe building. With the support of IDRF, and its long time donor, grants were sent in 2015 and 2016 for construction of the office building. The new and safer building is ready now and the Trust office has shifted in there.

NGO: Open Learning Exchange Nepal

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NGO: Open Learning Exchange Nepal

Open Learning Exchange Nepal (OLE Nepal) is a social benefit organization dedicated to enhancing education quality and access through the integration of technology in classrooms. Since its inception in 2007, OLE Nepal has pioneered the use of technology in schools and provided open and free access to quality education and innovative learning environments to children.

IDRF partner since: 2013

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Nepal
  • Project Title:  One Laptop Per Child; E-Pustakalaya: Digital Library Enhancement
  • Details:  OLE Nepal partnered with One Laptop per Child and IDRF, to ensure that schools in Nepal provide students access to laptops and incorporate technology into the everyday school curriculum. OLE Nepal is currently providing a school in the Bajhang District (far-western part of Nepal) with 250 laptops, as well as a concurrent curriculum and teaching methodology.

OLE Nepal has also launched the E-Pustakalaya, a digital repository that can be accessed from the Internet ( www.pustakalaya.org) or through an internal network of local servers installed in schools and community centers that are without Internet access. This e-library enables students, teachers and families from different geographic and economic background to freely access the same high quality educational resources at their own convenience.E-Pustakalaya allows users to browse through the library collections, search for specific items, read documents in the browser, and download documents for later use. Since its launch in February 2009 the e-library has made great progress. It now has a collection of over 7,000 e-books, thousands of audio books, educational videos, learning software and reference materials such as Wikipedia and maps that provide invaluable resources to students, teachers as well as to the general reader.

Skill building and training program for LILA Fellows.

While the project will continue to add the collection in various categories, and expand the access to the materials by installing offline servers in more schools through partnerships with the Ministry of Education, Nepal and other organizations, they will focus on upgrading the underlying content management system, and enhancing the overall software to allow users to easily find and use the resources. The project will employ e-library coordinator, library systems engineer, and software programmer to carry out the activities for the enhancement of the digital library.

Students using laptops in the classrooms

Please click on the link to learn more about OLE Nepal’s programs.
http://www.olenepal.org/

NGO: Ma Saraswati Trust

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NGO: Ma Saraswati Trust

Ma Saraswati Trust is an organization that provides scholarships to needy students from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The organization has provided hundreds of students with scholarship since its inception.

IDRF partner since: 2007

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
  • Project Title:  Scholarships to Needy Students
  • Details:  Thanks to the generosity of a Chennai-based family, IDRF has been able to give scholarships to several children in Chennai through Ma Saraswati Trust. These meritorious students supported through the Trust tend to come from single parent homes belonging to poverty stricken background.

NGO: Gyan Jyoti

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NGO: Gyan Jyoti

Gyan Jyoti is a public charitable trust dedicated to providing financial support to high achieving students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The organization provide these children, who otherwise would not have the opportunity, to pursue higher education.

IDRF partner since: 2011

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Haryana
  • Project Title: Scholarships to Students
  • Details:  IDRF supported nearly 20 high-achieving students from Haryana state through Gyan Jyoti in 2014. The organization provides tuition, as well as books and other necessary supplies.IDRF had played a critical role in enabling Gyan Jyoti to receive funds from USA, thus, fulfilling the aspirations of a philanthropist couple from California, by helping the NGO in acquiring FCRA ‘Prior Permission’.

    IDRF has supported Gyan Jyoti in buying and donating books to Shrimad Dayanand Gurukal Vidyapeeth. In order to promote sports activities among the students, grant has been sent to purchase and donate sports goods to the school. In 2014 IDRF supported nearly 20 high-achieving students belonging to underprivileged background from Haryana through Gyan Jyoti. The organization provides tuition, as well as books and other necessary supplies for the meritorious students who have a promising future, but come from economically weaker sections of society. Gyan Jyoti has also been able to pay the fees of a few girl students to pursue vocational training at the Polytechnic for Women in New Delhi.

NGO: Atma Vidya Ashram

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NGO: Atma Vidya Ashram

Swamini Lalitananda ji joined hands with Sri Omananda Swamiji in a noble undertaking. To raise funds to house, feed and educate destitute children and women in three different locations in India. After the Maha Samadhi of Omananda Swamiji, she continues the noble work with present Swamiji Sivananda Saraswathi.

With the divine blessings of her Guru, Swaminiji has established the Atma Vidya Ashram. Their Ashrams are purely run by donations and do not receive any aid from either the State or the Central Government of India.

IDRF partner since:2006

  • Focus Area: Education
  • Location: Narsipuram, Andhra Pradesh
  • Project Title: Sri Sivananda Ashram
  • Details:  Sivananda Ashram/ Orphanage and School is an affectionate home to destitute children and is located in a very remote area near Narsipuram, Dist. Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. Recently a school was constructed by the Ashram for the benefit of Ashram children as well as surrounding rural children. About 200 children are being educated in this school. IDRF has been supporting their project ‘Dollar a Day’ (DAD) program, and funds go towards providing lodging, boarding and education for the poor and helpless children

School operated by Sivananda Ashram

ashram

Swamini Lalitananda ji with the children at the Ashram

Almost all the children in the ashram have painful stories to tell about their past. But Swaminiji’s mission has made all the difference in their lives. Their basic necessities are taken care of and their confidence is boosted to move on in life with greater spirit and confidence. Let us all join together and strengthen this noble endeavor in our own humble way by supporting IDRF in meeting the basic necessities and education of these destitute and orphaned children.

Please click on the link to learn more details about Sivananda Ashram’s various programs.
http://www.atma-vidya.org/ashrams.html