US Contact: hthota@microsoft.com

Contact in India:
Mr GVVSDS Prasad

Chairman of the NGO-organization VASORD

104, Reliance Enclave, Venkataramana Colony

Hyderabad - 500 004

A.P.,India

E-mail: pgvvsds@hotmail.com or tkn@post6.tele.dk
Phone:
0091-40 3320196

Proposal:

Organization Profile:

Name of Org: Jyothi Nilayam Regd. Society No. 3607 of 1997.

Date of establishment: Established on 28th July 1997.

Name of contact person: Fundraisere Torben Kaare Nielsen, Strandgade 38, 5300 Kerteminde, Denmark, Europe

India Contact: Mr GVVSDS Prasad, the Chairman of the

NGO-organization VASORD, 104, Reliance Enclave, Venkataramana Colony, Hyderabad - 500 004, A.P.,India

Phone: 0091-403320196 or 3395964

Email: pgvvsds@hotmail.com

Telephone number: 011 45 65 32 44 12

E-mail: tkn@post6.tele.dk

Long-term objectives of the organization:

This was started in 1997 by two people, Mr. Detlef Koch and Mr. Torben

Nielsen. They wanted to establish a school in the poorest and most backward place in AP. Among other things Jyothi Nilayam is first of all being organized for the promotion of spiritual, physical, mental and educational development and upliftment of adults and children of all ages without any distinction of caste, creed or religion and in the interest of mankind in general. In a long term process we will create educational and medical supply structures in Keshampet Mandal, Mahboobnagar District.

Aims:

They want a different education focussed on truth, non violence,

love, piece of mind, and right conduct.

Project Location: Vemulanarva village in Keshampet Manual,

Mahboobnagar District approximately 65 kilometres south-west of the

capital Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, India. The Keshampet Mandal is a rural district with no urban population, with an illiteracy rate around 80%, females being affected the most, with an illiteracy rate of 89% against men 71%. Employment opportunities are almost non-existent and health and hygiene conditions are appalling. 80% of income

is spent alleviating hunger. There remains little for clothing and other essentials, to say nothing of education.

The project is directed towards

* Children from the most vulnerable parts of society without any distinction of caste, creed or religion. Girl children will be favoured (ratio around 75:25). Children with handicaps will also be admitted. The Kindergarten will admit children from the age of 3. There

will be a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 24 children in each class.

* Towards education of teachers, non-pedagogical staff and parents.

Aims of the project: The general aim of Jyothi Nilayam is to develop a well-defined area in Mahboobnagar District, Andhra Pradesh. The project

wants to create educational and medical supply structures, and further the society will promote the upliftment of poor and needy in any field of human endeavour. They plan to start a kindergarten and later build a primary and a secondary school.

Kindergarten:

They have a temporary kindergarten operating in Vemulanarva. The kindergarten is established in a rented village house in Vemulanarva.

This kindergarten has been working since the 2'nd of October 1998 with one class of 16 children who are selected from the most vulnerable parts of the

local society. The children are approximately three years old. To take care of the children we have employed a teacher who will teach the

children and secure the development of all aspects of the child's

personality in order to balance social deficiencies. All teachers employed by Jyothi Nilayam will receive a thorough education

while working with the children and they will all be judged by their ability to live and teach by the human values of truth, love, non violence, right conduct and peace of mind. Before the teacher is employed, the school and the teacher has agreed on a period of probation.

School:

Jyothi Nilayam will start with a kindergarten and later build a primary and a secondary school. The kindergarten will admit children from the age of 3 so when they enter the primary school they have been in Kindergarten for 3 years. The primary school will last for 4 years and the secondary school will last for 6 years. Jyothi Nilayam want to establish a school which will consider the needs of the poor in rural areas. The school will through gradual, long-term expansion establish an educational system which in the future will be able to covert a part of the growing demand for competent leaders within education, craft, trade, business, as well as medicine and law. It is the aim of the school to get the students to live and work in the local community after they have finished their education.

Details of funding requirements (in US$):

Year 1: US$ 39.414

Year 2: US$ 26.443

Year 3: US$ 32.640

First year:

Buildings: 16.500

Furnitures & Fixtures: 12.908

Saleries: 6.360

Food: 1.536

Misc.: 2.110

Total: 39.414

Second year:

Buildings: 9.166

Furnitures & Fixtures: 1.856

Saleries: 9.960

Food: 3.072

Misc.: 2.389

Total: 26.443

Third year:

Buildings: 9.166

Furnitures & Fixtures: 1.856

Saleries:14.440

Food: 4.608

Misc.: 2.570

Total: 32.640

The minimum budget for the temporary kindergarten in the rented house:

Approx. US$ 6.000 a year (1 teacher and 16 children).

Criteria for Selection of students for admission:

Physical and economical living conditions (the poorest of the poor), girl children, children with handicaps.

Graduation from the school:

The child will be inspired to stay on in school until graduation from the 10th standard in the secondary school.

Scope for further education/vocation of students after graduation:

Jyothi Nilayam will make it possible through grants, for the students to go on to the university for further study. If the child however chooses to become a carpenter, electrician etc, they say that they will help the student to establish themselves in the area. They hope to keep the children we educate in the area so they get the chance

to participate in the development of their own district. Further they

believe that many of the students will find a natural place inside their organization.

You can find their web site at http://home6.inet.tele.dk/tkn/jyothi/.

The budget requirement listed in their web site seem to be different from the proposal. It doesn't include the building and furnishings.

They list in rupees

A: Salaries - 3.100, -

B: Food - 1.220,-

C: Doctor & Medicine - 2.000,-

D: Personal articles for the children - 2.500,-

E: School supplies etc. - 3.000,-

F: Maintenance - 500,-

G: Communication - 3.000,-

H: Transport - 2.000,-

I: Miscellaneous - 1.500,-

Total: Rs 18.820,- per month (later including lunch - Rs 22.340,- per

month). So per year it will be Rs. 225840 which is roughly around $5646 (at $1 = Rs.40). They also list emergency expenses: Rs 1.750,- + Rs 16.000,- = Rs 17.750,- for labour and clothes

For the breakdown of the costs (from the web site)

Salaries - Rs 2500,- + Rs 600,- = Rs 3100,- month + Rs 1750,- one time

expense. Kindergarten Teacher: Net salary Rs 2000,-/Gross salary Rs 2500,-

Aya: She is working 4 hours a day for 6 days a week, and is paid Rs 6,25 per hour, giving a total of Rs 600,- per month.

Male worker: In order to finish sand pit for kitchen outlet, stone slabs and a gate for the kindergarten we need his labour for at least another 35 days.

The kitchen needs urgent improvement. Total labour expenses will be 35 days by Rs 50,- a day, equal to Rs 1750,-. This is a one time expense.

Food - Now Rs 1220,- per month, and later Rs 4740,- per month. At the moment the children are getting only buffalo milk and bananas as

breakfast meal. The normal hours for the Kindergarten are from 9 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. Later it will be from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. when they have adjusted to their new life style!

The children (16) are in the kindergarten 22 days a month. Milk and bananas equal to Rs 1220,- per month. Later the children will be provided with lunch too. Protein and vitamin rich food containing vegetables like potatoes, onions, cauliflower, rice and curd, sometimes ghee and spices without chili. Including the staff this will

amount to Rs 3520,- per month.

Doctor and medicine - Rs 2000,- per month. In the last few months expenses were Rs 2689,-, but health conditions will improve when we provide better food for breakfast and lunch.

Personal articles for the children - Rs 2500,- per month

At the moment we need funds in order to provide each child with 3 briefs, 3 vests, 2 shorts, 1 long trouser, 3 shirts and 2 sweaters. A total of Rs. 1500,- per child should do it. For washing we need Rs 220,- per month - done by the Aya.

School supplies - (Toys, stationary, teaching equipment) Rs 3.000,- per Month.

Maintenance of buildings - Rs 200,- per month.

Telephone/Fax/e-mail and stamps - Rs 3.000,- per month.

Transport - Rs 2.000,- per month.

Miscellaneous - Rs 1.500,- per month

They have a building donated by landlord Mr. Reddy. They want to move to the building soon. They're also talking to Lions Club and Rotary clubs for support. They have individual sponsorships for the children and also take one-time donations of any amount. They have pictures of the kids and the school on their web site.

Some Questions & Answers:

- whether providing "relatively better" facilities to a fraction of the

children will not create a priviledged section in the village.

- what will happen to the children who will be forced to return to their original mode of living if Jyothi Nilayam fails to secure adequate funds in future to sustain themselves or expand.

Answers:

Quality education is basically what we want, not quantity. And we do have to start somewhere in the process, and we do know that it is in a fragile community. But sometimes you have to take risks, because it is impossible to make an alternative that will work well. It will be damaged by too many compromises.

The basic idea of Jyothi Nilayam on a long view, is to develop the whole area in cooperation with other NGO's operating in the area, and one of the issues will be food and alternative cooking.

The whole concept about food will be handled with care. Both in the

temporary and later in the permanent school/kindergarten we will and already have introduced the term "marginal better" food. We believe that it is possible, as long as we present it openly to the villagers, to focus on alternative cooking for example through an educational parents program open for everybody.

Jyothi Nilayam will introduce an education that focus on the needs of the pupil and not the needs of the teacher. We believe that through openness the school, we will be able to inspire other schools in the area. Jyothi Nilayam will hopefully become a working and living example for the area.

If the above ideas at any time creates a priviledged section in the village. We will deal with it in an open dialogue with the villagers in order to avoid this from happening.

The identification of the children (16) was done in cooperation with a local partner. The criterias were six points of poverty agreed upon by the villagers. And they were:

1) No farming land

2) No work

3) Only food now and then

4) Illness in the family

5) Debt

6) Many children

This example is just to give you an idea of how careful we are always to involve the villagers in the life of the school.

If it becomes impossible to create funds for the yearly expansion of the school, we will simply skip one class.

Should it in the future (God forbid!) be necessary to close down Jyothi

Nilayam due to lacking funds we will accomodate the children in one of the following schools (in priority order):

1) Private boarding school

2) Private day school

3) Public school

We calculate, that if the above happens, the individual child sponsorships will cover the necessary expenses. We also have an idea in order to create a foundation for unexpected events like this.

Finally we all have to be aware, that to introduce an educational program like the one mentioned in the papers of Jyothi Nilayam in a specific area of India, of course is a priviledge for the child who is touched by fate. We in Jyothi Nilayam focus on the single child just like Mother Teresa did. We try to create a better future for this child, realising that Jyothi Nilayam today does not have the capacity to do anything else even if it wanted to; but we do firmly believe, that if we are given the possibility, we will in the years to come be able to inspire the educational development in the state of Andhra Pradesh and later perhaps in all of India.

Kind regards

Torben Nielsen

Current Funding:

ASHA, Colorado is currently funding the project around $2100/yr.