Where and when?

Chennai, Tamil Nadu was started in September 1998

Why?

• We reach out to children in crisis and in high risk circumstances, offering institutional or family based rehabilitation solutions

• We are now investing our resources on prevention of juvenile delinquency and school drop outs by offering Montessori Education support programs to children and teachers

• CASCADE Montessori Resource centre in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, India - a successful model of education where children from all strata access education in a fear free, child friendly environment

What’s next for us?

After having worked with schools in cities, towns and rural areas for several years now, we want to take this wonderful methodology to Jamna Maradhur, a tribal village in Tamil Nadu, India. Starting this Montessori Resource Centre is our first step towards taking Quality Education to children in villages.

Bringing Education to Tribal Communities:

Tribal populations have recently been forced to leave their sacred and cherished land to migrate to urban areas as they are gradually losing their livelihoods.  

Causes

• Fierce race between increasingly competitive agricultures

• Price volatility

• Lack of modernisation on the farms

• Deterioration of the environment...

Consequences

• Alarming increase of extremely poor city dwellers as well as a further swelling of slums

• Loss of local knowledge

• Sense of community gradually being torn apart by a extremely quick liberalisation of the national economy.

Our goal

Under the aegis of its parent organization the centre in the village would run through the year, working to build trust and hope among young parents and youth, using education as a means for community development and responsible living.

We believe that the right approach to education can sow the seed for the blossoming of deep and meaningful change in our societies.

With your help we would be able to reach a population of 10,000 in the tribal region of Tamil Nadu, including 120 children between 2 and 7 years of age. We hope that these numbers will grow over the years. 

What We Need & What You Get

Folks, here is our budget, not one single cent/pence/paise that you will spend on this project will be wasted!

• Cost of building the space to suit our requirement - 2000 sq ft - Rs 2, 000, 000 (approx £20, 000)

• Available funds from previous donation and savings - Rs 1, 300, 000 (approx £13, 400)

• Balance require 700, 000 (approx £7, 200)

 Note: The running cost for 4 years and the cost of Montessori materials, furniture and teaching aids are being funded by the Corporate Foundation 

To thank you for your ever so grand generosity, we have special surprises...

All of you warm hearted people who will have generously participated in our project shall be cordially invited to the opening ceremony which should take place at the end of August. 

If by some very unfortunate event we were not to reach our target, and you have already contributed, please be assured that your money will be used in the wisest of ways. We would merely postpone the opening of the centre until more funds are found. 

The Impact

How did the project come about?

• A group of villages approached Relief Foundation for support as they felt the urgent need for a quality education for their children

• The result of months of research and in-depth analysis of the situation blossomed into the idea of building a Rural Learning Centre

• Quality Education is a right that every child is entitled to

• While the term quality can be interpreted in different ways, proven methodology and educational philosophy like the Montessori system of education can work wonders anywhere in the world irrespective of the social background of a child

• Improved parental understanding of children's needs

• Better community perceptions of education and its true purpose

• Better parenting practices, which will have a ripple effect on children among surrounding villages

• Enhanced peer learning

• Socially responsible citizens

Risks & Challenges

Challenges

• Sourcing materials and starting the works as the village is a remote place

• Politics of the tribal populations

How we overcame them

• We conducted an in-depth analysis of the geography, topography and history of the villages

• We networked with local NGOs, such as Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) who were able to guide us to the right people

• We established a sincere and transparent dialogue with the local people

Other Ways You Can Help

We understand that you just may not be able to contribute financially, even though you agree with aims of the projects but that doesn't mean you can't help:

You can get the word out and make some noise about the campaign! Share the campaign on facebook, twitter or any other social network !

Should you require any other information, do not hesitate to visit our website at relieffoundation.in or email us at  relieffoundationindia@gmail.com

That's all folks! Thank you from the bottom of our heart.

Relief Foundation Team