Thank you for coming together to ensure that Naveenkumar has after school tutoring for an entire year.

Naveenkumar is a 11 year old boy, studying in the fifth grade, in the village of Nedumbaram, Tamil Nadu. Though he has been going to the local school for several years, he was far behind the educational milestones that are expected of a child of his age. His parents, therefore, enrolled him in the local Eureka Superkidz Centre last year, where the method of teaching, particularly the educational songs and games, has helped him learn.

English is Naveenkumar’s favourite subject, and he hopes to be able to speak, read and write English perfectly one day. A regular attendant of both formal school and the afterschool centre, he shares that the formal school’s method of teaching is much harder to understand. He used to find math very difficult before joining the program but is now at ease with it. Naveenkumar wants to become a police officer when he grows up and serve his community.

Every day that Naveenkumar attends the After-school classes, takes him a step closer to his dream of becoming a police officer.

Haripriya* is an energetic nine-year-old girl, in the fourth grade, living in the village of Othikadu, in the Thiruvallur block. Hailing from an extended family of nine members, Haripriya loves to socialize and enjoys the Eureka Superkidz program because she gets rewarded with prizes for hard work.

Before enrolling in the program, Haripriya struggled to do division in math. Through practical teaching techniques, however, she now finds division easier and can spend more time fervently pursuing her dream of mastering the English language.

When asked why learning English is so important to her, Haripriya in a matter-of-fact tone challenges, “People from other states know English, why can’t people from Tamil Nadu know it too?”

Haripriya plans on using the English language as a means to an end. With her education, she wants to become a police officer and use her authority to rid her community of rowdies and goons.

Every day that Haripriya attends the After-school classes, takes her a step closer to her dream of being educated.

Thank you, Melanie (x2) and John (x2), for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Haripriya.

*Name changed to protect identity

Yabej is a seven-year-old boy living in the village of Othikadu in the Thiruvallur block.  He is a student of  the second grade. Yabej lives with his mother, uncle, aunt, and two elder sisters. As the youngest in the family, Yabej is loved by everyone, however, being the only boy, he is expected to carry a lot of responsibilities.

Yabej faced a lot of difficulty in learning Math and the Tamil language. Therefore, he enrolled in the Eureka SuperKidz after-school support classes. He receives  high quality learning inputs meant to improve his grade specific learning level. Ever since, he  understands his lessons fully and clearly.

Yabej’s favourite subject is English and he wishes to master the language. At such a young age, Yabej has a hunger to expand his understanding  and gain more knowledge.  His  sisters help him with his school work, but he hopes to be able to help them someday, particularly by way of fulfilling his ambition of becoming a police officer.

Every day that Yabej attends the After-school classes, takes him a step closer to his dream of becoming a police officer.

Thank you, Courtney, for your generous gift of a year of after-school classes to Yabej.

Sarita* is a ten year old girl, a student of Grade 5 in Agoor Panchayat Union School. She was a slow learner. In the fourth grade, she could only recognize the alphabets in the Tamil language and couldn’t even do that in English. In Math, she knew how to add, but was very fearful and would not always get the right answers.

Since Sarita’s parents are both illiterate and her father is deaf and mute as well, Sarita found it tremendously difficult to cope in school.  The teacher would instruct them to complete the exercises from the text books but was not always be available to clear the students’ doubts.

Sarita enrolled in the Eureka SuperKidz after-school support classes. She receives  high quality learning inputs meant to improve her grade specific learning level.

Ever since, Sarita has learnt to tell stories in English, read the newspaper in Tamil and not only does she always get the right answers in addition, but she has also learnt to do division and fractions!

Every day that Sarita attends the After-school classes, takes her a step closer to her dream of being educated.

Thank you Kevin, Gracem (x2) and Barbara De for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Sarita.

*Name changed to protect identity

Thirteen year old Punnagai* lives in Elanthagudipatti village in Sivagangai.   She studies in Grade 8 in the local school. Her  father, Stephen, works as driver and has started working extra hours to make ends meet. Her mother, Meenal, is a housewife. Punnagai  is the only child in the family.

Punnagai excels in academics and is an avid reader.  In the Superkidz centre,  she enjoys the activities and loves to interact with people.

Her father says “In Sivagangai  District, the Dowry** system is more strong.  Because of that, the parents  are scared of society. Most of the girl children are not encouraged towards higher education. They get married  around the age of 18.  But I will  make a change in my village. I will give good education to Punnagai. I desire that  Punnagai should  become the Collector of the District. She will destroy the root of the dowry system”.

Thank you, Kandace, Dennis, Jennifer, and Srinivas, for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Punnagai and strengthening her family’s will to overcome the dowry system.

* Name changed to protect identity

**Dowry is the money, goods or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. In India the dowry system puts a great financial burden on the daughter’s family, with many families not being able to marry off their daughters because they cannot afford to pay the dowry. Though demanding dowry is illegal, it is still widely practiced across the country.

Sanjana* has never known her father. When she was a 6 month old infant, a fight in the family ended with her father, Balaji, committing suicide. Sanjana, her sister Parvathi* and their mother, Muniamma, have lived with Balaji’s parents ever since. The family income is around 3000 Rupees ($56) a month, barely enough to make ends meet.

With the family battling against poverty, Sanjana, the first generation learner, also had to battle against the family’s illiteracy. Her family would therefore, not check on her progress in school or pay her education, personal attention. Being a student of  Grade 5, yet, almost illiterate,  Sanjana grew less confident of herself everyday.

Your kind donation, has enabled Sanjana to attend a year of after-school classes at Eureka Superkidz. She is now able to read, write and do arithmetic well in school. Her grandmother says, “She is a more confident and happy child who is one of the top rankers in her class. Sanjana says she will grow up to be a doctor and take care of all of us.”

Thank you, Kayennat, for your generous donation of a year of after-school classes to Sanjana and restoring the hope of a bright future.

*Names changed to protect identity

Thirteen year old Punnagai* lives in Elanthagudipatti village in Sivagangai.   She studies in Grade 8 in the local school. Her  father, Stephen, works as driver and has started working extra hours to make ends meet. Her mother, Meenal, is a housewife. Punnagai  is the only child in the family.

Punnagai excels in academics and is an avid reader.  In the Superkidz centre,  she enjoys the activities and loves to interact with People.

Her father says “In Sivagangai  District, the Dowry** system is more strong.  Because of that, the parents  are scared of society. Most of the girl children are not encouraged towards higher education. They get married  around the age of 18.  But I will  make a change in my village. I will give good education to Punnagai. I desire that  Punnagai should  become the Collector of the District. She will destroy the root of the dowry system.”

* Name changed to protect identity

Ten year old Kavi* studies in fifth grade at St.Francis Middle school. He is the youngest child in the family. He has three elder sisters. His first sister is married and had one elder boy and a six month baby girl. His second sister is a trained  nurse working in Madurai hospital. His third sister is in 12^th grade.

Kavi hails from a poor family. His father works as a daily wage laborer in a near by rice mill. His mother is an agricultural laborer. Both parents are over 50 years old. His parents desire that he become an engineer!

In the beginning Kavi was reserved and would not mingle with the friends or participate in activities. The Eureka class teacher, Mrs. Devasena, gave special attention to Kavi. Now he has improved a lot and is forthcoming and participative. Kavi is eager to attend the Eureka Super kidz centre.

His reading skills have developed along with his math skills. He is quick to calculate subtraction problems mentally and is picking up division too. Being so young, Kavi enjoys helping the teacher as she takes classes for Grades 1-3 as well.

Thank you so much, Rhea and Shannon, for providing a year of after-school classes for Kavi.

*Name changed to protect identity

Kokilam hails from Kottakudi village of Sivagangai District.  She is a student of grade 3 at the Panchayat Union middle school. Her father works as a daily wage laborer in a rice mill. His annual income is around 300 $ (Rupees 15,000). Most of the villagers are employed as  daily wage laborers  in farming, or rice/cotton mills.

Even though they realize that the quality of education in the government run school leaves a lot to be desired, Kokilam’s parents are constrained to keep her (and her younger sister Narmadha) there since they cannot afford to send her to a private school. When they came to know about the remedial education classes offered by Eureka Superkidz, Kokilam’s mother enrolled her in in them. She has started showing a tremendous improvement in her studies, and has even started speaking a few sentences in English.

Kokilam’s ambition is to become a scientist and her role model is  Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-American astronaut and space shuttle mission specialist with NASA. Her mother is indeed proud of Kokilam’s academic improvement and feels satisfied that her labour is bearing fruit in their lives.

Every day that Kokilam attends the After-school classes, takes her a step closer to her dreams.

Thank you Lesley (x2)and Frederic (x2) for coming together to provide a year of after-school classes to Kokilam.