Gaurang Desai
February 17 – 18, 2010
Background
- I visited India in January – February this year!
- At the invitation of Ram Ingole, my brother Prakash and I visited Nagpur for a 24 hour trip to observe the noble efforts of Ram and his supporters, well wishers and young children who are undergoing a life transformation!
- My impressions of this experience follow in this report! The observation can not be described completely! You have to visit the place your self to experience to feel what I came back with!
- But this is an attempt to highlight what is happening there!
Vimlashram Gharkul
- Vimlashram Gharkul is a place where about 38 children from different ages are getting a home and nurturing to get an education to make a life!
- Children are being taught to be part of a big family doing many chores and help each other along with education and also a healthy life style!
- The home is a 4 story building, with ground floor being leased for retail shops (which generates extra financial support for this project)!
- Key Persons who are guiding this organization are: Ram Ingole and Pinky Singh

Vimlashram Gharkul

Students

Students

Staff

Staff
What we observed
- Look at the sparkle in the eyes of these children! You could sense they were excited about the life they are embarking on!
- They were also very lively and well mannered!
- In addition to the guardians, there were also other supporters, from Nagpur, who were very much involved in participating in this project, which may be perpetual!
Navin Desai Residential School
- This project started in Year 2005 on a location in Panchgaon, about 25 Kilometers from Nagpur
- This school has undergone a major foundation stage, with few key milestones:
- School Building foundation complete for 8 rooms
- 3 rooms plus Kitchen and an office completed
- Being used for schooling of 80 students in grades 1-3
- Students are provided with 2 sets of uniforms for boys and girls
- The building is also used after school hours as residential place for these students plus 25 more students (for grades 4 and above) who are going to other schools nearby during day time!
- The students are provided with guidance and leadership of a staff of 13 ( 3 in Kitchen and 10 teachers including vocational class teachers and volunteers)
- There are additional 6 volunteers, who are actively supporting both the students and the teachers
- A separate document has been prepared which pro vides background and profiles of some of the students at the school. Please check the Word file NDRS_Students_Profiles.
- In addition to the schooling, many new projects around the school have been undertaken in last 2 years, which is making this place a hot bed of activities that will serve these children and youth in this area a wonderful environment to build life, thanks to all leadership, staff, local volunteers and sponsors from all over the world.
Additional Projects
- Gardening, where variety of vegetables are grown for the students to consume as a part of their lunch and dinner – The students were active participants in developing this garden under the guidance and supervision of the staff and volunteers
- A Cow Shed is being built, which will be used to house 13 cows, which are being taken care by a team of students and volunteers group. The plan is to increase # of cows to 20 in fall of 2010. These cows are providing the milk for the residents in the school.
- Thanks to a donation of $ 4,000+ from a local donor, the foundation of a Guest House is already in place.
- See some of the photographs of what we saw at the school:
Vocational Training Program
- A major program to provide vocational training for the youth (16-20 Years) was started in 2009, which is now being expanded this year to provide training to youth in multi-disciplines:
- Driving, Security, Handyman, Computer Repair
- The concept is a novel one – The program imparts multi-vocational skills to a student, enough to allow some one to land a reasonably well paying job (Rs 6,000 - $ 136 / month)
- The first batch for the students in this program has already started.
- A generous donation has been received to start this program.
- Now the program is also being enhanced by providing the residential facility for these students, which is being created by converting a Rail Bogey in a dormitory. This approach allows housing 40 students for a cost of $9,000, as opposed to $27,000 using a traditional building.











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