Udayan -A Small School With Big Aspirations!!!
Uttar Pradesh is one of the most populated states of India. Recently a map went viral on the Internet that compared population of the state of UP with other countries in the world and the findings were astonishing to say the least.
Down below is map from a news article that appeared on Quartz India and it was found that
Uttar Pradesh’s population is so large it’s more comparable to the other largest countries in the world. As data scientist Aron Strandberg shows, every country in Africa, Europe, and South America has fewer people than Uttar Pradesh.
In this state, a friend of mine (who is a Facebook activist and writes aggressively against the evils of casteism in India) runs a school for kids of the weaker section. These kids belong to a particular community/caste locally known as musahar which translates to the rat eaters in English. Sadly, the evil of untouchability is still prevailing in our country and my friend Ajit Singh who belongs to upper caste (sic) has taken a vow to eradicate this evil and bring these musahars to the mainstream.
Udayan is a school run by Ajit Singh and his family who live in a small village (Gazipur) in Uttar Pradesh. The school intends to bring the kids of poor and oppressed villagers to the mainstream. The school is one of its kind. Kids not only study here but also participate in Yoga, Dancing and Sewing Classes. The aim of the school is not just to make them literate but make them self sufficient at the same time.
The idea of running this school spawned on Facebook and he decided to bite the bullet. Since then many people have participated, contributed to his cause but every now and then finding money to buy school supplies or warm clothes or blankets for kids becomes a problem.
He often announces his plans on Facebook and urges people to donate whatever they can according to their capacity. Some people send old clothes, some people donate money, and sometimes people drive all the way from their respective places to spend a week or a month in his school. Some people have donated their old laptops to the school as Udayan believes that it is equally important for kids to stay in touch with the technology.
Although it is true that intentions matter more than the money but such changes that require foot-soldiers to march at the grass-root levels, money indeed becomes an indispensable asset.
Ajit Sing in the left
@hendix22 kick-started a generous campaign wherein he wants to help the needy people. I take this opportunity to thank him for being so generous towards people he barely knows yet wants to open his heart for them.
If you haven't checked his #hendrix22lovesyou campaign, I suggest you do and make more and more people aware of it.
The pressing demands for the school currently are- Warm clothes
- Shoes for kids
- Blankets
Whatever earnings I make through this campaign, I will donate that to Udayan School (minus logistics costs/transaction commissions if any)
If you too want to make a generous contribution to this noble cause, follow Ajit Singh on Facebook
Happy to give 100% upvote for this. Your friend is a wonderful man for his activism and you are amazing for raising money for this cause. 👏👏👏👏
Thank you for your support.
100% upvote ... such a beautiful idea.. I wish you the best of luck getting the children needed supplies.
Thank you very much for your support.
Following you.
Wonderful Tarun !! This is really noble idea and I wish you all the support and success. Let's get them what they need from this lovely initiative !!
Thank you Dheeraj. Please check your email, I've sent you something.
Ajit Singh is doing best. Education is much necessary for everyone. As we know Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state in India and here are many such villages which we don't know about anything. As we know that Indian government has changed and the chief minister is also working fine. I think government has offered some schemes for poor people, widows, begabonds, childrens. You should apply for some fund and attached some photographs of the school. I hope you'll apply and get the benefit of schemes.
Thank you for your support. I'll keep you updated.
Good luck with this school!
Thank you very much for your support
I 100% support this. Beautiful idea, beautiful children! I wish you all the success in the world. And I look forward to the updates!
Thank you very much for your support.
Following you now.
Awesome! Thank you for showing us Udayan School started by Ajit Sing. :) I don't know the value of usd to you guys there but hopefully we can get those children some clothes, shoes, blankets or food etc...
Thank you for sharing this beautiful school with us. :)
Every penny counts Hendrix. I'm thankful that you found my initiative worth your time and money. I'll keep you updated regarding the progress I make after a week. Thanks for the upvote.
Of course! Thank you for caring about these children and spreading awareness so we can all help as well. You're a great person my friend! :)
Thank you for bringing this wonderful story to our attention. I am more than happy to donate for this beautiful school. The caste system in India is archaic to say the least and it is hard to believe it can still exist in modern times. I praise the efforts of all those involved so far.
How many pairs of shoes are needed and how far is it to the nearest shoe shop? Let me know the cost of driving the kids to the shop and getting them all shoes. Thank you
As far as archaic practices of castism are concerned, I'm Ashamed to admit that yes it is true. Though times are changing , slowly and gradually.
The faster the better - nothing short of the government passing a bill that removes the system once and for all. - I meditate for change. 💛
Hello @sallybeth23. The number of enrolled kids is close to 25. However because their parents are poor so they don't get to attend the school on a regular basis.
Sometimes parents want helping hands in the fields and thus kids don't appear in the school at all for weeks.
As of now, they've a minimum of 20 kids who are attending school.
The nearest shop is close by (within 50kilometers/30miles and if we were to add up driving and transportation cost along with the cost price of shoes, it'll come around (₹300+₹ 10000 = $206 in all)
But whatever little we manage would be great.
Thank you very much for your support.
Thanks so much for the information. So 206 US dollars is equivalent to about 30sbd . If I transfer 30 steem dollars do you think that will achieve the goal? It would make an amazing steemit post to see the kids going for a trip to the shoe shop. 🌈 I will transfer to hendrix22lovesyou in your name. Just confirm this amount is correct. 💛💛💛 and get the shop keeper to give discount on a bulk buy haha
Thank you very much for keeping faith on a total stranger. As far as getting them kids to the shoe shop is concerned, I will have to speak to Ajit Singh. Just give me some time so that I discuss it with him and update you.
Ok that sounds awesome, thank you
I had a word with him. Shoes and blankets have been taken care of as the winter planning was going on for quite some time and they managed to arrange funds for this winter season.
However, as told to me by Ajit singh over telephone, Udayan School would appreciate people sending in money for food of kids.
That is great news they have shoes and blankets. Please spend my donation on food in that case. Thank you so much for your help. 💛
Also I was told that the school is running at full strength these days which has grown to huge 80 kids owing to harsh winters. Kids spend a great deal of time at school because of the heating system which isn't available at their place sadly. So now they're looking for food arrangements for the next 3 months.
It feels so good to see people helping out underprivileged kids. And it feels even better to see good Samaritans like @hendrix22 to work selflessly towards unknown, totally strangers.
great cause and wonderful inititaive. Whenever I go back my home country, I do donate sth like this. But with the internet and steemit we can do so much more.
Steemit can be a great change trigger.