Ten year old Pavan is one of six children in her family- four girls and two boys. Her father works as a caddy at the nearby golf course in Pune and her mother stays at home to look after the huge family. Since her father’s income depends entirely on whether or not he is able to find work, the family is often forced to go hungry.

Her future plan of becoming a teacher is not an unexpected career goal, as she does very well in school and even says herself that her favorite part about school is studying!

Pavan is able to do so well in school in part because of the daily nutritional support that she receives from AIC’s Education Centre. There she receives hot, nutritious meals on a daily basis, as well as healthy afternoon snacks during her after-school tutoring to ensure that she is able to concentrate on her homework without the distraction of a growling stomach!

Thank you so much, Ariel, Binny, Niranjan, Jamie, Donald, Laurent, Guisolan, Julius (x3), Dennis and Bill, for helping Pavan continue to excel in school and receive nutritious meals so that she will one day be able to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher.

Thank you all, for coming together in support of Pavan!

Sangeetha sells old and used clothes and her husband makes duplicate keys. Both of them ply their trade on the side of the road, and between them earn around Rs. 2,500 rupees ($55) per month. This amount is barely enough to meet their modest needs, and since they do not have any savings to sustain them in lean times, Sangeeta cannot afford to stop working during her pregnancy.

Sangeetha finds the comprehensive prenatal care provided to her at AIC’s Health Centre to be invaluable to her health and wellbeing during this pregnancy. The care she receives includes regular counseling, monthly check-ups and medical care for the duration of her pregnancy and nutritional supplementation (mid-day meals and vitamins). She will also be receiving all possible assistance during delivery.

Your donations, Susan and James, Amit, Venkat, David, Patrice (x2), Vivek and Natasha, will ensure that AIC can provide the best possible antenatal care, and do everything possible that Sangeeta welcomes a healthy and happy baby into the world.

Sangeetha’s pregnancy is progressing well, and she is looking forward to become a mother for the first time.

Shashikala is a hardworking mother of six children. Illiterate and often at the mercy of her alcoholic husband, she had never been granted the independence to leave the house by herself until she convinced her husband to let her join AIC’s Basic Tailoring class.

Six months later, she has graduated from the Basic class and is now doing exceptionally well in the Intermediate Tailoring course! As her husband’s income as an on-and-off caddy at the nearby golf course is only about 2,500 rupees ($55) per month, she is hopeful that she will be able to use her newly-acquired tailoring skills to contribute to the family income and raise her status in the household.

Additionally, having never been able to go to school as a child, she loves the adult literacy classes that are built into the tailoring course and was incredibly proud the first time she wrote her name by herself!

Your generous donations, Mike and Suzanne (x2), Peter and Kim, Rajeev, Rao and Peter will enable AIC to bear the cost of Shashikala’s tailoring course fees.

Your support will ensure that Shashikala continues to shine in the Intermediate course as well.

After dropping out of school several years ago so that her three younger siblings could study, 15-year old Sapna did not have many opportunities for expression, growth and development.

Recently, she joined a vocational training program offered by AIC to explore an interest of hers – sewing. After completing AIC’s Basic Tailoring course, she has now moved up to the Intermediate Tailoring class and is looking forward to spending the next six months learning more advanced tailoring techniques.

Furthermore, she receives one hour of adult literacy instruction at the end of every tailoring class, and benefits from the nutritious meals provided daily to the women in the class as well.

Her tailoring class teacher reports that Sapna has stellar attendance and achieved the third-highest marks in the basic tailoring practical and written final exams, despite being one of the youngest in the class!

Your generous donations, Julia, Akiko, Bill and Colleen, Erik and Margo (x2) will enable AIC to pay for Sapna’s tailoring course fees.

Your support will ensure that Sapna continues to shine in the Intermediate course as well.

Rohit is the youngest of four siblings. His father died shortly after he was born, and his widowed mother struggles to support her children by selling used clothes on the pavement. Almost all her income goes toward paying interest on a loan that she took out several years ago, leaving very little to cover household expenses.

Prior to joining Ashraya Initiative for Children’s (AIC) Education Program, Rohit and his siblings were lucky to get one meal a day, and when his mother could not afford that, they went hungry. Rohit and his siblings now receive breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack at AIC’s Education Outreach Centre. Since food scarcity is a big problem for the family, they also received packed food to take home for an evening meal.

Thank you, Shashi, for donating one full year of meals to Rohit. The food that he will be receiving will be healthy, fresh and nutritious, designed to meet the needs of a growing five-year old! With Rohit starting upper kindergarten (UKG) in a few months, his mother is very relieved to know that her son’s nutritional needs will be met for the next year!

Thank You!!!

Dear Shahinal,

Jalkaur is a young mother of three and is  pregnant with her fourth child. Her husband’s low income (approximately $60 per month) as an unskilled day laborer makes it difficult for the family to afford adequate medical care and nutritious food.

Jalkaur is receiving high quality antenatal care at the Health Centre run by Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC), which includes regular counseling, monthly check-ups and medical care for the duration of her pregnancy and nutritional supplementation (mid-day meals and vitamins). Jalkaur has decided that this would be her last child, and she is very thankful that she would have comprehensive antenatal care and assistance during the time of delivery.

Thank you, Shahinal, for helping AIC provide comprehensive antenatal care to Jalkaur to enable her baby to develop and grow. Thanks to your support, she has the best chance of giving birth to a healthy, normal child.