Dear all of you, 

Our hearts fill with gratitude and hope, as we connect with all of you through this campaign. Your response to this campaign has been overwhelming and we have already received more contributions than what Gram Mangal needed at this point in time. We are channeling the extra funds to another amazing organization--Play for Peace (www.playforpeace.org). It is an international organization that uses inclusive and cooperative gaming to build peaceful communities. Abha has been closely associated with Play for Peace as a trainer, and there are many many more passionate trainers doing their magic across the world! Do check their work out if you are intersted. 
Warm hugs to all! 
-Abha and Abhishodh

Why are we fundraising?

As you might know, we are getting married :) And weddings usually call for giving and receiving gifts. Recognizing the abundance of material possessions in our own lives, we want to try to contribute to the lives of people, who don't enjoy access to the resources they deserve. 

We are sharing this with all of you, our closest friends, for if you find meaning in these efforts, do pitch in! This will be the sweetest wedding gift that we can ever hope to receive :)

What do we plan to do with the funds?

This money will go toward arranging for breakfast for over 500 tribal children studying in Gram Mangal, for a year. 

Gram Mangal is an organization that runs a school and several early childhood education centres (baalwaadis) in a tribal belt in Maharashtra close to the Gujarat border. Abha worked in this school as a teacher for a year. 

The school is run by passionate individuals, who have been working in the education sector for over 20 years. They have been pioneers in bringing progressive, constructivist education in Maharashtra. The school and baalwaadis near the village of Aina are attended by over 500 children. Teachers in this school realize that nutritious breakfast for children coming to school is absolutely essential to take care of their overall well-being and their focus at school. However, Gram Mangal is facing difficulties in arranging for adequate finances to prepare breakfast for children every morning, and hence they haven't been able to provide breakfast for the last few months. 

We plan to transfer this money to a trusted and responsible teacher at the school, who will ensure that children's breakfast gets resumed. We have also scheduled a visit to the school in January, when we will discuss with the teachers at the school to arrive at ways to ensure sustainability of breakfast arrangements at the school. One of the ways that we are considering is to plant a cocount garden, which in a few years' time can be a sustainable source of income.

Feel free to contact us at abhajeurkar at gmail dot com if you have any queries of suggestions!