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Our Convention for approximately five thousand Nandri Mothers will take place on 25th January. The theme of this years event is “No Water No World”. Nandri is working to build awareness of climate change amongst our mothers and are implementing environmentally friendly projects in our groups, such as planting trees.

The Nandri Convention is a wonderful opportunity for our mothers to get together and share experiences, network and receive awards for their achievements in the past year.

On Children’s Day we started a special project called Green Lake Movement. Each Nandri child planted two trees on the banks of the lake at Indiravanam village. These trees will be nurtured by the children under our guidance. Children who are part of this movement will be given educational support and motivational training and learn the importance of looking after our environment for future generations. They will become leaders of our new initiative to make our lakes more green.

In October, Nandri distributed ₹270000 to nine impoverished mothers living in a Sri Lankan refugee camp at Abdullapuram, Vellore.

These loans will help the mothers to start a small business and generate income so they can keep their children in education.  Nandri has transformed the future for these deserving families.

Month of June was a special month in the history of Nandri. The presence and various activities done by the UCDVO from Ireland was the highlight of the month. Through the media, Nandri’s name has become more popular and lots of appreciation from the well wishers really makes Nandri to feel proud of its activities. It is a boost for Nandri to continue its selfless services to the community.

1. Cultural Exchange Visit by UCDVO students from Ireland
   The long waited dream of visiting the students from Ireland has come true on 8th June. The one month cultural exchange visit of UCDVO students along with Nandri Nimh (Person responsible for Social media) from June 8th to July 6th was a memorable event In the life of Nandri. The students were warmly welcomed by the Nandri staff on 8th June in a traditional Indian way. This group of students were supported by some student volunteers from Tiruvannamalai district who were supported by Nandri in perusing their higher studies.
   The following four major activities carried out by the UCDVO students.
   a) Renovation of Government Primary School at Indiravanam village
   b) Starting of Home Work Clubs in the villages
   c) Strengthening of Nandri’s Mothers Groups
   d) Exposure to organic garden.

1. TThe second phase of training to the leaders of the mothers’ groups was conducted at Kasthampadi village on 14th September. Twenty mothers from14 groups attended the training. The purpose of the training was to motivate the members to follow the system and the procedures evolved by Nandri for its effective functioning. The training was facilitated by Joe and Jerald. The training was mainly focusing on maintaining the account notebook and the individual passbooks. All the formats applying for various financial assistance was clearly explained to them.  The members actively participated in the training and they clarified all their doubts in filling the formats. The Chairman urged all the members to create an enabling environment for the overall development of the children.

Mothers’ Training at Kasthampadi Village

Home work clubs were started by the UCDVO students during their stay last month. The interest shown by the UCDVO students was amazing and as result, we could see that the home work clubs are still very much active. Sr. Deepika was appointed as a Coordinator for these Home Work Clubs and she is visiting the centres along with   Mr. Jerald and encouraging the children. We can see that the children are repeating the songs and the games taught by the UCDVO students.

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!