benares school newsletter 2011

8/7/2019 Benares School Newsletter 2011

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BENARES SCHOOLFUND FOUNDATION

OUR PROJECTS

1. 50 individual students

The Benares Schoolfund Foundation paysthe tuition fees of approximately 50 indivi-dual pupils at a number of different schools.These children are selected according tofixed criteria.Two staff members of the Ashray Social Cen-tre, Surendra Srivastava and Manish Bhatia,take care of all the necessary activities andcoach the children.

2. Education at the Ashray Social Centre

> www.asra.org> Diretor: Sai PrakasThe Benares Schoolfund Foundation paysthe full costs of the educational programme:the Ashray primary school (for 80 pupils:

books, school uniforms, school meals andteachers salaries), sewing classes and ba-sic education for young women, dance andmusic lessons and evening classes (tutor-ing, homework assistance and computercourses).

N E W S L E T T E R 2 0113. Little Stars Scool (LSS)

> www/littlestarssool.org> Diretor: Asa PandeWe support the school (560 pupils, primaryand secondary education) by paying thetuition fees of a number of pupils, the salariesof teachers, education and care for someorphan girls and by financing additionaleducational material.

4. Jeevan Scool

> www.basimanneeds.net> Manager: Seel Kjr> Sool eadmaster: Kati Riter

Since December 2008 our foundation hasincreasingly contributed to the tuition feesof street children in the care of Basic HumanNeeds.The school provides primary education toover 100 children.

BSF IS DOING GR EAT!The number of school sponsors support-

ing the Benares Schoolfund Foundationhas been very stable for several yearsnow. They all sponsor the tuition fees for

approximately 50 individual students by

donating 275 per year.We also receive incidental donations,

smaller ones from private individuals but

also large sums from foundations and

funds. With these gifts we support twoschools.

Since two years we have a sponsor who

has pledged five years of support for ourthird school, the Ashray school.

Recently, a new big sponsor has joined us

with extra support for our schools formany years to come, ensuring a stable

foundation for their future.

In addition, we have received large one-

time contributions from two Rotary clubs(more on that in this newsletter), so it is

with feelings of satisfaction and gratitude

that we present our report over last year.

yOUR SUPPORT> As a sool sponsor: for 23/month

you can provide education for one child.With that amount you also contribute to

the schools educational materials, sala-

ries and yearly teacher training.> As a (permanent) donor: all donations,

whether one-off or a fixed amount per

year, will benefit the children and theireducation.

> More about how to support on the last page


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B E N A R E S S C h O O L F O U N D A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 1

BSF AND ThE ROTARy

Roosendaal Donenland

On 6 March 2009 our chairman Marien, to-

gether with students, performed in the historicchapel of the Franciscan Sisters for the Rotary

Roosendaal Donkenland. Many people came

and a lot of money was donated. For 18

months, the Rotary has done its utmost tohave its donation doubled by the International

Rotary and in December 2010 they finally

succeeded. This means that some 25,000 isnow available!

It had already been decided how the money

would be spent: on the interior of the new LittleStars School building, which needs a com-

puter room, a science room and a library.

Rotar International will transfer te mone

diretl to a loal Rotar bran in Varanasi

tat will implement te projet.

Terefore tis sm is not refleted in orfinanial statements, bt we will report on te

projets progress next ear.

Op Sest

On 5 November 2010, shortly before we left

for Varanasi, the Autunno Ensemble, conduct-

ed by Marien, gave a benefit concert for the

Rotary club Op Seyst, in the beautiful churchof the Community of the Moravian Brethren in

Slot Zeist.

The ensemble (including our secretary Connyon the cello) has been giving a benefit concert

there every year for the last fifteen years. This

year, the BSF was the beneficiary. Almost

14,000 was raised for the purchase of musi-cal instruments, library books and textbooks,

as well as school furniture.

THANKS VERY MUCH, EVERYONE!

We are quite satisfied with the work ofour staff members. Manish Bhatia fre-quently visits the schools, knows all thepupils and produces orderly reports.Surendra Srivastava meticulously takescare of all the financial matters.The needs of some of the childrensfamilies are well recognised and thosefamilies get extra support and attentionthrough the Ashray Social Centre.

Accompanied by Manish and Surendrawe visited two schools and also made anumber of house calls.

This year, we did some missionarywork related to education for (older)girls. Quite a few parents feel that theirdaughters have had enough educationwhen they are 14 years old, or dontsend them to school at all. By threaten-ing to exclude their sons from our pro-gramme we have managed to persuademany of these parents! Luckily thereare many parents who are determinedthat their daughters should complete

the 12th grade.

Last year it was agreed to ask theparents for a contribution of Rs.300 perfamily per year to make them share the

responsibility for their childrens education.Most parents have obliged and we are nowconsidering a suitable destination of thesefunds, totalling 250 a year.We have decided to restructure the dahl pro-gramme for these pupils and their familiesas per 1 April 2011.

Manish and Surendra with some pupils

The programme is rather expensive and haslimited funds. Because of increasing foodprices the programme can hardly remain ef-fective if we continue to include all the fami-lies.

The budget will therefore be made availableto the Ashray Social Centre for specific foodsupport to the poorest families. Through itssocial network Ashray knows exactly whichfamilies are most in need of support.

OuR INDIVIDuALLy SPONSOREDPuPILSMost of te ildren are doing well. Te all like going to sool. As we do ea ear, wemet wit all te ppils and teir parents.


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OUR ALUmNITe Benares Soolfnd Fondation was fond-

ed eigt ears ago. Of te 23 ppils tat we

started ot wit, five ave sine ompleted

te 12t grade.

Pankai, the eldest, has since taken a com-

puter course and is now building websites in

Delhi, with some success.The other four are studying at university and

we interviewed three of them.

They are three self-possessed, intelligentyoung individuals who have left illiteracy and

poverty behind for good and are now looking

toward a bright future. They are also kind-hearted and socially involved youngsters

who are aware of their own backgrounds and

wish to help other children with little or no

chances as well, at some time in their future.They are very glad with the chances that

they have been given and we can be veryproud of these young people!

> More about them later in this newsletter.

We have met with many of the pupils andtheir parents again this year. We always dis-cuss the results thoroughly with them andwe are quite strict when children are absenttoo often. Parents are encouraged to takeresponsibility in this.The school is still working hard on the curri-culum, looking for the best textbooks, andtraining teachers. In short, they are workingon improving the quality of the education.Classrooms often consist of interlockingrooms. There is a constant buzz of hundredsof childrens voices but we have found thatIndian children are quite capable of study-ing amidst all this bustle and noise. Inciden-tally, during the half-yearly exams theschool was remarkably quiet; quieter thanwe ever experienced before.

Construction ofthe new schoolbuilding is get-ting off to agood start. Inthree monthstime the base-ment and ground floor should be readyand some of the groups can then bemoved over. Then the old building canbe renovated and new floors can beadded to the new building as fundscome in.

When completed, and after expandingthe curriculum to the 12th grade, theschool will grow from 500 to 650 pu-pils. As more space becomes available,the groups in the now very full class-rooms can be made smaller.As soon as the Rotary funds fromAmerica will be transferred to the localRotary in Varanasi and the new buildingwill be nearer completion, the computerroom, science room and library will befitted out with the necessary equip-ment and furniture.

We are being kept well-informed of eve-rything going on at the Little StarsSchool through their well-designedmonthly newsletters.

From the beginning of the new school

year our foundation will increase itssupport of the Little Stars School. Wewill pay the tuition fees of an extra 30pupils, as well as extra training and araise in salary for the teachers.

LITTLE STARS SchOOL

VOLUNTEER wORkVolnteers from te Neterlands are ver

m in demand in Varanasi. Te represent a

fres element, someting new tat te il-

dren are not likel to forget. Marjon and Anne

elped ot at te Asra Sool, Slvia at te

Little Stars Sool.

Little Stars Scool

Sylvia taught English to the smallest children.

She was sent out by the Dutch foundation

English for Kids, an organisation that pro-motes the English language throughout the

world as a means of improving childrens fu-

tures.

Using all kinds of materials such as buildingblocks, puzzles, books - often purchased locally -

Tings are going well ere. We were given an orderl overview of reslts andabsenteeism of all 40 ppils for wom we pa te tition fees.

Marien and Pierre Satijn on the building site

Asha Pandey

> continue on next page


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A few months ago the sewing classmoved into a new classroom outside theAshray Centre. With all the sewing ma-chines gone from the building a signifi-

cant amount of much-needed spacehas become available to the school.

Since the teachers received extra traininglast summer new educational methodsare being implemented: more elementsof play for the youngest children, andsome nice English textbooks, amongother improvements.Starting this year there are classesthree times a week in kathak dance andtabla. Together with the tabla teacherConny has bought three new tablas. It iswonderful to see how much the childrenenjoy these classes.On Saturday one of the women teachersteaches yoga, the 4th and 5th gradeshave extra English classes, and thereare handicrafts or sports activities. Thechildren sport at the new Nagwa ghatand once a month the entire schoolvisits the park. Soon there will be chesslessons on Saturday.The whole day through the building isbuzzing with educational activities! Inthe afternoon grades 4 and 5 take extraclasses to ease the transition to thenext phase of their education. Between

5 and 8 there are evening classes:homework assistance, tutoring andcomputer courses. Many pupils, includ-ing our individually sponsored ones,make use of these facilities.

All children at the Ashray School are given anutritious snack lunch. According to thedoctor who holds surgery hours twice aweek in the clinic, the health of the people in

Nagwa is markedly improving. The schoolmeal for the children is definitely a contrib-uting factor in this. During summer holidays,when the school is officially closed exceptfor an alternative programme, it appears thatmany pupils still come, especially for themeal!

Ashray is obviously on the right path andthere is a good atmosphere at the school.

>>>>> Sylvia played with the little ones while

teaching them the English alphabet and theEnglish words for colours, numbers, animals

and vegetables. This is called learning while

playing, a method that is barely known inIndia. She also sang songs with the children,

accompanying the words with gestures.

Another one of her tasks was to train and

coach the teachers by observing their classesand giving advice. As Sylvia emphasises, her

method is complementary and not a substi-

tute for standard education. There is now acupboard full of toys in the hall of the LSS and

Sylvia hopes that the materials will be used

frequently.

Asra

Anne and Marjon came to Ashray via Youth andMission, within the context of their studies in

Social Work and Services. For their minor Inter-

national Sustainable Development Co-opera-

tion they organised a photography project forthe higher grades of the Ashray School. The

children were given cameras and instructions

on how to operate them, but were otherwisefree in their choice of subject. Each child

would make three or four photographs of

things they felt were important to them. They

chose their parents, grandmothers, goats, sis-ters, the neighbours cow, among many other

things. Afterwards, Anne and Marjon asked

them to write down how they made theirchoice.

The children produced many nice photo-graphs. One of the aims of the project was to

stimulate their creativity, make them experi-

ence success and boost their self-confidence.

Anne and Marjon also wanted to show theteachers that there are other, more interactive

ways of teaching available.

ThE AShRAy SchOOLM as been anged for te good at te sool: te laot of te bilding, teedational ontent and te teaing staff.

At our request we met with the entire staff

at Ashray, including the people working inthe clinic and in social services. We told

them about our foundation and our work

in the Netherlands and showed them foot-age of the latest benefit concert. Then we

spoke with individual staff members

about the school, the clinic, the social

work and the cooperative garden. It wasan enjoyable and instructive meeting that

was concluded with tea, sweets and sa-

mosas.


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The small school is becoming a real school.

A few months ago Jeevan moved into four

interlocking rooms across from the old school.

With help from the bigger children the roomswere painted in bright colours and all fivegrades now have a classroom there. Thepre-schoolers are under the lean-to of the

old school. Manager Sheelu intends to builda library on the roof of the new building.A lot of effort is being put into the curricu-

lum, into monitoring the children, trainingthe teachers and providing meals.

The schools headmaster is Kati Richter,from Germany. She has provided wonderfulteaching material, mainly German Montes-sori methods.Kati is quite ambitious and each Saturdayshe organises trainings for her own teach-ers and those from other schools in an effortto introduce a different way of teaching andlearning. This is no easy task in India. Shefrequently writes long and engaging e-mailsto Conny about the children, her work, herworries and joys.She is a very involved and committed wom-an with a keen insight into the type of chil-dren, street children, who come to Jeevan.She and Sheelu make an ideal team.

The hostel (35 children) has also movedinto new premises, with a large playground

Kati Richter

Jess, Sheelu, Marien and Conny

We met with Jess Morwood, initiator and

board member of Basic Human Needs

(BHN).As our foundation contributes quite sub-

stantially to the Jeevan School we had

drawn up a contract, just like we have with

the other schools. It could be signed onthe spot.

The contract lists a number of conditions,

including a sound financial basis for the

entire project (including the hostel) andmore active fund raising by BHN.

ThE JEEVAN SchOOL

in front, which is quite an improvement.Jeevan is greatly in need of professionalpsychological assistance for traumatisedchildren and, thanks to our new sponsor, ourfoundation can now provide the funds to dothis.

I MADE hER DREAM cOME TRuETree stdents look bak on teir sool das by Marien van Staalen

Rain! For te first time in twelve ears a No-vember sower pelts down on te roof ter-rae of te Temple on Ganges hotel. Gasiaand Nandita qikl seek over nder teawning. Avinas alls to anel te appoint-ment, as e is too far awa and wold be-

ome soaking wet if e ame over now. Wemeet wit im later and is statementsave been worked into tis report.

Nandita, Gausia and Avinash belong to the

earliest generation of pupils from DevaPublic School. In 1996, when Conny and Iboth were teachers there, they were six,seven and eight years old, respectively. Wereminisce: Uma has married. I dont knowwhat Joanna does, says Nandita. Gausia

says: I had to cry when my mother took meto kindergarten. Nandita: I was always veryhappy when I had a window seat on theschool bus. The bus was driven by Avinashsfather who was called Driver-ji (Mister

Driver) by everyone. Driver-ji was also thehandyman at Deva, the cook at field tripsand the man who took excellent and loving

> continue on next page

Avinashs father: Driver-ji


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>>>>> care of all the plants around thebuilding. When Avinash later continued hisstudies at the posh Little Flower School hewas too embarrassed to admit to his fathersmodest occupation and referred to him asa businessman.

For the girls Deva was heaven. We greatlyadmired Reeta-miss. She was like a moviestar. We were happily surprised to learn this

after all these years, because at the time wewere slightly worried whether Reeta, theschools headmaster, with her make-up andbeautiful clothes was quite the right personfor these underprivileged children

Avinash was living in Devas hostel. I lovedsleeping together with so many children inone room. We played a lot of ballgames andthere was plenty of room to play around thebuilding. Deva was an English Mediumschool and education was in English. Duringclasses and inside the hostel only Englishwas allowed, on penalty of having to writelines. It was very hard for us, say theyoungsters, but it was a quick way to learnEnglish.

Aided by our foundation, these three stu-dents were able to complete their second-ary education and now all three of them aredoing commercial studies at university. TheBenares Schoolfund Foundation supportschildren until the 12th grade, but not be-yond. We do however try to find individualsponsors outside of the foundation to sup-port especially talented students and forthese three this has worked.

Gausia: I liked school life better than life atthe university. I wish I could remain a childfor always. For now, study and career comefirst, but later I want to get married as welland have one child. Nandita smiles: No,you will want to have twelve children: a fullcricket team plus coach! And your luckynumber is fifteen!, Gausia retorts. Nandi-tas mother has recently died and her fatherlives in Delhi. Where does she herself livenow? In an girls dorm, but I am looking forsomething else. All my roommates canthink about is boys and going out; theirstudy comes second. I do not find thisstimulating. I need some quiet so I can workhard.And work hard is what they do, all three ofthem. Gausia: For me, as a Muslima, theday begins with morning prayer at 5:15. I tryto stick to the prayer rules, even though Idont always succeed.Avinash combines studying with teachingat the Ashray School. It is hard, but alsovery rewarding. At Ashray I gain experiencethat will be useful to me later on and withwhat I earn I can support my parents finan-

Avinash, in the past and at present

Gausia (up) and Nandita, in the past and at present

cially. Thanks to my job my brother Akshaywill now go to college as well. I also help myyoung nephew Shubham with his home-work.

Time for a look at the future. When I look athow I was able to finish school, one thing iscertain for me, says Gausia. Later, when Ihave a good position, I want to help otherchildren in the same way. I want to supportmy social class. Nandita is even clearer:After I finish my studies I will go and workfor Ashray. Education is so important forpoor people!

Three talented youngsters who made themost of the chances they were given andare now studying at a level that was unat-tainable for their parents. Doesnt that leadto estrangement? Avinash: My illiteratemother and father are very proud of me, andI have great respect for them. They raisedme and now I can help them solve problemsthey cant handle. Later, however, I do wantto live on my own. Gausia: My parents cansee that I am happier than they were, whichin turn makes them happy again. There is noestrangement. Nandita, softly: For years Ihave studied at home, with barely sufficientlight. My mother had tears in her eyes whenshe looked at me. I was making her dreamcome true

It is quiet on the roof terrace. The rain hasgone, the sun is setting. High up in the skydozens of kites can be seen: it is kite sea-son. Majestically, the River Ganges flowsalong the city.

Reeta-miss


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F I N A N c I A L O V E R V I E W 2 0 1 0

INCOmE

School sponsors 19.930Funds and foundations 8.400Donation for education Ashray 10.000Donations (incidental) 7.065

From reserve funds 5.390Interest 1.775

---------------------------------------------------Total incoe 52.560

EXPENSES

Little Stars Sool 10.000Extra donation 1.000

Individall sponsored ppilsa. tuition 7.130b. administration and coaching 850c. health care 400d. dahl programme 3.500

Edation Asra 10.000School meals Ashray school 3.5006 months rent extra room 375Tablas and chess games 180

Extra donation for medicines 1.000

Jeevan Sool 3.000Emergency support (50% donation, 50% advance) 2.500Rent new classrooms (to Sept. 2011 + renovation) 1.800

Oter donationsDivya Jyoti for handicapped children (once-only) 500Small school Assi Ghat (once-only) 500Education Udayan, Jaipur 500

RestTo reserve funds 2.000Administration costs 890(newsletter, postage, bank costs, Chamber of Commerce)

---------------------------------------------------Total expenses 51.125

B u D G E T 2 0 1 1

INCOmE

School sponsors 19.500New sponsor 12.500For education Ashray 10.000Rotary Op Seyst 14.500

Donations (incidental) 7.065From reserve funds 3.715Interest 1.150

---------------------------------------------------Total incoe 68.430

EXPENSES

Little Stars Soola. 70 students 8.400b. salaries 5 teachers 3.500

c. hostel (5 girls) 3.600d. quality improvement teachers 2.500e. copy machine (once-only) 2.500

Individall sponsored ppilsa. tuition 7.130b. administration and coaching 850c. health care 400

Edation Asra 10.000School meals Ashray school 3.000Rent extra room 750Extra donation (once-only) 2.500Contribution to the deputy directors salary 1.500Food programme for the poorest families 3.500

Jeevan SoolSchool programme (minus advance) 7.000Psychotherapy 800Extra donation (once-only) 2.500

RestTo reserve funds 6.500Administration costs 750(newsletter,postage, bank costs, Chamber of Commerce)

Unforeseen 750---------------------------------------------------

Total expenses 68.430

The foundation has built up a buffer of 27,500 euros in the past to guarantee, in case

we lose any sponsors, the continuity of education for the children at all times.

Additionally the foundation has reserve funds of more than 19,000 euros at the mo-

ment.

carit organisations are advised to maintain a bffer tat is one-and-a-alf times

teir ears trnover.

The contribution of Rotary Roosendaal Donkenland, which thanks to Rotary Interna-

tionals matching grant was increased to the amount of 25,000 euros, has not been in-

cluded in this overview.


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hOw CAN yOU hELP OUR FO UNDATION?

As a scool sponsor: for 23/month (or 275/year) you can provide education,books, a uniform, homework aid and tutoring for one child.And, if needed, medical care and food support for the family.With that amount you also contribute to the schools educational materials, sala-ries and yearly teacher training.

As a (peranent) donor: all donations, whether one-off or a fixed amount peryear, will benefit the children and their education.

your donations are tax-deductibleBenares Schoolfund Foundation has been classified by the Inland Revenue as anInstitution Aiming for General Welfare (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling).In case of donation by notarial deed, the costs are at the foundations expense.Through the courtesy of Notariaat Leijser of Rotterdam, these costs are reduced tothe minimum, The secretariat can provide the necessary papers (license for dona-tion).

BoardMarien van Staalen,presidentConny van Staalen-van Leeuwen,secretary/treasurerJacques BaartmansJoep Baartmans-van den BoogaartJantine UngerAlet MeursTheo van PinxterenKarin van Duijnhoven

Benares Scoolfund Foundation

Lenaertsstraat 6 4724 AM Wouw | T +31 (0)165 301422Chamber of Commerce: 20110334Rabobank: 19 43 91 353 | IBAN nr. NL97 RABO 0194 3913 53 | BIC [email protected]

OUR SINCERE THANKS GO TO ALL OUR SPONSORS AND

DONORS WHO HELPED CONTRIBUTE THIS PAST YEAR.

ThEIR FUTURE DEPENDS ON yOUR hELP

whAT IS INDIA DOING FOR ITS POOR?India does ave a government programme for

te poor and for te members of te lowest

aste.

A red ard entitles te poor to flor, sgar, rie

and dal.

A green ard is good for ooking fel.

State run schools offer free education, books

and uniforms until 6th grade, and then, until

they finish the 12th grade, pupils pay lower feesand receive a bicycle when they live further than

3 kilometres from the school. Girls who finish

the 12th grade receive a bonus of Rs. 20,000(over 300).

Universities give discounts on tuition fees to the

poorest students and have a lenient admission

policy for them.

W ten are fondations like ors stillneessar?

Mainly because the quality of the education in

state run schools still leaves much to be de-

sired: there is often only one teacher availablefor 100 children. There is also a lack of the most

basic educational material.

The poorest people are often illiterate members

of the lowest caste. Obtaining a red or greencard, a bicycle or a bonus is vir tually impossible

for them, unless they get help. The Ashray Social

Centre - which includes our Ashray School -

plays a crucial role in solving these matters.However, empowering people takes time, a lot of

time.The Benares Schoolfund Foundation is con-

vinced that good education is essential in rising

above poverty and desperation and that is why

we will continue our work until state run educa-tion in India offers adequate quality, and private

schools can be afforded by the poor as well.

ThE RIGhT TO EDUCATION!In April 2010 we received excited e-mails from

Varanasi: Indias parliament had passed a lawgiving every child from the age of six the right to

education. This is a significant development, al-

though it remains to be seen whether this lawwill make much difference in practice. Hopefully

it means that in the long run schools such as

ours will get government funding and that thepoorest of the poor will also receive high-quality

education regulated by the state.

The law does mean that people can now de-

mand education, which is a great improvement.However, we are still a long way from good edu-

cation.

Clockwise: Theo, Karin, Alet, Jantine, JacquesMarien, Conny, Joep

Translation:Taal&Te

ken/LeoReijnen([email protected]

l)|Design:KarinvanD

uijnhoven,

Utrecht|Print:DrukkerijHieroglief,Roosendaa

l|Manythanks!

benares school newsletter 2011

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