The Sri Narayani Vidyala and Sri Narayani Vidyashram Schools are located in Vellore, Tamil Nadu in India. The schools provide education for a total of about 1500 students in this rural / farming area. Many of the children who attend are the first generation of learners to actually attend school. They can travel from as far as 14kms away, aided by the school buses each morning and afternoon. As you can see, these delightful students are happy to be at school. 

The schools also received 10 laptops complete with  carry bags and the Australian - Indian power adapters! They were very excited and grateful for these additions to their school resources which will extend the capabilities of teaching and learning across the school.

It was such a heartfelt joy to be able to provide these items to the teachers and schools. I am full of excitement about the Schools Connect program and the cross-cultural learning that will be possible between the schools. To support the program, my next 3 blogs will feature on different aspects to getting to know the school environment, the community and the festivals and celebrations in Indian schools. 

I am very excited to announce that the new Schools Connect Program is now seeking Expressions of Interest from interested teachers in Australia to participate in a 6 month class to class (buddy) connection with a school in Vellore, India.

The program will:

·         provide stationery and art supplies to classes in Vellore, India;

·         establish learning networks between classes in South Australia and classes in Vellore, India;

·         feature an Exhibition of Artworks created by all participating students on the Theme: Gratitude, 

             (The Exhibition will be held at the Norwood Town Hall on 28-29th June 2015)


The purpose of the buddy class activities will be to learn about each other’s culture, school and world through a range of literacy and creative activities. As much as possible, buddy classes will be matched at similar year levels to support meaningful sharing of their learning. 

If you would like to know more... click here for full details of the project

The 2015 program will be limited to 16 classes... so be quick!
With gratitude and love
Jan x

What an amazing accomplishment from all those who helped with the Book donations for schools in India. Today, the shipment of books was completed and 85 boxes (weighing a total of 722 kgs) are now stacked and ready to depart by ship for the voyage to Chennai, and then by truck to Vellore.

It is exciting to know, that the books will arrive while I am in India in January. I am hoping that this means I will be able to see all those happy faces when the boxes arrive and are unpacked into the school library.
More photos to come... obviously!!!!

Thanks again to everyone who helped :)

I have begun a book collection to request any good condition children's books from school libraries, homes and local libraries. Please let me know if you can help.

Before you throw out those unwanted books during stock-take this year, please consider this request…

As a principal, I am passionate about children having access to a school with good resources no matter where they live in the world. I have just returned from India, where I had the amazing opportunity to visit a number of schools in the rural town of Peedam. A significant number of students who attend these schools are ‘first generation learners’, so you can imagine how precious school resources are to them.

While I was in the Sri Narayani Vidyala School, I spent time helping in the library.I couldn’t help but notice how old and limited the range of books and resources were for this school of 985 students. (I think that many of the books we discard in Australia during stock –take time, would still be in better condition than the ones I saw on these shelves.)

So, it gave me great joy to provide the students with a stack of new books for their library.

It also gave me an idea… I am collecting good condition books to donate to the schools in rural vicinity of Peedam and Malakiodi, India. The schools need books suitable for students from Reception to Year 12. They particularly enjoy non-fiction books about history, sport, science, maths and the world.

Can you help? Are you undertaking a stock-take soon where books may be discarded from your library?

Or, would you be willing to hold a book donation drive at your school to request books from your students, families or community? Do you have unwanted books sitting in your shelves or cupboards at home? All new or used books in good condition appropriate for these students would be most gratefully received.
 
Please contact me on headhearthandsandsoul@gmail.com for more information or to arrange books you would like to donate to be picked up/ delivered. 

Thank you for your consideration of this request.
With deepest gratitude

Jan Carey :)

Om Namo Narayani!

I am still in beautiful India, but wanted to give you all a quick update of the progress being made with utilising the generous donations raised through the campaign.

So far I have distributed most of the resources that I took with me in the suitcases. My visit to the Sri Narayani Nethram School library was such a  joy. The students gratefully received the huge pile of books and enjoyed reading them. They loved to chat and asked many questions about schools in Australia. I also gave the school sets of hand made games (from students at Trinity Gardens), domino sets, big dice containers, parachute and others educational resources which will be distributed to the most relevant classes in the school. 

The school library is used by the 985 students at this school, so the girls were very keen to get the new books processed and stamped to get them on the shelves. I feel that collecting more books for their school library could be an area for further action on my return home. Any ideas?I had the absolute joy of spending time at the Sri Narayani Nursery School where 60 gorgeous 2-4 year olds are schooled. They certainly enjoyed getting their hands on the new resources (especially the crayons, which they carefully unwrapped one by one ! ) Little treasures x

Today I donated $1,000 of the money raised, towards the Tribal Village school in Jamunamarathur Village. This village is located in a very isolated rural location about an hour from Peedam in the mountain region. The money donated will help to purchase much needed blankets for this very poor community. This donation was so heartfelt when I gave it, and I know all who contributed to the fundraising total are certainly blessed with this action as well. Thank you x

I am currently having discussions with the principal at Sri Narayani Nethram School about funding student scholarships.  I will post more information about this aspect once more details are investigated soon.I hope you can feel the joy that I have been so fortunate to experience on this endeavor. It certainly has opened my heart to further fundraising and support action in the future too. 

Thank you all so much for your contribution towards this. I wouldn't be doing these amazing things without your support and generosity. 

Grattitude and Love to you all
Jan x

Suitcases of resources being packed... not long now!

Would you like to get involved too?

If you missed the chance to donate to the campaign, you still can... I have now begun my own online store. Simply click on the store menu link at the top of the page, and purchase an item.

Many contributors also donated money to the project. I will take this with me on my trip to Vellore and through conversations and discussions with the schools, support their most desired need. 

I will blog and upload photos & video footage from my visit to the Vellore Schools, so that our students and schools can see how important their contributions were to these children. The opportunity to contribute ‘beyond self,’ and give to others in need, is a valuable experience and a personal virtue for life.