HELP-A-SCHOOL FOUNDATION - Blog

Update on the girl's dormitory

27/3/2016

More great progress building the girl's dorm at Karunalaya
The third story of the new Orphanage building is underway!!!
This top story will be a dorm for women in the Vellore area with crisis pregnancy and infants. As you can imagine this is a much needed facility and care service for those mothers who have been outcast from their families because of pregnancy.
I am so very proud of the support and donations that we have been able to contribute to this amazing project. In about 4 weeks time I will once again be visiting the Karunalaya Orphanage and am excited to see the building progress in person.
The latest email update from the Orphanage...
"The Girls Dorm construction is going on well. The walls were construction and we need to do the plastering, electrical, plumbing and color wash. We are thankful for all your supports, so far, towards the construction. We would appreciate further encouragements. It is our desire that one room be dedicated in the name of Help A School Foundation"
with sincere thanks and prayer
Paulraj and Kasthuri
A beautiful offer.... If you would like to donate to help with this project, please go to our STORE.

## Help-A-School Foundation is a registered Australian Charity and have been given Deductible Gift Recipient benefits, so your donations are now tax deductible.
With much gratitude, Jan x

January 15th, 2016

16/1/2016

These photos were taken during a very special ceremony for the donation of a cow and calf, which will be given to a family in a rural village near Vellore. The money raised for this prestigious donation came mostly from students in 15J and also other classes involved in the Schools Connect Program this year.
It is such a special occasion and so important to the village community who will receive the cow. They will be able to use the milk produced to not only feed their family, but to sell the milk to make an income. This also benefits the whole village community. A very special ceremony takes place to bless the cow and all those who have contributed to giving it.
She is a very beautiful cow, with a gorgeous little calf.
The ceremony was amazing... I had the honor to wash the cows tail, paint her sides, head and spine with turmeric and kumkum, put flowers on her back, and feed her bananas. It was very special for me to do this on behalf of Help-A-School Foundation. I was so very proud that students had raised the money to offer this cow and calf to a family in India.
To everyone who contributed... You should all be very very proud of yourselves for caring so much about others in need across the world.
If you would like to donate to help with this project, please go to our STORE.

With much gratitude and joy
Jan xx

More great progress building the girl's dorm at Karunalaya

3/10/2015

A heart-felt message and update from the Karunalaya Orphanage in Vellore...

"Dear friends, The Girls Dorm construction is going on well.
It has also been our desire to construct a dorm for women with crisis pregnancy and infants, on top of the girls dorm. The women who come for shelter and care can be a help to the girls in the same building. Often girl babies are abandoned by families here. We seek to rescue women who tend to commit suicide due to crisis pregnancy and infants. If you ever come across organizations that desire to help women and infants rescue, please let us know.
The thatched roof structure is for Mushroom Cultivation Unit. We expand it little more. We establish it with view to give training for senior children that they learn a life skill.
The schools are on Quarterly Exam Holidays. We hope to present the student desks furniture to the school next week. Thank you so much for your support funds towards various needs.
Kindly convey our greetings to your friends and donors there. We wish to meet them some day,
with sincere thanks and prayer
Paulraj and Kasthuri "

If you would like to donate to help with any of these projects, please go to our STORE

Australian Teacher Magazine article...

26/9/2015

What an incredible heartfelt honour ... I had the amazing opportunity to be interviewed by the Australian Teacher Magazine about Help-A-School Foundation's projects In India and the Schools Connect program. The article has been included in their September Edition. I send my infinite love and gratitude to all those beautiful souls who have been involved or supported our 2015 projects. To read the pdf version click here, to read the online version click here.
Feeling so incredibly grateful xxx

Grill'd ... Local Matters jar

30/6/2015

1-30 June 2015

We’ve been selected to participate in Local Matters at Grill’d Norwood this June! Local Matters is the Grill’d community donation program that sees each Grill’d restaurant donate $500 back into the community every month. The donation is split between 3 local community groups $300 / $100 / $100.

HOW YOU CAN HELP?
We’d love your support in receiving the highest $300 donation! Simply head to Grill’d Norwood during June, for a burger and pop your Local Matters token in our jar. The group with the most tokens at the end of the month receives the largest donation.

It’s a simple (and delicious) way to show your support! You’ll find us on a jar at Grill’d Norwood, Parade Central Cnr the Parade & George St, Norwood.

Student 'Art from the Heart' Exhibition

30/6/2015

Sunday 28 June, Norwood Town hall 10am - 5pm

The 'Art from the Heart' Exhibition will feature artworks from over 300 students on the theme of 'Gratitude'. These creations will be offered for sale by donation, with all proceeds going to support schools and educational programs in rural India. The exhibition will also feature 16 local artists who have generously donated a piece of their own artwork for our Silent Auction.

Please come to our ‘Art from the Heart’ Exhibition and support these amazing students and local artists to make a difference to others in the world. More info here.

Family Movie Night.... Wow we raised $1503 !

18/6/2015

On Thursday 18 June, we hired the Regal Theatre (on Kensington Rd) to hold a special Movie Night Fundraiser. Many of the classes involved in the Schools Connect Program presenting reflections about Gratitude through a min-movie or PowerPoint... and they got to show it on the theatre's big screen! What an exciting opportunity!

Thank you to all who attended x

June 1st, 2015

1/6/2015

WOW... its June already and what a month we have planned, with 4 exciting fundraising events coming up soon... All funds raised will contribute to our project aims; desks and resources for schools in rural villages in India, helping to build a dormitory for orphaned girls in Vellore, books for school libraries and blankets and food for tribal village communities in Tamil Nadu.

Online Silent Art Auction ... NOW OPEN!
Begins Mon 8 June - ends 30June 9pm

www.32auctions.com/artfromtheheart2015

Due to the amazing generosity of 16 local South Australian Artists – 18 paintings/ photographs (each with a theme on gratitude) have been donated to the Help-A-School Foundation for the exhibition in June. This is truly incredible and reveals the beautiful heart-centred souls of our local artists. I am totally inspired by them all.

These artworks will be used to raise funds through a silent auction process in the weeks leading up to our 'Gratitude in Art' exhibition in June. Check out the artist's profiles page.

I send much gratitude and love to all these amazing artists who have opened their heart to supporting this program xxx

Update 25 April 2015

29/4/2015

During the April school holidays, I travelled to India to connect again with the Sri Narayani Schools and share the beautiful letters that many of our Schools Connect classes gave to me before I left. I took about 300 letters with me from our participating South Australian schools.

I spent time in the Sri Narayani School classrooms over several days, sharing the letters, talking about Australian schools and culture, and helping the students to write letters back. The students were excited in learning about Australia and to read their pen pal letters. Some of the students shared comments, dances, songs and even amazing yoga skills on video. It will be wonderful to now share all these connections with the students in our schools.

The other purpose I had in this visit to India, was to confirm the targeted projects that would be of most benefit to students in rural Indian schools, and therefore be the focus for our fundraising contributions during 2015. I am extremely excited to share 2 new significant projects that Help-A-School Foundation has now initiated.

Project: Desks for Village Schools

With many thanks to Paulraj and Sundar, I was given permission to visit a number of village schools in Vellore and in Pondicherry. This was truly an amazing and heart opening experience. I visited schools in the villages of Senur and Edayanchavady. The schools have students from grade 1 to 5 and consists of classrooms, a toilet block and playground area. The children were extremely shy, shaking my hand and smiling when I asked their names. English is taught as part of the curriculum, so the older students were able to introduce themselves.
When I spoke to the teachers, they said the school’s greatest need were desks for all the students. The Government of India only provides desks for students in grades 6 and older.

The purchase of desks for the village schools will be a significant focus for the next few years for Help-A-School Foundation in these two locations in Vellore and Pondicherry. Through preliminary discussions it seems that long desks with bench seats can cater for about 3-4 children and cost about $80 each. A great investment for improved education facilities for these beautiful children. See more about this project here.

Project: Help Build a Girls Home

I was so blessed to enjoy a beautiful day with an amazing family who started the Karunalaya Children's Home in Vellore, India, home to 32 orphan children. The boys dormitory home was built and finished last year, with 20 boys now living in a caring family environment on a 2 acre property at Gandhi Nagar, Vellore.

The 12 girls who are under the care of Karanalaya Home currently live in very basic accommodation in another part of the town as they are waiting for enough funds to be raised so that a girls dormitory can be built on the property where the boys live.

Helping to 'Build the Girls Home' will be the second project for Help-A-School Foundation fundraising. Such a worthwhile project for such beautiful children in need. See more about this project here.

Update ...2 April 2015

3/4/2015

We now have a Facebook Page ... please LIKE us :)

This month saw the launch of 2 new programs into action...

The Schools Connect Program: with 15 classes in South Australia
The Artist Connect Program: with 16 amazing local artists in South Australia

Please check out those pages to see how schools and artists are getting involved

*Our 2014 - 2015 Fundraising Goal = $10,000

As of April 2015, we have raised $3,840These funds have already been used to provide:

85 boxes (722 kgs) of books for the school libraries in Vellore, India
blankets to the students in the Tribal Village school in Jamunamarathur Village

a range of educational teaching resources for the schools and the kindergarten in Peedam
stationery packs for 12 classes at the Sri Narayani Schools
10 laptops and a camera for student and school programs
food donations for the Anna Dhanam Program in Sripuram

Our heart-centred goal is to raise another $6,500 by the end of 2015. These funds will be used to support children and educational programs in Tamil Nadu, India..

Check out the 2015 Projects webpage or click on the photos to read more.