Ekal Vidyalaya School serves 35 kids and costs $365 a year. Let us eradicate illiteracy in India.
Over the past several years, We have been involved with and supported Ekal Vidyalaya. We are strong believers in supporting non profit organizations that help children’s education in India. We have been sponsoring Ekal Vidyalaya Schools every year now for over 15 years.
Each Ekal Vidyalaya School in rural India serves 30-35 children and costs $365 a year. Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation is able to maintain this dollar-a-day cost because it works with a low overhead budget and is supported by the villagers with whom it works.
How did you get interested in the Ekal movement?
As owners of Desh-Videsh magazine since 1993, we come across many nonprofit organizations with a variety of goals and choosing one or two organizations is not that easy. When we started started Desh Videsh Media Group in 1993, our mission was and is still to promote India and Indian culture. Causes such as education, children, and development in India are very dear and near to our hearts. So when we found out about Ekal Vidyalaya and their mission, it was an easy decision. It combines all three causes in one mission.
How did you come up with your unique model of fund-raising?
For so many years, we have helped Ekal volunteers in South Florida host fundraising programs every year. But we noticed that a lot of our friends do not come to these kind of fundraising programs, though they want to help a worthy cause. We thought about going to each friend’s house and talk about the Ekal Vidyalaya School program. But it was not practical. So when we found out about the Ekal online fundraising campaign, we thought that was the answer to our dilemma.
Who inspired you to help the less fortunate?
Raj’s father was involved with education all his life. He was a teacher and then owner and principal of a school in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The name of the school was Sarvodaya High School. Raj’s brother, three sisters, and sister-in-law joined this noble cause and renamed the school to Shri B.S.SHAH Sarvodaya High School. For us, our family is the main inspiration.
What do you appreciate about Ekal and its mission?
We are all educated and living a good life here in the US and we know the value of education, it is extremely important. Without it, there is no future for children in India. We are very fortunate that our parents educated us. But some of these children living in rural India are not that fortunate. It’s so important to give back to the community and every little bit counts. Please join in the Ekal movement and help raise awareness of the importance of education for our less-fortunate children.
Open Your Hearts and Your Wallet
We have heard the phrase “An Uneducated Child is like a bird without wings.” We do not want our kids to live in this world without wings.
Our Hindu scripture Upanishad explains three cardinal virtues of life as follows:
Self restraint, Charity and Compassion for all life.
Please help us reach our goal to raise $25,000 for our less-fortunate children. No donation amount is too small.
Aruna and Raj Shah
