Newsletter September 2009

Ekal Seattle Organizes Independence Day Celebrations

Ekal Vidyalaya Seattle Chapter organized the first ever walk/run event on Aug 15th, to mark the 63rd Independence Day of India, at Marymoor Park in Redmond. The event saw an overwhelming response from the local Indian community with more than 200 runners and 270 total attendees. All of this for a common cause: liberate the tribal children of India from illiteracy. The invitation to participate in the event was extended to one and all. Parents with kids in strollers to little kids just learning to walk, young adults to senior citizens were all out on the trails of Marymoor this fine Saturday morning. "Neeti walked 1 km!" beamed the mother of a 1.5 year old. She was most certainly the youngest marathoner there.
 
The event started with Vasavi Epari, an Ekal volunteer, announcing the program details. She first called upon stage the Chief Guest of Honor, Sri Janardhanam Reddy, a 1971 war veteran, to hoist the Indian National Flag. He was accompanied by his wife, Smt Laxmi Reddy, also a retired army medical corps nurse. The flag hoisting was followed by the resounding rendition of the Indian National Anthem. Ganga Narayanan, a local vocalist, filled the air with a few additional patriotic melodies, including Vande Matram and Jayostute. The race commenced soon after. The Ekal team had announced prizes for the winners, which included gift certificates to shoe stores and free unlimited yoga lessons. The enthusiasm was clearly visible in the young runners hoping to clench one of the awards.  
 
Right from the time of the registrations to the time the awards were distributed, the event was very well choreographed. All locations, such as registration tables, the race course, food stations etc, were meticulously marked. All runners were given out race packets, which included race bibs and Ekal T-shirts. There were water stations located at the Start/Finish and throughout the course making it easy even for the first time runners to get to the finish line. A lot goes into making an event like this flawless and it truly demonstrated the tireless efforts of the dedicated Ekal volunteers.
 
Ekal organizes several of these events in different parts of the United States during the course of the year. One of the events that has received an overwhelming response, especially in the bay area, is the Ekal marathon. The Seattle Chapter of Ekal Vidyalaya has been organizing the Ekal Marathon program for the past two years as well. The program provides comprehensive six month endurance training to all participants. Registrations for the 2010 marathon are accepted by email at Marathon@EkalSeattle.org.
 
In addition to raising funds for the Ekal schools, the purpose of these events is also to raise awareness of the Ekal movement and get more and more people involved in this noble cause. 100,000 schools by the year 2015 in the remote corners of India is a goal Ekal has set to achieve. As of July 2009, Ekal has 26797 schools with 769575 registered students. Every small step can only help in further supporting this mission. I salute the Ekal team for their perseverance and dedication and wish them the very best with their ongoing endeavors. 

 

 

 

Successful Ekal Vidyalaya Fund Raising Event in Houston

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation Fund Raising Musical Evening Program was a successful event well attended by over 1100 Houstonians at the Stafford Convention Center on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi. Many of Houston's well known personalities attended the musical evening and donated generously. Sri Jugal Malani, Ekal National advisor welcomed all with a note that the goal of Ekal is to provide education in the remote underprivileged Tribal areas. The Chief Guest was Consul General Mr. Sanjiv Arora and the Keynote Speaker was Dr. Renu Khator, University of Houston Chancellor and President of UH systems. Mr. Sanjiv Arora noticed the importance of Ekal Vidyalaya's efforts and suggested that Ekal can partner with Government to reach remote villages with the new law passed. Rishi Bhutada, a young businessman and community activist, introduced Dr. Renu Khator.

Dr. Renu Khator thanked the Houston community for supporting her in the community. She emphasized the need for support of Ekal Vidyalaya by showing India's position in the literacy world. There are 113 million children worldwide without any education and 60% of those are girls. The income level of 90% literacy communities is 50% higher than 50% literacy ones. In rural India, teacher availability is 70% and out of that 25% remain absent. India is behind Kenya and Nicaragua in literacy. It is important that every child has an opportunity for education, learning and hope.

That is where Ekal Vidyalaya and you come in. It took 72 years after Gandhi's 1937 vision to pass an enforceable bill for compulsory education for every child. The public sector can't do it alone and Ekal Vidyalaya is very important in reaching remote areas, Dr. Khator continued. She appealed all to support Ekal Vidyalaya with their hearts and pockets. Every child should have a dream, hope and opportunity to maximize his/her potential. Dr. Khator reminded the audience of Hira Ramji Ambedkar, the architect of India's constitution who as an "untouchable" boy came from a small village in Madhya Pradesh and through education he reached a high level. Humbly she said that she herself got an opportunity of higher education in USA and reached this level. 

That is where the NGOs like Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation come in and are making much progress. Ekal Foundation has a goal to reach out to these children, establishing 100,000 schools in tribal villages of India where education otherwise would be an impossible dream.

The program was started with a prayer by Preet Prerana, of Baweja Group which came from India and is doing 40 such fundraising programs. After that, the "Lamp of Knowledge" was lighted by the city controller now running for the seat of Mayor of Houston Ms. Annise Parker, Dr. Renu Khator, Mr. Suresh Khator, City of Stafford's Councilman Mayor Pro Tem Ken Mathew, Mr. and Mrs. Subhash Gupta, Mr. and Mrs. Jugal Malani, Mr. and Mrs. Prakash Shah and others. Followed by Bhakti Sangeet by Baweja group, donors names were announced as pledges came pouring in from the audience.

Ms. Mansi Mehta, a young high school graduate from Houston, shared her experience of visiting an Ekal School in village of Dediapada in the state of Gujarat in India during vacation with her family in July 2009. Interacting with Ekal school kids, she saw the very message of hope. She saw that these innocent yet bright children who are just underprivileged and, if someone is willing to hold their hand, provide basic education and guide them, they can be the future leaders that India needs.

Later in the evening a short film on Ekal's work and mission in Jammu and Kashmir region of India was shared with everyone and people donated generously for the noble cause of education. During this fun filled evening with a lofty mission and higher purpose, more than $430,000 to support 1180 schools were pledged by generous donors for the noble cause of educating the underprivileged children of Indian subcontinent.

The program ended with Dr. Renu Khator giving appreciation plaques and flowers to all the musicians who came all the way from India especially for raising Ekal awareness. They sang patriotic songs "Jahan Daal Daal Pe Soneki Chidiya karati Hai basera Wah Bharat Desh Hai Mera" and "Aey Mere Vatan Ke Logo Jara Ankh Me Bharlo Paani", keeping the audience spellbound throughout the wonderful musical evening. This program would not come to fruition, as always, without lots of dedicated volunteers who devoted their time, the most valuable resource of all. They are the backbone of the Ekal organization with lofty goals and mission of bringing education to the masses as Swami Vivekanand quoted many times that "If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him!" This has been the mission of Ekal since its very inception. 
  

 

 

RICE CLUB of US joins Donors Club

The Rice Club of Lake Highland US has taken initiative by donating $365 for Ekal Schools for the first time.