St. Joseph's School in Kerala, India

Check the photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/sets/72157614378088007/

Saint Joseph's Elementary School serves over 300 students ages 6 to 12 in a poor fishing village near Chowara in the state of Kerala, South India.

This February, I was invited to visit the school by our friend Azul Meeser, during a ten-day retreat with my yoga group at the nearby Somatheeram Ayurvedic Center. I shot this short video of that eye-opening experience, as well as the photo slideshow (see above link). Both show in vivid detail the real conditions in which many children are taught in developing countries around the world.

I was impressed by the children's natural curiosity and vivacity, as well as the teacher's commitment to bringing a quality education in this disadvantaged community. But it was also clear that this 'private aided' school needed more help from outside sources, since it receives only minimal support from the government.

Many of the children need shoes, uniforms -- even food bowls (some kids come to school on an empty stomach and need to be fed so they can focus on their studies). They also need a vehicle to drive some of the students who live several kilometers away from school.

So we reached out to other guests of Somatheeram to help us pay for uniforms and food bowls for 325 students. In less than 24 hours, two dozen people joined forces with us to raise over a thousand U.S. dollars in cash donations. They included most of the students in Erika Trice's yoga class, as well as other generous world citizens from Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and the U.S.

For me, donating to support this school was a natural way to give back to the community that had welcomed us so graciously. This was my first trip to India, and I was struck by the kindness and quiet wisdom of many of the people I met in Kerala. It felt great to make such a simple gift for such a worthy cause. It helped us forget our selfishness and broaden our minds. As Swami Sivanandaji used to say: "Just be good and do good." We made good progress on both fronts.

On Tuesday, February 24, Azul drove with one of the teachers to the nearby city of Trivandrum to buy the materials the teachers needed most. Here's what our first thousand dollars paid for:

4 Ballminton Raquets, 2 Ball Boxes 850
5 Chinese Checkers 650
24 Snake And Ladder, 10 Jump Cords 1000
325 Bowls, Plates, Spoons, 4 Toilet Brush, Paper Baskets 7300
Uniform Fabric for 325 Uniforms 38,970
Transportation Teacher Car 500
New Dress For 8 Teachers 2400
Total Expenses 51,670.00

Balance:
Cash 6,270
Teacher will use it to buy reading books

(all amounts are in indian rupees - 50 rupees = 1 U.S. $)

Note: During the upcoming 2-month vacation, the teachers will taylor the uniforms for all the children.

A good education is widely considered to be one of the best ways to help lift a population out of poverty. It gives students an opportunity to play new roles in the global economy, not just become fishermen. Education also offers an effective long-term solution for addressing deep social issues like racism or terrorism, by helping students grow a sense of community, shared civic values, an appreciation for science and reason, tolerance for other viewpoints -- all the virtues that make great civiizations thrive.

Based on the results of this first initiative, we hope to make more contributions to this and other Kerala schools in the future.

For our next step, we would like to raise $5,000 to get the school a bus or mini-van, which the teachers think can bring another 100 remote students who now don't go to school at all. Please contact me if you would like to join us and donate your time or money to this important cause.

We will post more info on this proejct very soon.

Namaste!

Fabrice


P.S.: For a quick overview of my trip to Kerala, check my 'Best of India' photo album: http://flickr.com/photos/fabola/sets/72157614418745161/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• india
• kerala
• kovalam
• chowara
• adimalathusa
• fishing
• village
• saint
• joseph'
• saint-joseph
• school
• children
• student
• teacher
• newspaper
• class
• uniform
• bowl
• fab
• friends
• vacation
• travel
• asia

[ourworld96]

Indian school has got better education system than in usa or any other EU countries.

[The021773]

some kids have no slippers.inspite of that every child has a loving parent to send them to school.god bless india

[0suresh1]

however these kids are learning much more than average english or american students.. what you learn in year 8 in India is GCSE worth in the uk.

[FocusOnJESUS327]

Youtube -

They Sold Their Souls For Rock And Roll

[saniljohn0007]

Please help us the kids,and think some practical measures.not like them to bring them to us or Canada.be practical

[Anet000]

I wish this teacher came to czech to teach local gipsies i think only teacher like that can be respected hahahh

[jesaintlouis]

yeah ritchie rich so they can be steeped in american culture of materialism and culture of death Yay!!

[TheLastSamurai101]

@richierich95037 That isn't a good solution at all... we have almost as many kids as the population of the United States. We aren't interested in sending our kids away from India, to grow up away from their culture and language. Many of India's brightest minds went to rural or poor schools in their childhood - India's former President, former head of the ISRO and nuclear and aeronautical engineer Abdul Kalam for example. The quality of school education here in India has to increase fast.

[richierich95037]

send these kids to usa pronto, to get above average education, and better education, than the one you get in india.