Eleven year old Ganga is studying in Class 4 at a local school in Kanpur. She is the first in her family to go to school. Ganga stays with her parents , three brothers and one sister in Kanpur, U.P.

Her family migrated from Raipur district in Chattisgarh, a state in central India to Kanpur a few years back in search of work. Ganga’s father, Umesh, works as a daily wage laborer and her mother, Guddi, is a domestic worker. They live in a semi-permanent slum community with no access to clean drinking water or sanitary facilities. Unlike the families of other migrant workers, Ganga’s family doesn’t return to their native place very frequently, and this has enabled Jagriti to enroll Ganga in a regular primary school. Earlier, she was enrolled in an Apna Skool (community learning centre) conducted by Jagriti in her community.

Ganga loves going to school and has learnt the importance of clean and healthy surroundings and does her best to maintain cleanliness in her vicinity. She likes playing kabbadi, and sings in all the school functions. Ganga dreams of becoming a teacher one day.

Your donations, Stacy (x 4), George (x 6) and Henry (x 2) will ensure that Ganga is able to attend school for an entire year. The donation will cover the cost of tuition, uniforms, and an annual health check up.
Your donation, Claudine, will provide a year of study materials to Ganga.
Thank you for coming together to giving wings to her dreams.

Dear Laurent, lois, Craig, Akiko, David, Kandace, Molly, Lee, Lowry, Mahendra, and The Butson,

Here is a first person account from Manju Bala, who is a teacher at an Apna Skool.

“I live with my parents and siblings at an area close to the Apna Skool education centre where I work as a teacher. I am 26 yeras old. I have a master’s degree in economics and am also equipped with a diploma in Computer Applications.

I have been associated with Apna Skool as a teacher since the past five years. While I do have aspirations of becoming a   journalist, I am fortunate to be closely associated with an organization committed to providing education to migrant children. My parents are extremely proud of the fact that I teach children of migrant workers.

My other interests include Dance and reading biographies of revolutionaries. I also like traveling and exploring new places.

I hope I can make a difference by imparting good values to my students and help them  be better citizens of the country.”

Your donations of a week of salary each, Laurent, Craig, Akiko, David, Kandace, Molly, Lee, Lowry, Mahendra, The Butson Family (x 2) and Lois, will ensure that a committed person like Manju Bala can continue inspiring an entire generation of children who are the first in their family to get an education.

Sixteen year old Rajani’s parents, migrated from Chattisgarh, a state in central India, to Kanpur and have been working in Construction sites in the city for the past 10 years. Rajani has one elder brother who is married and lives with his family in the village , two younger brothers both of whom studied in Apna Skool till grade five and two elder sisters who have never been to school. Her father Gangaram and mother Sushila were initially reluctant to send their children (especially the girl child) to school but were eventually convinced by Apna Skool members and she was enrolled at an Apna Skool education centre near the place they reside and work. She is the first female member of her family to go to school.

She studied there till grade five and then was enrolled in a mainstream school. Rajani has just given her 10^th grade examination and wants to study further.  She likes teaching her juniors and wants to become a teacher. She makes sure to periodically visit her first school (Apna Skool centre) and help other students in their studies. As part of vocational training activities of Apna Skool, Rajani gets an opportunity to learn tailoring, embroidery and making artificial jewelry. She is also an avid painter.

Your generous donations, Laurent (x3), UBS (x6), Craig (x2) and Cindy will ensure that Rajani gets to attend another year of school and can continue honing her skills.

Your generous donation, Johanna, will enable Jagriti to provide a year of study materials for Rajani, that will last her a full academic year.

Thank you all, for coming together in support of Rajani!

Jayaprakash is a college graduate who has been teaching at  “Apna Skool” for the last three years. Here’s his story in his own words-

“I have always been interested in teaching but it is especially a challenge to teach children of brick kiln workers here at the Apna Skool education centre where I teach. The parents of these children are not aware of the importance of education for their children hence motivating them to send their children to school, is also one of my main responsibilities. It’s also been a learning experience for me as a teacher as we, at Apna Skool have various teaching aids to teach our students in an effective manner. I am satisfied that by being appointed as a teacher here and teaching underprivileged children, I am able to contribute my bit to the society. In my free time I like playing cricket.”

Your doantions, Laurent (x 4), UBS (x 3), Drew, Rick & Beth, and Susan (x 3), for gifting a week of salary each, thereby enabling Jagriti to continue employing a committed teacher like Jayaprakash for an entire quarter.

Thank you, for ensuring that Jayaprakash continues motivating parents and educating children for another three months.

Umesh’s family migrated from their village to the city of Kanpur in U.P, in search of jobs and Umesh and his siblings were uprooted from their known surroundings. Soon after migrating, his father, Sukhlal, found work at a construction site and his mother Ramsiya took up a job as a domestic worker. Umesh has four siblings – two older brothers who help his father at the construction site and two younger sisters, of school-going age.

Umesh and his sisters started attending the Apna Skool center near their house where they studied from Grades 1 to 5. Today, all three of them are enrolled in a mainstream school and are doing well in their studies.

Umesh, got enrolled in a mainstream school in 2010 and is currently studying in grade 7. He loves attending school and is very passionate about dancing, in fact, he likes all performing arts including music and drama. He also loves science experiments and actively participates in the science fair held every year, in school.

Until a few years back, Umesh had never imagined getting an opportunity to study and indulge in the other activities that he now loves doing. Apna skool opened up an entirely new world for him and he now wants to study further. He aspires to become a teacher one day and dreams of going back to his village and educating as many children as he can. He wants to give all those disadvantaged children in his village, a chance to study and avail of the opportunities that only education can provide.

He still maintains a strong link with his Apna Skool friends, where he studied earlier and teaches them dance for their annual functions.

Your generous donations, Laurent and Sujay (x11) will ensure that Umesh gets to attend another year of school where he can continue honing his skills and make the most of this opportunity.

Your generous donation, Manisha, will ensure that Umesh receives an entire year of study material, course books and stationery.

Thank you all, for coming together in support of Umesh!

Fourteen year old Sangeeta’s family migrated to Kanpur, U.P, three years ago. Her parents, Somvati and Dulare work in a brick kiln in Kanpur. When they moved to the city, Sangeeta and her siblings helped their parents in the brick kilns. There father is an alcoholic, so the extra money that they earned came in very useful in meeting the basic needs of the  family.

When Jagriti opened an Apna Skool education center close to her house three years back, Sangeeta’s mother got her enrolled there.  Though she was functionally illiterate when she enrolled, she is currently in grade 3, and is thoroughly enjoying going to school.

She continues to help her parents make bricks whenever she gets time off studies. Despite all the hardships she faces, Sangeeta is determined to study well and dreams of becoming a doctor, so she can provide medical treatment to all those who have no access to basic health care. It is this dream that keeps her going and motivates her to attend school, each day.

Your generous donation, Laurent will enable Jagriti to provide an entire year of nutritious lunches to Sangeeta, thereby ensuring that she has at least one balanced meal in a day, and remains healthy.

Your generous donation, Laurent will enable Jagriti to provide an entire year of medical check-ups to Sangeeta, thereby ensuring that she remains healthy and safe from illness.

Your generous donation, Laurent will enable Jagriti to provide a set of two uniforms to Sangeeta, that will last her an entire academic year.

Your generous donation, Laurent will enable Jagriti to provide study materials to Sangeeta, that will last her an entire academic year.

Thank you so much for your support!