A nice surprise in my in-box … my Project Mala’s sponsored child’s school report

Amidst the adverts, circulars and scams it was nice to see in my email inbox a message sent to me by Project Mala. The charity through which I sponsor a school child in India seems to have just the right balance between making me feel acknowledged and involved without being bombarded or pestered. The message I have just opened is particularly exciting as it tells me that they have updated the latest school report of the child I sponsor so all I have to do is login with my own username and password to find out how Neha and her family are.


The report tells me the percentage marks Neha has achieved in mathematics, English, Hindi and general knowledge. It also tells me her percentage attendance: a very impressive 96.7%. I think this is particularly admirable when I read further in the report that Neha lives 4km away. I am pleased to read elsewhere in this school report that she has not had any major illness.


At the end of the report are some brief ‘general comments’ which provide me with an interesting insight into what life is like for a family in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the area of India where Project Mala works. Apparently the parents of the child I sponsor are agricultural labourers. In December last year her father sold his cow (for £31.25). His January purchase is perhaps a ‘sign of the times’…. a new mobile phone.

Newsletter: How would you read yours?

When this blog began, (please see my first entry, ‘introduction’, April 2010) I explained that one of my reasons for becoming a sponsor with Project Mala, the charity that gives quality education to children in remote villages of India, was a hope that it would be an interesting experience that would give me a chance to learn new things…as well as the child I sponsor! Receiving 'Mala News', the Project Mala Newsletter, is one of the ways I am able to learn more about what life in India is like for some children and what a small charity in England can do to make a positive difference...with a bit of help from people such as you and me. 


I appreciate the Project Mala Newsletter very much for several reasons. I appreciate ‘the reminder’ that I am a Project Mala child sponsor: having set up the sponsorship arrangement no further commitment has been required of me which must be good for anyone with a hectic lifestyle as time inevitably flies by. I am happy though to take the time to read about the impressive and significant work that is being done by Project Mala since the last newsletter I received six months ago. I do feel the newsletters are well-timed: I am contacted enough to make me feel regularly informed but I am not contacted too much that I feel bombarded with communication. Nor do I feel that a disproportionate amount of the charity’s resources are being spent on the sponsors rather than the children as the Project Mala Newsletter is just two A4 sides long, covering a range of topics in bite-sized chunks. I find the newsletter is a quick and easy read which leaves a lasting impression. I have found that a particularly memorable part of the Project Mala Newsletters is the photographs of the children, their classrooms and their teachers. See some for yourself just by clicking here.  


The latest edition of the Project Mala newsletter has been sent to me by email whereas previous copies have been paper versions, posted to my home address. The email that the Newsletter is attached to expresses concern that when sending email to their sponsors ‘on mass’, the message may be caught by a spam filter and so Project Mala requests acknowledgement that the newsletter has arrived ok. They also ask whether sponsors are happy to receive the newsletter this way in the future. Although I like a paper copy so I can read it during my daily commute, I am happy to print a copy of the newsletter for myself, thereby saving this small charity’s time and money so they can be spent on the hundreds of children and their families who are benefiting from the life-changing opportunities Project Mala provides.

Have you got a moment to take a look at a copy of Mala News now? I'm sure you'll find a fascinating read if you do. There are several copies of Mala News available on the Project Mala website which is where you can also start to sponsor a child or make a donation. I am so pleased I found Project Mala ...I hope you may be too.

Project Mala film part two

I notice that there is another Project Mala film on the list alongside the film I have been watching on You Tube. As well as further footage of the schools, staff and pupils, Documentary on Project Mala - part 2 features a parent of one of the children who attends a Project Mala School. By listening to what this mother has to say about why her family has decided they want their daughter to go to school viewers gain an insight into the significant difference Project Mala makes … or can do with support from people like you. If you or anyone you know may want to know more about the work of Project Mala please visit the Project Mala website or find ten minutes to watch the films.

See Project Mala in action NOW ~ using You Tube

On a recent visit to the homepage of the Project Mala website I was delighted to notice the addition of a new film. I remember well, a short film I watched a while ago about the children helped by Project Mala. It included some amazing scenes of happy, hard-working children, keen to study and grateful for the chance Project Mala gives them to learn. So I am intrigued to see what this latest film will show me.


Just by clicking on the You Tube link I am able to start watching this new film which begins with views of Varanassi, the area in India where Project Mala schools are based. As I have not visited Varanassi yet I am interested to grab a quick glimpse of the location whilst listening to some information about how and why Project Mala began. What I see next in the film is familiar…it is the lovely chalk-board logo of Project Mala, on a big banner at the road-side, indicating that one of the Project Mala schools is near. As I continue watching the film I get the opportunity to hear the teachers and the pupils at Project Mala schools. As a sponsor of one of the children Project Mala works with, I really appreciate being able to see and hear about the work of the charity, from those who are receiving it or helping to carry out its mission. I think a film such as this can really reassure sponsors and potential sponsors what their 30p sponsorship money, or other donated amount, can achieve.

Although I keep a watchful eye out for the particular child I have been sponsoring, there is a lot in this short film to catch my attention. I am particularly struck by the sight of the children smiling as they enter their school and how smart they look in their school uniforms. Listening to one of the teachers talking in the film I am impressed to hear about the range of subjects taught at the school with opportunities for vocational and academic lessons as well as games and sport…. no surprise that cricket is a favourite! It is also good to see the children tucking into a decent dinner. But perhaps the most memorable and heart-warming moments in the film are the children telling us why they like going to school and describing their dreams for the future. Thanks to Project Mala these children can dare to have dreams and dare to believe that one day they may come true. I for one hope that Project Mala continues to receive enough support to enable it to continue providing all it does for even more children in India. If you have not already seen the film, can you watch it now and decide what you think?

Message from Project Mala: Spread the word

It was good to receive a message recently which Project Mala sent to all its sponsors. Messages to sponsors from Project Mala are not so frequent they become troublesome...but received often enough to know I am not forgotten. This latest message is interesting as it is giving sponsors an opportunity to help in a small way which can make a big difference. The message asks sponsors such as me to consider putting a link to the Project Mala website on any websites we have. Apparently this could increase the likelihood of Project Mala appearing 'higher up the list' of results when surfers search the internet. Obviously this is crucial as many Project Mala sponsors find Project Mala through an internet search. It is only through more potential sponsors finding Project Mala and agreeing to sponsor a child that more children who need the help that Project Mala can provide will benefit from what Project Mala does. I already have the Project Mala website link on my Facebook page but as soon as I can I must think of other sites that I could add the Project Mala link to. Project Mala offers to help e.g. by supplying further information or the logo.

Another suggestion Project Mala makes in its message is to use printed media to get Project Mala into the public eye. They offer to supply any of us with press briefings about the work of Project Mala and/or the carpets if we would like to write to, or for, a local paper about our work. Perhaps I can approach some of the organisations I work with who have an interest in literacy. Can you think of anywhere or any way you could spread the word about Project Mala?   

It is good to see yet again how hard this charity works, dedicated and determined to reach as many potential sponsors as possible, thereby helping more children.         

London Marathon

 

While watching the Virgin London Marathon last Sunday I wondered whether anyone may be running to support Project Mala, the charity through which I sponsor a school child in India. I notice from the running vests and a quick look at the London Marathon website that some of the participants are supporting very large charities who arrange child-sponsorship agreements.

I sometimes find it frustrating that because Project Mala is a small charity, there are not more people who know about Project Mala. I am sure that if more people did know about Project Mala they couldn’t fail to be impressed by its work and achievements and want to sponsor a child. This is important because whilst there is already a huge amount of work being done to help the children in India which Project Mala works with, the charity needs more sponsors because there are more children in need.

Just a couple of the things that I have found particularly impressive about Project Mala which I don’t think you find with a large charity are: Firstly, the incredibly low overheads of Project Mala meaning there is very little of the money donated that is needed for the charity’s essential running costs rather than going directly to the children, their education, their food, their uniforms and their schools. The charity achieves this efficiency through the generosity of its staff who are mostly unpaid for all of their hard work.

Which brings me to the second point, the ‘personal service’ you receive as a sponsor. I have mentioned in other blog entries how impressed I have been whenever I have received communication from someone in the Project Mala team that the response has always been prompt and polite as well as appreciative.
 This is why I am interested to find ways to ‘spread the word’ about the work of Project Mala. Any ideas? I hope that this blog will be one way of encouraging other people to sponsor a child through Project Mala. Another way of raising the profile may well be through events such as the London Marathon. But I am under no illusion about how difficult and demanding it must be to run the 42.195km ~ even if it is just once in a lifetime. Having said that I am mindful that many of the Project Mala children have to travel half of that distance every day to attend school ~ but they do so gladly, such is their determination to take up the chance of the education that Project Mala can provide. Yet another reason why supporting Project Mala is such a worthwhile thing to do and why I hope more people will want to do so.

Project Mala provides bicycles free of charge while the children are at middle school so they can cycle the 10km or so between their home and school. You can read about this in a recent Project Mala newsletter.

A sponsor's visit to a Project Mala school

My last blog entry reflected on the email I had received from Project Mala about a trip that is being organised for sponsors. I mentioned that Project Mala is willing to welcome individual sponsors to visit its schools in India and commented that I expect it would be an amazing experience to do so.


Well Celia Davies and Jonathan Waters, Project Mala sponsors who have had the experience of visiting a Project Mala school have written the following few lines of their impressions of the visit to the school and given permission for me to add their account to this blog.


Reading about their visit is another reminder to me of how much I would like to visit one day but in the meantime how pleased I am to have come across the charity Project Mala and enter into a sponsorship arrangement so for just a few pounds a month from me a child in India can receive an education … and so much more. Please read on to see what I mean. Please visit the Project Mala website if you can sponsor a child.


“We arrived in Varanasi on an overnight sleeper train from Agra. Unfortunately we did not arrive until about 9.00, it should have been 6.30 and we had difficulty with signals on our mobile phones but our Tour leader assisted. Anil picked us up from our hotel around 11.00 so we had time for a quick breakfast before setting off to the schools.


Anil had kindly arranged for us to actually visit all of the classes so we saw children of all ages and had the opportunity to see a wide range of subjects being taught. We were particularly impressed with the maths class where quite young children (I think about 10 or 11) were doing percentages and profit and loss without the luxury of calculators UK children have. Although the classes were large by UK standards the children were working hard to learn and seemed happy and contented if somewhat bemused by these two strangers arriving in their school. One or two older ones took the opportunity to try out their English on some native speakers and the younger classes delighted us by singing us English songs.


All the classes were well attended and the children smartly turned out and despite a lack of resources as we know it, the benefits were obvious.

Anil then took us to one of the other schools but on the way stopped off at a state school with the aim of showing us the difference. As we approached the school it seemed strange that it was so quiet. We spoke with the headmaster and one of the children had been killed in a road accident during the day and the children had been sent home. The school had no toilet facilities and the child had been killed crossing the road to a field. It cast a shadow over what had been a very happy and positive experience.


In summary we were very impressed and very happy to see how so many children benefit by your charity. Our trip was very busy and very varied and the day in Varanasi was actually the only free day we had in India, we consider ourselves very fortunate to have shared it with Anil and his school.”

Thanks to Celia Davies and Jonathan Waters for their account and for their permission to use it here.