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Continued Success of our Child Education Programme

Over the last number of years, Nandri has granted a total of 518 ‘Support Higher Education’ loans to children, so they can continue their education to 3rd level. In 2018, 179 children were given life changing financial loans so they could stay in education and achieve a degree leading to a rewarding career. This enables the graduates to support themselves and their families.

Nandri recognizes the importance of early education and supporting our very young children. As well as encouraging and enabling our older children to progress to higher education, we also run after school children’s clubs for the younger Dalit boys and girls. To date we have 10 Child resource Centers catering to the needs of our children.

When their school day ends they go to the after school clubs. They kick off with some fun traditional games to energize the children before starting their homework. Many of their parents are illiterate and so unable to help their children with completing their homework assignments. One of the many benefits of our children’s clubs is our remedial teachers are always on hand to help them.

WIth the wonderful educational support these young boys and girls are receiving from Nandri, we expect to see tremendous success with our children continuing on to 3rd level education and well paid, fulfilling careers. This was something impossible for a child from an untouchable Dalit family until Nandri, with your help changed everything and gave them a bright future.

Without the support and donations from all of Nandri’s supporters we could not change these young peoples lives, giving them not just hope, but the practical financial help they need to achieve their goals in life. On behalf of all our children, I would like to say a big thank you!

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Update on our sanitation programme.

To date, our sanitation programme has provided a total of 58 families with new toilets for their homes. The toilets are a very basic outdoor construction.  The Indian government will provide 50 per cent towards the cost of building but without a loan from Nandri the families would be unable to afford the balance.

It is normal in poor areas of rural India for families to defecate in the fields beside their homes. The loans from Nandri to help build toilets has changed the lives of these impoverished people and given them the opportunity to live cleaner and therefore healthier, more dignified lives.

We are continuing to educate our mothers and children about the importance of hygiene to prevent diseases, teaching them to wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs. The children are bringing the lessons they are learning in our Resource Centers home and sharing good hygiene practices amongst the rest of their families!

Nandri would like to say a big thank you to our supporters of this project. You are helping us transform the quality of these families lives forever.

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Nandri bringing joy to our families at Christmas

Christmas should be a season of happiness and joy but for our poor Dalit mothers, struggling to survive,  this is not the case. This year, we wanted to make Christmas extra special for them. In previous years we gave our mothers sarees but this year our group leaders suggested we give small gifts to celebrate Christmas and recognise our mothers achievements in the past year. It certainly lifted their spirits! They sang and danced and were delighted with the presents they received. The spirit of Christmas and the joy of giving brought happiness to all during our celebrations.

 

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A Jar Full of Coins and a Family’s life transformed for Ever

With the coins this kind donor found in a large jar in his home, he sponsored a cow for one of our impoverished mothers. Nandri provided the mother with a micro finance loan enabling her to buy the cow which will give her family food, in the form of dairy products, an income from the products she can sell and in the future, a calf which will further boost the income of the family. Because of the increase in income, the children will be able to afford to continue their education. What a difference a cow makes in the lives of our poor families. This mother will never forget how a jar full of coins changed her life.

Our generous donor called his cow Aideen after a family member!  What would you name your cow?

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Nandri CHild Resource Centres Changing the Lives of our Little Ones

Nandri has set up 10 child resource centres to cater for the overall support and development of our children.  All of these centres are looked after by remedial teachers appointed from the local villages.  Children come to these

The joy of learning in Nandri Resource Centre

centres after school and start their evenings with some traditional fun games in order to relax after their long days of learning at school.   Their evening studies are supervised by the teachers, who help them with their homework,  practice reading and writing skills, and also organise singing and dancing classes which the children thoroughly enjoy!

In this wonderfully positive atmosphere, the children’s education, talents and overall well being is being nurtured.  I

Early learning building life skills

was privileged to visit one of these centres in January, and enjoyed seeing their school work and a wonderful display of singing and dancing from the most happy, smiling little people.  It was a joy to see.

As most of the parents of Nandri’s  children are uneducated, they would be unable to help  their sons and daughters with their school work.  They are so grateful to Nandri Resource Centres for ensuring the very best for their children.  They see the difference it makes in their school grades and how happy the children are to participate in the after school programmes

Nandri Resource Centres are helping the future generations of Nandri families fulfill their dreams and escape poverty through education.

 

 

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Nandri Centre Bringing Laughter Joy and Happiness To Our Children

Nandri children having fun!

The Nandri Foundation is committed to the education and development of our children. All our activities are carefully designed to protect and promote the best interests of the child.   An important  part of that is insuring that our young people learn how to play together and have fun!  In the Nandri Centre, we have set up a playground for the children with lots of equipment that they can enjoy after they spend time in educational classes. Towards the end of their day, the children are so excited to go outside and the sound of their laughter fills the air!  It gives them a chance to forget their difficult empoverished lives and just be children having fun with their friends.  After a recent training programme for local children, you could feel the excitement in the air as the day came to an end and they could finally run to the playground!   In the words of  Jerald, our Chief Operating Officer  “The children forget everything and they are in their own world.  The campus is filled with laughter, joy and happiness”.  When the evening came to a close, the children were sad to tear themselves away from the playground and  leave –  but the Nandri centre will always be a place that our young people will remember with love, a place of positivity, education  and fun and they will long to return time and time again.  

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Nandri Micro Loans Continue to Change Lives

 

In July, 52 Nandri mothers received life changing micro finance loans which would help them start their own business or give them the finance to send their children to third level education.   This programme gives a lifeline to our impoverished mothers and their families.   As the mothers pay back their loans each month, these repayments enable us to lend to more than 50 new mothers the following month.    The cycle of success of our micro finance loans continues to grow and flourish bringing hope and a future to new families each month.  NANDRI,  changing lives.

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Drumsticks making an educational and nutritious addition to Nandri!

Nandri Drumstick plantation

 

Our workers are busy removing the weeds at the drumstick vegetable plantation yard at Nandri Center.  Drumsticks, also known as Moringa, are vegetables loaded with valuable minerals, healthy proteins and essential minerals, making it a very healthy food. It is used as one of the ingredients in sambar, a type of stew. Being high in nutrients and tasty in nature, the leaves and pods of this green vegetable possess blood purifying properties and it also acts as a potent antibiotic agent.

 

We have created this drumstick yard to help train our agricultural students who come to Nandri to learn how to grow and tend crops.  In addition, we will showcase the plantation as a model as we bring forward our initiative to introduce allotment farming to our Nandri families. It is mostly women who do the weeding and even if they work along side men, the women get lower remuneration for their work.

Nandri Drumstick plantation

The physical work done by these workers will bear fruit within six months and we will use the drumsticks in Nandri Centre in the delicious South Indian food we will prepare for our guests and participants in our training programmes.

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“NANDRI Came To My Rescue”

 

From a very impoverished family,  Dinesh’s dreams of furthering his education and  achieving a degree, looked impossible.  With the help of an educational  loan from Nandri,  he completed his 3rd level education,  enabling him to support his sister and her children and in turn,  fund their education.  Nandri has changed his life and the life of his family forever:

“My Name is Dinesh Kumar. I have a sister whose name is Anthonyammal. We belong to a poor family. With great difficulties my sister helped me to finish higher secondary education. I wanted to go college but my sister could not afford to send me for further studies. But luckily she was a member of a mothers group called Semparuthi which is one of the mother group formed by Nandri. She contacted the field staff and told her about my educational ambitions and the financial needs that I was facing. Nandri came to my rescue and gave me an Educational loan to pursue mu college studies. I finished my B.com Degree course successfully. I also finished ITI one Year course successfully.

Now I am employed and earning comfortably. I am now taking care of my sisters family and the educational needs of her children. All this was possible only due to the timely help by Nandri. I would be always thankful to Nandri and Mothers Group. At the same time I have resolved to help the needy children like me through Nandri.”

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B.Com funded by a loan from Nandri

 

When Sagaya Vincent with the help of Nandri,  managed to complete his schooling, his mother who had very little income, wanted him to get a job.   She needed the money to help feed their family.  An educational loan from Nandri called SHE (Support for higher education) enabled him to continue and achieve his degree and start his own business.   Now his familys’  future is secure:

“My name is Sagaya Vincent. I belong to a village called Allikondapttu, Thiruvannamalai  Dt.  My mother name is Mangala Mary. She is a member of Mother Group called Lillie Annaiyar Group which is one of the Mothers Group formed by Nandri. Up to 7th std my mother somehow managed to help me study. From 8th Std onwards I was selected by Nandri for sponsorship. Up to 12th Std I studied with the financial help from Nandri. After finishing school   I wanted to go for college education. I told my mother about my intention. But my mother asked me to find a job and help the family citing family financial strains. But the aim of going to college was burning in me.

I  came to know from the Field staff of Nandri  that they are giving educational loans to deserving students under SHE programme,  which means Support for Higher Education. I informed my mother about it who also knew about the loan facility already. She approached Nandri and applied for educational loan. My mother received a loan for Rs.25,000/-. With the help of this amount I joined college studies. I finished B.Com and was employed for some time. I earned some money and took care of the family as well. Now I have a small computer center which is a source of good income.  With the income from the computer centre I earned some money which was more than enough for my marriage.

All these were made possible only because of Nandri which took care of my school as well as college studies. I owe my present situation to Nandri and Mothers Group to which I would be ever grateful.”