'Anna Danam' (food donation) is considered one of the noblest of donations in Indian culture.
It is with this belief that we seek your support for 200 children studying in our schools, to ensure they continue to get nutritious mid day meals for this coming year. It costs only INR 9/- per child per day to keep them healthy and growing.
WHAT WE DO?
Most mid-day meal schemes target children in urban areas. Rural Development Foundation (RDF) provides mid-day meals to children in RURAL Telangana.
It costs just INR 9 per day to feed a child a nutritious meal.
Imagine - a 1000 ₹ contribution from you can fund meals for 111 kids for one day !
Apart from the mid-day meal program, we also provide them with the opportunity to groom sports skills, quality education, extra-curricular activities and social awareness programmes for holistic personality development. One of our students, Vardineni Pranitha, an archer, was a member of the Indian team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
RDF would like to spread its vision & mission of rural education and development. It endeavors to do so by reaching out to the wider public and engaging with them , in order to develop further support to RDF schools. This would facilitate their involvement in providing basic facilities to help the children learn in better equipped classrooms.
Cost per meal is ₹ 9 only !
Mid-day meal cost per child per year (220 working days) is ~ 2000/-.
Mid-day Meal program is supported by year on year donations by individuals & is provided to children & staff free on all school working days.
Average quantity of meal includes 130 grams of rice, 11 grams of dal, 7ml oil plus other ingredients like an egg, tamarind, chilli powder, salt, onion, turmeric, spices and vegetables. 8 ₹ is the cost of raw material & 1 ₹ is the cost of manpower to cook the meals.
WHO WE ARE?
Rural Development Foundation (RDF) was established in 1996 to serve the underprivileged rural children by providing quality education. This good cause is supported by a fraternity of individuals and corporates, who strongly believe in educating first generation learners of remote villages to help pave the way for eradication of illiteracy and improving the quality of life. RDF has opened four schools and one Junior college in the remote villages of Warangal and Medak districts of Telangana state. They provide quality education to over 1700 kids and employment to over 200 young and dedicated staff.
RDF untiringly channels its effort to raise funds, to find sponsors for its schools and alumni, enabling them to pursue higher studies to accomplish the RDF's mission of improving their lives. RDF stakeholders are well recognized for their values, discipline and environmentally friendly practices.
RDF has a special interest in extra-curricular activities with a special focus on sports education. So far we have produced 15 national champions in Archery, including a former student who made it to the Beijing Olympics. Several other students have excelled in Athletics at the state level too. Taekwondo, Fencing, Yoga, Karate, Volleyball are some of the sports in which RDF’s students performed well in various events at state and national levels.
Two girl students of class 9 from RDF Matendla School, N. Rekha and K. Premalatha, have been selected to participate in the National Karate Championship to be held later this year. RDF VAPV Junior College student, Lavanya, has been winning medals in Archery at the National Level. A lot of our students have been selected to sports schools under the sports quota.
Some of RDF’s graduates have joined Indian Army. Many others have found employment as policemen, teachers, railway employees, call centre staff etc. Some have gone onto further education but find time to visit the schools to help students in a variety of way, including supervising students on the Youth Empowerment and Social Awareness Programs.
THE MID-DAY MEAL
Rural Development Foundation, believes that every student requires a healthy body to have a healthy mind. Every day, schools provide a nutritious protein rich mid-day meal which comprises rice, daal (lentils), an egg and one vegetable curry. Students may have as many servings as they like. Everyone — from the senior teachers to the nursery students eat together in the same area and start the meal with a Sanskrit thanksgiving chant.
WHAT WE NEED?
We are looking to raise funds to feed 200 students for a year. At the cost of INR 2000 per child per year we need INR 4 lakhs to cover these costs.
Risks and challenges
Providing a meal during school days has never been a problem for RDF in the last 20 years. However in recent years, RDF is facing a problem providing an egg everyday with the meal due to surge in the cost of eggs. Alternatively, RDF is ensuring pulses are used to compensate the protein in take that is appropriate for the proper growth and stamina for a healthy, active mind and body. Whenever we find donors for the mid-day meal scheme, we make sure to make eggs available to the children.
FAQs
1. How do RDF schools differ from other schools in the area?
Children at our schools get a very high degree of personal attention. Our class size is limited to 25 students at the primary level. We put great emphasis on early childhood development. Consequently, we start new schools only with kindergarten and classes 1,2 & 3 and slowly expand into the higher classes.
Ongoing teacher training is a key focus area for RDF. Teachers regularly receive training in subject specific skills, classroom methodologies, interactive teaching methods, assessment techniques and language skills, in order to build their confidence and their capacity for greater student impact. Teachers are observed regularly in order to ensure that all training inputs are being implemented and given extra guidance with challenge areas.
A very unique approach adopted by RDF is peer assessment and assessment of teachers by students. Education committee students go twice a year to other schools for classroom observations and share their feedback with the Head Masters. This creates a transparent and empowered environment in the schools.
The focus on sports and other extra curricular activities are an integral part of its holistic approach to education. Each school also has an active Parents Committee and Village Committee. All major decisions are taken with the involvement of both committees in order to build trust based relationships and engage the local community.
2. What % of RDF income is used to run the schools?
A full 97.4% of the budget goes to run the schools. Highest expenditure is salaries followed by mid-day meal. Only 2.6% is spent on administration and the rest is utilized by the schools directly.
3. Do you get any assistance from the government?
No.
4. How can I help RDF?
If you want to make a contribution to transforming the lives of rural under-privileged children, you can donate money, time, or services. You can join RDF as a member, volunteer and donor. Anything that you give will be gratefully accepted.
