VOC continued its support for the Pazhassi Raja Tribal School project in South India in 2012.
The grant allocated by VOC towards the end of 2011 was used towards the purchase of a new van (Maruti Eco) and for paying the over-due salary of the teachers. We were informed that the van has been a great asset and in constant use for the school this year. There were several medical emergencies this year during which the van was used for transporting 
the children to the hospital that is located about 25 miles from the school. Either due to the ignorance of the parents, or due to the lack of interest from children, several children did not return to the residential school after their vacations. The school authorities are required to go house-to-house and bring the children back to school; the van has been very useful for this purpose. The children are provided three nutritious meals a day and the van is used for the regular transportation of vegetables, grains and pulses from the shops to the school as well.
The school is allocated a major yearly grant from the Central Tribal Ministry and the school’s survival completely depends on this. But the school hasn’t received any money from the Government for the current and the previous academic year (2011-12 and 2012-13). On top of this, the price of food items have gone up considerably and the teachers are requesting higher salary as well. All of this has put tremendous pressure on the school just to stay functioning. The teachers are not consistently getting paid their salaries for months and the funds needed for buying the food items are being taken on loan. The grant sent by
VOC in 2012 was used towards paying a part of the staff salary and for paying off some of the loans related to the purchase of food items.
Activities:
There are 250 children in the school this year (121 boys and 129 girls) ranging from 1st grade to 10th grade. The annual sports event conducted recently included competitions in football, hockey, cricket, badminton and archery. The arts competition saw the children participating in a variety of events – light music, recitation, elocution, drawing, painting and story and poetry writing. All children from 5th grade and above are taught Yoga asanas. The annual cultural event is scheduled for March 2013.
Immediate needs:
– Highest priority is getting the funds needed for operational expenses (food items for children and salary of staff). The complete expense needed for education one child is $250/year. This includes the annual tuition, boarding and lodging costs.
– Toilet for girls: The boys have a toilet in the school as well as in the boys hostel. The girls only have a toilet in their hostel and as a result they have to walk from the school to the hostel every time there is a need during the school hours. The school would like to construct a toilet for the girls in the school and the expected cost of construction of this building is Rs. 2 Lakh (approximately $4000).
– Playground relocation: The existing playground is located in a low lying area and is farm land. Because of this, during the long rainy season, the playground becomes completely water logged and unusable. There is land available in the higher area perfect for relocating the playground, but it requires about Rs. 1 Lakh ($2000) to level the land properly and develop as a playground.
Support:
Voice of a Child and Vanavasi Ashram Trust (our partner organization for this project) are extremely grateful for the support that we have received from our donors. We thank our friends in the New York area, who helped raise the majority of funds this year for this project. We also thank Maitry – a San Francisco Bay Area organization – for the heartfelt support that we have received from them. We hope to continue to build on this relationship in the coming year and help keep the school running.
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