Thank you for coming together to give a year of after-school classes to Dhanush and two others like him.

Dhanush leads the life of extreme poverty. The five members of his family (parents, Dhanush and two siblings) live on his father- Ramesh’s meagre and sporadic earning as a coolie labourer. When she can, his mother Rukmani works too. With Dhanush’s sister Bhanu who is in the 6th standard spends all her time getting to school and back while his mother is busy taking care of the toddler in the house Dhanush is left to study by himself. Yet, he makes an effort and does very well in school.

Dhanush is often in school without a pencil because the family can’t afford to buy his a new pencil more than once in 3 months. When Kayelvizhi met his parents to onvince them to take a more active interest in his studies Rukmani broke down in tears. She said both her son and daughter were very good students but with all of their efforts focussed on having the children fed at least one meal a day there was little else they can do. Dhanush says that he wants to, in order, “Study well, grow up, earn lots and build a house”.  He dreams of becoming a police officer.

Dhanush in class 2 can read comfortably in Tamil and English and even subtract two digit numbers. He is already doing better than 80% children his age in the state and yet, his parents don’t know how long they can continue pretending his dreams will come true.

Thank you for enabling Dhanush and two others like him to get an education.

Swetha is a physically challenged child in Sethuvandai village. Since she finds it difficult to walk to school, she attends school only once or twice a week. The Eureka tutor Vidhya was very keen to teach Swetha and started the Eureka center very close to Swetha’s house. Determined to study, Swetha now comes to the Eureka center every day and is learning fast. The Eureka team at Sethuvandai is now talking to the local school and to find a way to get her to attend school every day. The team is committed to ensuring that Swetha’s physical disability does not get in the way of achieving her goals.

Thank you for your generosity.

Thank you for coming together to support Sudha’s salary for six months.

Sudha is the Eureka Tutor in Vinayagapuram village of Tiruttani. She lives with her mother, sister and brother, none of whom have regular income. Sudha had a polio attack when she was a child and cannot walk. Despite her physical disability, Sudha was very keen to teach children and became the Eureka Tutor in her village.

Sudha has been taking Eureka classes for more than one and a half years now. She is now enrolled in a B.A. English correspondence course and is very keen to get all the children in her class to speak English well. She does not let her disability hamper her enthusiasm and attends all the Eureka events in the block regularly using her wheelchair. We are touched by her dedication and love for teaching children in her village.

With your support teachers like Sudha can make a difference in the lives of children.

Thank you for providing an entire year of after-school classes to Swetha.

Swetha is a nine-year-old girl in fourth grade who lives in the village of Mummudi Chola Mangalam, with her parents and two siblings. Both her parents are daily laborers, who have not themselves had the benefit of an education. Swetha does go to a local school, the standard of teaching is so low there, that she effectively learns nothing in school. Her older sister tries to help her as best as she can, but is not able to add much value. Realizing the value of a good education, her parents enrolled Swetha in the Eureka Superkidz program in their village.

Swetha finds the teachers kind and patient, who help her understand the lessons better. She used to find the English language very difficult, but now has gained a better understanding of it. Her favourite subject is Math.

Swetha’s one desire is to study well and get the first prize for her excellent marks.  Her ambition is to become a District Collector and serve her community. Every day that Swetha attends the After-school classes, takes her a step closer to her dream of becoming a District Collector.

Thank you for enabling her to dream big.

Thank you for enabling Muthu to get a good education.

Muthu’s father, Babu, and his mother, Shiva, can trace their family back five generations and remembers that they all lived in Ponpadi in the colony marked out for Irulars. Irulars are a community that trades in snakes- snake catching, venom collection, treating people bitten by snakes etc. With the current Government regulations on hunting snakes, the Irulars are finding it harder and harder to make an honest living. The family now subsists on the money that Shiva can bring home by collecting and selling firewood from the forest.

For generations, the members of the Irular community have been illiterate, but the family now realizes that they need an education to survive in the modern world. Muthu is studying in grade 4 in the local village school. He and his sister, Deviki who is in grade 9, are the first in their family to learn to read and write.

To ensure that her children never have to live the life Shiva and Babu live, their parents have taken care to ensure that the children have never learnt any of their art and instead have learnt to fear snakes as most children do. Shiva tells us when we ask her what she hopes Muthu will grow us to be, “Muthu tells us he would like to be a policeman. We think that is a good decision. We don’t know how we will afford to send him to school after tenth standard but we will try as much as we can.”

When Muthu was enrolled for the Eureka classes conducted in his school two years back his teacher Shashikala remembers him being very difficult to work with, “Muthu would hardly come to school. When he did come he was constantly distracted and obviously could perform few academic tasks. Because I knew how much his family wanted him to study I took the liberty to spend extra time with him sometimes making him stay back late well against his wishes (I got permission from his parents). Over time he saw that it was getting easier. We now see a lot more of him in school and I don’t need to force him to do any of the tasks, if anything I now have to force him to go home!”

Ponpadi’s Irular colony is closer to the Main village than the BC colony is. Here 35 Irular families live with their children. The families share the same aspirations for their children. Ponpadi’s Irulars are now no longer in the Snake business, the new generation know none of the secrets of the snake trade but they can all read, write, do arithmetic and live with their heads held high.

Thank you for ensuring that Muthu continues to get a good education.

Thank you for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Raja.

Raja is an 8 year boy studying in Class 3 in Manakkal village in Lalgudi block. He lost his father when he was 8 months old. His mother too abandoned him when he was just a child. Sadly, his grandmother who took care of him also died. Orphaned, he was left with his relatives in the same village.

The Eureka tutor Shalini Mary knew of his situation and enrolled him into her classes. Raja had been a bright child who even came first in school. But recently, Shalini noticed that Raja was not attending her classes regularly, nor was he attending the school and had started slipping in his grades. While a few months back he was able to solve fractions sums very well, he now struggled with even division problems, which he was good at. Shalini found that Raja was being made to do household chores and was being ignored and not being taken care of well. She and the field staff approached the local church for help. The Sister at the Church has now adopted Raja. He has started attending school and the Eureka classes regularly. Shalini hopes this is the end of Raja’s troubles.

Sangeetha, an eighth grader,  is a bright thirteen-year old who lives with her mother and elder sister. Sangeetha joined Nedumbaram’s Eureka Superkidz program in the summer of 2011. She really enjoys the program because she finds it much easier to understand than formal schooling, and she finds the classes much more enjoyable and practical in approach.

While in school, she found math very hard and, in fact, not surprisingly, she began to dislike the subject very much. Now, however, Sangeetha is one of the best math students in her class and it has even become her favorite subject!  Having experienced the joy of learning, Sangeetha wishes to become a teacher when she grows up.

Every day that Sangeetha attends the After-school classes, takes her a step closer to her dream of becoming an educator.

Thank you, Anju and Prasad, for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Sangeetha.

Thank you for providing an year of after school classes to eight year old Mohankumar.

Mohankumar is hearing impaired. Both his parents are daily wage weavers. From when he was a small child, no one, including his parents spoke to him since he could not hear. Assuming that he would not be able to speak, they used gestures and signs to communicate with him.

Mohankumar is now a part of the Eureka center in RK Pet block. His Eureka Tutor Mohana took a special interest in him. She says, “It took me three months to understand what was going on with Mohan Kumar. Whenever I found extra time I would speak loudly to him. I soon realized that whenever I spoke to him directly he would keenly observe my lip movements. Slowly after 6 months, he started making attempts to speak! I decided then that my main priority would be to first make him speak and then teach him other things.”

Mohankumar has now started speaking well! His parents were extremely moved to see him talking to the other children in the center. Now Mohankumar can read aloud English alphabets and small words in Tamil. His parents are filled with gratitude for Eureka Tutor Mohana whose efforts and confidence in their son has changed his life forever.

Thank you for enabling Mohankumar to continue learning and growing with Eureka Kidz.

Thank you, for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Divyapriya.

Divyapriya is a nine year old girl in the fifth grade. After her mother’s recent demise, her father remarried. Divyapriya, therefore, lives with her father, stepmother and grandmother. She has been a part of the Eureka Superkidz program since 2010 and enjoys it thoroughloy.

A quiet and an earnest student, Divyapriya enjoys learning and finds the program fun-filled and educational. Although she does not receive help with studies at home, she is encouraged after coming to the program daily, and all the subjects make more sense. She hopes to share her love for learning with other children by becoming a teacher.

Every day that Divyapriya attends the After-school classes, takes her a step closer to her dream of becoming a teacher.

Thank you for coming together and supporting Sangeetha’s salary for six months, thereby enabling her to teach the children in her village.

Sangeetha hails from Keezhvenkatapuram village. Sangeetha comes from a lower-middle class family. She has two younger sisters and her parents who are involved in agriculture. She is the first graduate from her family.

She is presently working as a Eureka Teacher in Keezhvenkatapuram village for the class 1-3. She has completed her B.A a year back and was working as a School Teacher for the last 3 months. At the start of our Eureka Super kidz programme, she wanted to volunteer as ET. But, then she took class for only two days and couldn’t take classes continuously after that as she was found it little difficult in coordinating the classes. After that, she worked in a School as a temporary Teacher. A couple of weeks later when we were searching for a EurekaTeacher in that village. She again opted to take classes saying she can manage the classes as she was confident with the experience gained in School for the short period.

She trained with our materials, and she actively takes classes everyday with 20 children regularly attending her class with full interest. She’s no more working as a School Teacher now, as the posting was filled, where she was getting a pay of Rs.1000 from the panchayat head. Now that income has been stopped and her only income is from Eureka classes.

Her ambition was to be a Teacher which is now fulfilled by Eureka Superkidz classes!