Adhar Mook
Badhir Vidyalaya School
Pune, Maharashtra
India
In the latter part of 2000, the Rotary Club of Jersey City was visited by a
number of Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Pune Shaniwarwada in India.
Shortly thereafter, we received a request from that club to support a project
they were developing in cooperation with their District 3130. The project
was designed to help the Adhar Mook Vidyalaya School in Pune, Maharashtra,
India to serve the needs of hearing impaired children.
Adhar Mandal is a registered charitable trust established primarily for the
"upliftment" of hearing impaired children. To accomplish this
task, in 1985 the trust established a school, Adhar Mook Badhir Vidyalaya,
for "...imparting education to the hearing impaired children..."
At the time of the request, there were 91 students enrolled in the school, 65 of
whom stay in a youth hostel at the school during the school term. Most of
the students are from lower income groups and the school charges no tuition for
its services. 66% of the operating expenses are covered by the state
government. The remainder must be raised from private sources.
Needless to say, money is short and especially hard to come by for the purchase
of much needed equipment.
In order to implement speech training in the program, four (4) group hearing aid systems,
each serving ten students, were needed. The total cost of the project was
determined to be US$ 3,954.55. Sponsorship of the project was finalized in
2001 with the Rotary Club of Jersey City as the primary international sponsor
Rotary Club. The club agreed to contribute US$ 1,000 which was matched by
Rotary District 3130 in India. An additional matching grant of US$ 1,995
was provided by the Rotary International Foundation under their matching grants
program.
Thanks to the international fellowship of Rotary and the cooperation of these
three Rotary units located thousands of miles apart, the hearing impaired
children of Pune, Maharashtra, India are receiving an education which will
enable them to become productive citizens of their nation and the world.
Copyright
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Rotary Club of Jersey City