Om is excelling in school with the help of nutritious meals

Omsingh (also known as Om) is a 13-year old boy, and the 6th of his parents’ seven children.  Neither of his parents is educated, and his oldest siblings are have also barely completed primary school, so Om is excited about being among the first in his family to pursue an education in earnest.

Om is currently studying in the 5th grade, and because he is very bright and hardworking, he was transferred from a government school in the slums near his house to a private school on the other side of the city.  His education is sponsored by the Ashraya Initiative for Children, and as a part of this arrangement, Om receives daily meals at the AIC Education Outreach Centre as well.  As his father earns about only Rs 3,000 ($65) per month as a roadside metalworker, the nutritious meals that Om receives make a big difference to his studies and health.

Typically, Om eats a meal at the Centre when he arrives there before school, takes a packed lunch with him to school, and eats again upon his arrival in the afternoon, before sitting down to two hours of intensive after-school tutoring. No doubt having regular balanced meals makes it much easier for Om to concentrate during his rigorous schedule of school and tutoring.

The meals also offer Om’s parents an incentive to keep their son attending school and the Education Centre, which makes it less likely that they will view his education as a drain on their resources and force him to leave school at a younger age. As it stands now, Om talks of wanting to go to college one day, and is on a solid path to fulfilling this dream.

Your gift of a month of meals each,  Srikanth, Jim, John, Jill, and Glen (x8), will ensure that Om continues to receive three balanced meals a day for an entire year. The meals include chapati (flat bread), bhaji (cooked vegetables), boiled eggs, fresh seasonal fruit, yogurt and several other items. Om’s  mother credits her son’s improved health and steady weight gain to the meals that he has been receiving and will continue to receive at AIC.

Thank you,  Srikanth, Jim, John, Jill, and Glen, for coming together to provide a year of nutritious meals to Om.