THE BACKDROP
Nestled in the midst of a heritage site in a verdant environment in Panchsheel Park, New Delhi is VIDYA's oldest program, Bal Vihar Primary School for children belonging to socio-economically marginalised sections of society. The school had it's humble origins at the IIT Delhi campus in 1984. It was based at the IIT campus for 18 years and was supported by Monsoon UK.
The educational experience at Bal Vihar is challenging, exhilarating, and sometimes even euphoric. Based on the perception that every child is unique, Bal Bihar provides a conducive, enabling educational environment based on a curriculum designed to accommodate different learning styles nurtured in the ambit of multiple intelligences. The entire educational ecosystem has been reimagined and redesigned to foster a love for learning for the sake of learning. We encourage our students to be out-of-the-box constructive thinkers, inspire them to explore their world, ponder over their thoughts, develop a spirit of enquiry and be lifelong learners. The curriculum has been re-conceptualised to make it experiential and stimulate autodidactic learning. At VIDYA, we believe learning is collaborating with others, solving problems, critical thinking, and developing communication and leadership skills.
The school was visited by many distinguished dignitaries including the first lady of the USA, Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea in April 1995.
The school has transformed the lives of thousands of children and their families over the last 35+ years.
Going forward, VIDYA is keen to blend technology with the teaching-learning process for improving learning outcomes. This would also help prepare the students to be productive members of the fast-evolving global society.
Read this story of Badrasen Negi. He was a shepherd boy who now works as a computer science engineer in California, USA.
This campaign aims to raise funds to support the education of children like Badrasen. You will truly be able to transform the lives of these students by sponsoring their education.
PROMINENT PERSONALITIES INSPIRE THE STUDENTS
(Above: VIDYA students were invited to meet Michelle Obama in 2010.)
(Above: Hillary Clinton visited VIDYA in April 1995 as the first lady with Chelsea Clinton. Vidya was the only NGO in Delhi, to be selected for her visit. )
THE INITIATIVE
VIDYA Bal Vihar is a school run by the NGO VIDYA Integrated Development for Youth and Adults. The school provides primary education to 300 (Nursery to V) children from low-income homes. Most of the students live in slum communities around Panchsheel park (mainly Lal Gumbad Basti, Malviya Nagar, Begampur, Savitri Nagar and Servant quarters). The school offers high quality education, focusses on the holistic development of the child and provides training in sports, self-defence, art, music, dance and theatre.
The students at the school are not only given an education they are also provided with healthy mid-day meals, uniforms, books and stationery. Many children are first generation learners and VIDYA trains them to become change makers in their families, communities and mould them to be the leaders of the future.
Just INR 8750 impacts a child for 3 months.
Other concerned citizens and I, have taken it upon ourselves to help provide education to these students. There is a need to raise a massive amount of INR 1 crore per year. Please continue funding my campaign even if it goes past my initial goal.
VIDYA’s core focus areas are English, computers and life skills. In keeping with the National Education Policy 2020, VIDYA aims to introduce cross curricular pedagogy integration of core curriculum with arts to inculcate creativity; life skills to develop good values; sports to develop collaboration, team spirit and discipline; focus on developing computational skills, analytical skills, problem solving and coding. VIDYA 2.0 focusses on digitalization of the education system and follows the hybrid version of teaching.
IF YOU FUND,
INR 5840, you educate a child for 2 months.
INR 8750, you educate a child for 3 months.
INR 17500, you educate a child for 6 months.
INR 35000, you educate a child for a year.
THE IMPACT YOU CAN MAKE
VIDYA’s Bal Vihar aims to provide high quality education at par with any best private school. Students are raised as outstanding, confident and responsible citizens. Their success stories of the alumni are examples of what they can achieve if given the right opportunities.
ABOUT ME AND THIS CAMPAIGN
My name is RAJNISH VIRMANI. I am an entrepreneur. I am currently the Managing Partner of Positive Momentum India.
I am a former CEO, CIO and COO with large multinational companies such as American Express, Aviva, Colt Technologies. I have led large teams of over 10,000 staff world-wide. I am associated with Vidya to give back to society.
I have undertaken this campaign because I think it is incredible to impact the life of a child from the Delhi slums. Many of these parents are unaware of the importance of schooling in a child's life. They prefer to send their child to work and earn money for the family. The fact that the VIDYA Bal Vihar school provides mid-day meals, education, uniform, books etc. for free makes it impossible for parents to NOT send their children to school. This allows these not-so-fortunate kids to experience school life. They are often the first ones to be educated in their entire family.
The cost of educating them is just INR 8750 for 3 months. INR 35000 will support them for an entire year. Educating a child holds the promise of them getting a job once they grow up. This will help them get their family out of the vicious cycle of poverty. Please fund my campaign as a simple act of kindness can have a profound impact on a child's life.
Let us together transform the lives of many underprivileged children and their families.
SNAPSHOT OF THE SCHOOL
LOCATION MAP
ABOUT THE NGO
VIDYA has always been at the forefront of education, empowerment and on-the-ground realities of social work. Thirty-six years later, VIDYA stands as one of India's oldest longstanding NGOs with 79 projects spread across 4 metros- Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune impacting 4.5 Lakh children, youth and women, making a difference in the lives of thousands of families. VIDYA has gone by one motto for 3 decades: “Educate. Empower. Transform.”
Our nationally recognized grass-root level programs include schools, beyond school education, distance learning, computer training, youth management, adult literacy, skills training and social entrepreneurship for the less privileged. We strive every day to provide high quality education, empowerment, opportunities and second chances to children, youth and women. Our work enables individuals to dream big, achieve their goals and create the social change they want to see in the world. Ensuring employability and building capacity is the VIDYA ethos. Our students are confident, capable and ambitious, and they learn skills that enable them to be productive members of a fast-evolving global society.
Vision
To be the fountainhead for empowering and transforming lives through education
Mission
To optimize the potential of children, youth and women by providing holistic education through schools, collaborations and community programs
Our Values
We believe in going above and beyond what’s expected by taking ownership of the task and seeing it through till the end.
We believe in people and their power to create change.
We believe in doing the right thing under all circumstances.
We strive to recognise and act on every opportunity for progress, self-improvement and inclusion. We need to use our power of anticipation to start creating a positive future which will transform lives.
We believe we are citizens of the world, and everything we do is driven by a desire to see betterment for humanity.
TAX BENEFITS
Funding for this campaign is eligible for tax breaks as Vidya Integrated Development for Youth and Adults is a registered NGO you can avail of benefits under section 80G of IT act. Foreign funding is NOT accepted.
FEEDBACK THAT YOU GET
To ensure that there is complete transparency I shall get a report from Vidya Integrated Development for Youth and Adults. This takes between 1 to 3 months usually after the funds are raised and transferred to them) telling me who benefitted from the funding. The details will then be posted on the UPDATES section of my campaign. As soon as I post an update the platform will send an EMAIL alert to all the funders. i.e. to you. Click on the link on the email and you can read about which child benefitted. That's transparent right.
FAQs
Will we get to know the details of who benefitted?
Yes. After the money has been collected it will be transferred by Fueladream to Vidya Integrated Development for Youth and Adults. It will take from 1 to 3 months after that to get details of fund use. Once I get this information from them I shall upload this on the UPDATES section of this campaign. You will then get an alert and can read details about the beneficiaries. (Which student and for how long)
When do I get the receipts?
The receipts will start getting processed about 4 to 6 weeks AFTER the campaign is closed and will be sent to you directly.
How can we fund this campaign with a Cheque?
Fueladream Online Ventures Pvt Ltd account details are as below:
BANK NAME: HDFC Bank Limited.
BRANCH: Koramangala( Main Branch). City: Bengaluru - 560095.
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 50200013106778
IFSC CODE: HDFC0000053
Please draw a cheque in favour of "Fueladream Online Ventures Pvt Ltd", and deposit the cheque into the Fueladream Online Ventures Pvt Ltd HDFC Bank account (any branch across INDIA). After you deposit the cheque, please send an email to prasad@fueladream.com AND getintouch@fueladream.com with the following funder information.
1) Name of Funder:
2) Full address with Pin code:
3) Telephone/Mobile no and Email ID:
4) PAN of funder:
5) Cheque number:
6) Amount funded:
7) Whose campaign are you funding. (Name of the person OR campaign number/ID):
After the funds are received and the above details are verified, the fund amount will be transferred to the respective campaign. This can take from 1-3 working days.
How does crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding in India is a relatively new concept and is growing very quickly.
It’s a concept that allows a large number of funders (like you) to fund an idea or a cause or event by giving small amounts of money online. Fueladream.com is a crowdfunding platform in India that allows for such pooling of funds. You can fund innovations and ideas on FuelADream and be the first to get these products or make them come true. You can also do a good turn by funding charities and causes through crowdfunding.
