Hello Friends,

First, we know no words will do justice to everyone’s individual experience over the last couple of months as we feel the weight of our responsibility to the community, particularly now. By now we are all aware of the severity of Covid 19 and probably exhausted from the anxiety of it all. While we don’t want to add to the stress we do want to let you know how we plan to execute this year’s drive.

Current Covid-19 status of schools:
1) We were able to contact a few of the teachers and the below details are as accumulated:
The government / teachers are considering and working out some options like:
     i) Smart classes for children with access to a smart phone at home
     ii) Regulate the students with 1/2 the capacity with social distancing options
     iii) Split by student strength into 2 sessions per day, ie. morning and afternoon
2) They hope to start schools sometime in June but there is no certainty.
3) We had gathered a list of essentials in Jan-2020 but we realize that most of it has changed. Hence reconsider-ed/-ing them.

Based on above considerations and current situation, our plans and requirements for this year are:

a) TV setup for Smart-Class in 4 schools  – Our pilot project at Kalavihosahalli has been a success with many other schools trying to replicate.
b) The smart class also requires preparation of suitable content for viewing. We intend to provide the content in an USB pen-drive to overcome the internet limitations.
c) Water filter for 1 school
d) We hope to find a way to make a small contribution to the few small schools in our ambit. Maybe stationery kits, at least.
e) We plan to conduct our drive, a month after the schools start functioning, regularly, to get a better perspective.
f) All the activities will be in strict adherence to the government’s rules and regulations for the NGOs/Schools.
g) We are planning this year’s activities, with least manual intervention and contact. This makes micro distributions like books and stationery, non-viable.

Also, we are pleased to let you know that Vidhyadaanam received its 80G exemption in April-2020.
This means that the contributions for FY-2020-2021 will be eligible for (50%) IT exemption.
Donations Eligible under sections 80G and 80GGA

Last year, Vidhyadaanam accomplished 3 successful campaigns.
a) Books and Stationery Donation drive in June:
32 schools gathered at 9 locations with ~950 students, ~7600 books and ~1000 stationery kits
2 laptops received as donation, given to the teachers at two schools.
1 purifier donated for potable water
Belts and Ties for 80 kids
42″ TV setup for Smart-Class in one school
b) Independence Day celebrations in August:
Vidhyadaanam was pleased to support the fancy-dress competitions held, and their rewards, in 6 schools.
More details and pictures are here:https://vidhyadaanam.org/independence-day-2019/
c) Library Development Program with Pratham Books in January-2020:
Thanks to our individual and corporate donors and with the constant support of Pratham Books, we were able to touch ~336 children with ~670 new, best-quality and well-suited books. Vidhyadaanam was happy to sponsor for a display shelf, made locally, for Kallavihosahalli school.
Pictures are here – https://photos.app.goo.gl/39ggbfQTx9MYTfWQ8

We look forward for your support in any of the following ways:

Please note: Providing support is purely voluntary and there are no compulsions of any kind.

How you can help:

1) Volunteer to help with the preparation of smart-class content
2) Donate any of the items helpful to our needs (as above), for this year.
3) Monetary – Please reach us to contribute.

The Trip:

While we wish it could have been aforetime, a few changes are imminent.
We will update the dates and status of the trip once we receive more news.

As always, your support, in any way, is highly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this mail.

Team VIDHYADAANAM