Save a School #HelpMithuSaveSchool

Project WHY is a flagship program of Sri Ram Goburdhun Charitable Trust, which provides educational support to underprivileged children. This non-profit, after-school support program goes beyond academics, to include life skills and all-around development. Today they are in need of our support to save a school.

MITHU MANDAL, COMPUTER TEACHER

Mithu Mandal lost his legs to polio at the age of 3 and was never interested in formal education. At Project WHY, he not only learned about computers but became good enough to teach children how to use them.

The Project Why Okhla center where he teaches, supports the education of 350 children, quite a few of whom also learn computers from Mithu. Without this center, Mithu would not have a job where he has started as a student, worked his way up to being a teacher’s aide, and then took over as the computer teacher.
In the coming year, this center is about to lose its funding and faces a very real possibility of a shutdown.

WHY THE PROJECT WHY OKHLA CENTRE SHOULD REMAIN OPEN

The Okhla education centre began its activities in 2004 to address the problems of an extremely vulnerable group of children who were targeted by drug and other mafias.

Space was not easy to find and the only option was a space near a garbage dump. It was ‘reclaimed’ and classes began under a plastic sheet held by bamboo poles. The centre is the result of hard work from its staff and founders, who have faced everything from littering to assault from criminal elements in order to keep it running for all these years.

Today, the Okhla Centre has a stable structure, and Mithu runs its computer programme. It helps retain children in school, offering primary and secondary education along with the computer classes.

The centre is an important component of the neighbourhood, keeping crime, drugs and negative elements at bay and replacing it with education and employment.

WHAT IS NEEDED

To give the center time to find a sustainable source of funding, the Project WHY Okhla centre needs:

1.    4 Staff honorariums for 6 months:       379, 104  (5,330 USD)
2.    Electricity for 6 months:                            9, 000      (125 USD)
3.    Learning aids and stationery                  15, 000      (210 USD)
4.    Laptop for Mithu                                       33, 700      (475 USD)
5.    Internet                                                        3, 000         (45 USD)
6.    Bank fees for fundraiser                         48, 379       (680 USD)

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           Total                                                          488,183    (6, 865 USD)
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Save a School in Need

    ▪    Computer education has changed Mithu’s life, and he’s passing on his expertise to others who are gaining the skills essential at a modern workplace.

    ▪    The teachers Mithu Mandal, Pushpa Kumar, Sophiya Tirkey, Naresh Bhardwaj belong to the underprivileged community, so when you donate towards their salaries, you’re directly donating to the community and not a non-profit overhead. Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing their stories, each just as inspiring and full of spirit as Mithu’s.

    ▪    Children gaining secondary education at the centre will be going in for higher education and staying away from life on the streets.

    ▪    The laptop will be given to Mithu. This will enable him to take courses, which he will use to improve his teaching curriculum.

Please Consider Donating to Save a School in Need

You can use this link to make your donation. Please know that no amount is small. The teachers and the children would greatly appreciate your help. Also, spread the word.

Thank you for your support dear readers!