Vishal is a friendly child and gets along well with his neighbors and peers. He is enrolled in Standard IV in an English medium municipal school supported by Aseema Charitable Trust. Prior to joining this school, Vishal was studying in a Hindi medium school. Learning a new language was undoubtedly challenging, but Vishal is doing well in class.

An active and clever boy, Vishal is considered a leader amongst his classmates. He is empathetic to his father and helps him in his work. He also cooks the evening meal for his family.

Vishal’s sincerity and good nature endear him to his teachers. He deserves a high quality education and has the potential to excel in his studies.

Thank you all for your support!

Three year old Vandana lives in a remote village in Maharashtra with her parents and two siblings. Her father works as a laborer on nearby farms. Their village faces severe water shortage for many months of the year and living conditions are very challenging for the family. Vandana’s parents have, however, decided to send all their children to school.

Vandana is one of the youngest children at the Education Centre for Tribal Children run by Aseema. Initially, she would cling to her older sister and refuse to interact with other children. Now that she has settled down in class, she comes to the Centre happily and greets everyone with her beautiful smile. Vandana works in a mixed-age group class through the Montessori approach. She likes observing the work done by older students and takes keen interest in activities of sensory development.

During song and rhyme time, Vandana sings sweetly and is quick to learn new words. She also likes craft activities, particularly those that involve colored papers. Vandana is small in stature and her teachers monitor her meals closely to ensure she gets enough nutrition. She is growing to be a bright and happy young girl.

Thank you, Abhay, for giving a child like Vandana the chance to continue her education!

Five year old Diya lives with her uncle, aunt and three cousins in a small house in Mumbai. Her parents are separated. Her mother has remarried and her father lives in a village. Since her parents were unable to care for her, Diya was adopted by her aunt and uncle when she was a baby. She has grown to be very attached to them and is cared for in their home.

Diya is a student in the Pre Primary Section of a municipal school supported by Aseema. She now attends school for longer hours since she will soon be joining Standard I. Diya takes a lot of pride in this and attends school regularly. She is gentle with other children and very fond of her teachers. She participates actively in all class activities and works with patience.

Diya likes tracing sandpaper letters and is making a sincere attempt to learn English. She also enjoys working with the bead material that helps her learn math concepts. This year, she and her classmates went on a field trip to a local park. Diya was most excited about the snails that she saw in the park and made beautiful drawings of them.

Thank you for your support, Anita, Abhay, Mudit, Save Love Give, and Mufazal. Your support gives a child from an urban slum like Diya the opportunity to continue with her education.

Six year old Karina lives in Karachiwadi, a tribal hamlet in Igatpuri, Maharashtra, India. Her father Valu earns $92 a month as a contract laborer and struggles to support their family of seven. Valu and his wife, Yashoda, believe in empowering their children through education and ensure that Karina regularly attends school.

Karina now studies in ‘Prithvi’ (Earth), a pre-primary class at the Aseema Bal Shaikshanik Kendra in Awalkheda. The medium of instruction at the Center is Marathi, the local language. A quick learner, Karina keenly observes her teachers and works with great focus. She is a shy and gentle child and prefers working in groups.

Karina loves listening to stories and writing on slate. Working with Montessori Materials, Karina can now confidently read, write and count numbers from 1 to 20 in Marathi. She can identify colors and promptly answer questions about fruits, flowers and parts of plants. In language studies, Karina can read, write and recognize vowel sounds. She has just started learning the alphabets. With a zest for learning, Karina enthusiastically participates in weekly co-curricular activities such as arts and crafts, music and sports. She loves working with her hands. On Pola, a local bull-worshiping festival, Karina and her friends made bulls out of clay. She looks forward to festival celebrations as it involves art and craft activities, which are her favorite.

Thanks to your support, Laura, Danielle and Peter and Kim, Karina can now fulfill her dream of pursuing further education.

Eight year-old Vinay is in the equivalent of a kindergarten class at Aseema’s Bal Shaikshanik Kendra in Awalkheda, Igatpuri, a town in the Indian state of Maharashtra. A bright and mischievous young boy, Vinay consistently attends his classes. His love for learning is apparent in his enthusiasm to undertake new assignments.

An intelligent student, Vinay quickly grasps concepts and is able to correlate facts. Vinay can read and write simple sentences in Marathi. He loves reading stories and writing synopses. With the help of Mathematic Montessori materials, Vinay can perform addition, subtraction and multiplication of three-digit numbers. He can also perform division of two-digit numbers. He loves solving fractions. Vinay is also fond of discovering facts through sessions on Environmental Studies. To aid his holistic development, Vinay participates in co-curricular activities such as art, sports and music. He feels self-conscious during music sessions and needs motivation to sing.

Coming from an agricultural family background, Vinay loves working with his hands and eagerly looks forward to working with clay. His parents are farmers and live in a nearby tribal hamlet, Karachiwadi. However, they don’t grow enough crops to support the family. During the winter and summer seasons, Vinay’s father, Deoram works as a contract laborer and earns 250 Rupees per day. This is not enough to support Vinay, his two siblings and grandmother. Vinay’s mother takes keen interest in her children’s progress and encourages them to attend school regularly.

Thank you, Laura, for giving Vinay the chance to develop intellectually. This will give him the foundational knowledge to support his family in the future.

Seven year-old Gorakh has been an Aseema student for four and a half years. He graduated from the Aseema Pre-Primary Centre in Jambhwadi, Igatpuri, a town in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Gorakh now studies in Tej, the primary class at Aseema Bal Shaikshanik Kendra, Awalkheda. He lives with his parents and three siblings in Jambhwadi. His parents are contract workers. They make an average earning of 420 Rupees per day. Gorakh’s father is out of work often and hence, Gorakh’s mother bears the burden of supporting the family on an income of170 Rupees per day. Gorakh’s older brother, a school dropout, looks after the children.

Gorakh’s home environment has led him to become an obedient and independent student. He is often found working quietly with great concentration. Gorakh can read and write simple sentences — he loves the reading corner in class and enjoys reading short stories. Gorakh can also perform Mathematical operations up to four digit numbers and has been introduced to fractions, divisions and time.

Activities and experiments make learning science a fun experience for this quiet child. He was introduced to lessons on the evolution of man, plant and animal life and the solar system. Gorakh’s innate love for art is reflected in his paintings and clay work — he spends his free time painting. Gorakh also participates in music and sports. However, art continues to be his favorite activity.

This year, Gorakh will be appearing for the Level A examination, which is equivalent to the third grade of other school boards. Gorakh and his family eagerly look forward to his first board examination.

Thank you, Laura, for supporting Gorakh and enabling him to attend school for another year.

Awalkheda (and the hamlets surrounding it) is an extremely impoverished tribal village in Igatpuri, Maharashtra. During the agricultural season, the tribals farm their tiny land holdings, and during off-season, they either work as contract laborers or gather and sell firewood. Most families earn less than $ 50 per month, and since few government education schemes reach the area, there is very little hope for the tribal community.

Aseema started Aseema Bal Shaikshanik Kendra, a pre-primary education center, in Awalkheda, Igatpuri in March 2011, with the aim of bringing education to the new generation. Currently, 65 children aged 2.5 to 6 years are enrolled in the school. The school, where the medium of instruction is the mother tongue Marathi, uses the Montessori approach, to help the children learn independently and experientially. To promote holistic development, children are exposed to co-curricular activities such as art, music and sports. Learning is made fun and meaningful through celebration of festivals and events as well as field trips. On recommendation by a nutritionist, the mid-day meals have been customized to address malnutrition issues. Regular interactions with the community and persistent efforts are made to ensure that parental involvement in children’s development. School buses pick up children from the nearby hamlets, to ensure that children (and teachers) do not have to walk long distances to get to school.

Thanks to your generosity, Laura, 31 children between the age of 2.5 to 6 years in the “Jal” (Water) class, have access to quality value-based education. The teachers in the class are Durga and Pushpa. Durga is a tribal herself and is a great role model for both the students and their parents. Pushpa is not from the area, but is equally committed to providing a good education to the children.

Thank you for helping to bring about socio-economic change in the impoverished tribal communities.

In the photograph, you can see a class in progress, under the watchful eyes of the committed teachers.

Awalkheda (and the hamlets surrounding it) is an extremely impoverished tribal village in Igatpuri, Maharashtra. During the agricultural season, the tribals farm their tiny land holdings, and during off-season, they either work as contract laborers or gather and sell firewood. Most families earn less than $ 50 per month, and since few government education schemes reach the area, there is very little hope for the tribal community.

Aseema started Aseema Bal Shaikshanik Kendra, a pre-primary education center, in Awalkheda, Igatpuri in March 2011, with the aim of bringing education to the new generation. Currently, 65 children aged 2.5 to 6 years are enrolled in the school. The school, where the medium of instruction is the mother tongue Marathi, uses the Montessori approach, to help the children learn independently and experientially. To promote holistic development, children are exposed to co-curricular activities such as art, music and sports. Learning is made fun and meaningful through celebration of festivals and events as well as field trips. On recommendation by a nutritionist, the mid-day meals have been customized to address malnutrition issues. Regular interactions with the community and persistent efforts are made to ensure that parental involvement in children’s development. School buses pick up children from the nearby hamlets, to ensure that children (and teachers) do not have to walk long distances to get to school.

Your donation, Laura, will enable 34 children between the age of 2.5 to 6 years in the “Prithvi” (Earth) class, to have access to quality value-based education. The teachers in the class are Archana and Charu, neither of whom is from the area, but both of whom are committed to providing a good education to the children.

Thank you for helping to bring about socio-economic change in the impoverished tribal communities.
In the attached photograph, two tribal children are learning through the Montessori method.

Three and a half year old Rupali Rere lives with her brother, parents and grandparents in a remote tribal hamlet on the outskirt of Aseema’s Education Centre in Igatpuri. Somnath, Rupali’s father an auto-rickshaw driver barely makes Rs. 3500 a month. Lack of educational facilities and a desire for a better life for his children through education, motivated Somnath to enroll his children at the Aseema Bal Shaikshanik Kendra in Awalkheda.

Rupali a cheerful and bright girl loves coming to school. Her enthusiasm for learning is remarkable. She constantly asks her teachers for new and challenging activities. A second year student in Prithvi – Aseema’s Pre-Primary class, Rupali can count numbers up to 20 and identify primary colours. She enjoys working with number rods in Mathematics.

She knows vowels in Marathi, which is the medium of instruction at school. Rupali loves dancing to nursery rhymes. She has also been introduced to English rhymes. Festival celebrations are Rupali’s favourite fun activities. She looks forward to painting ‘diyas’, earthern bowls for Diwali.

Thank you for sending Rupali to school for an entire year.

Rahul Kewari studies in Prithvi, Pre-Primary class at Aseema’s Education Centre for Tribal Children in Awalkheda, Igatpuri. He was intrigued by the Montessori materials at the centre and tagged along with his older brother since he was two years old.

A veteran pre-schooler at age 3 years, Rahul takes new students under his wing. Water being a scarcity at home, Rahul loves water activities during Exercises of Practical Life (EPL) sessions. He enjoys crayon drawing and clay activities. “I hear thunder” is Rahul’s favourite English rhyme. He also loves “Pav Bhaji” – a nutritious dish consisting of sprouts, vegetables and bread.

Despite challenging circumstances at home, Rahul comes neatly dressed and regularly to school. He lives in Jambhulwadi, a tribal hamlet in Igatpuri with his parents and older brother. His parents have a small farm, which generates income for four months a year. Rahul’s father used to drive an auto rickshaw to support the family, but has been unable to repair it since several months. Their average monthly income is Rs. 2500. Rahul’s parents are very supportive of their children’s education and encourage them to do well.

Thank you, for sending Rahul to school for an entire year.