Greetings!

We are six Bennies studying abroad at St. Xavier's College in Kolkata, India for spring semester of 2017. We have just started volunteering at the Oral School for the Deaf Children and have had an amazing experience!

The Oral School for the Deaf Children serves around 50 students ages 3-18 with a variety of hearing disabilities. They maintain a teacher-student ratio of 1:5, develop speech, language, and communication skills, and adapt curriculum for students' abilities.

 The Oral School has done a phenomenal job at creating a supportive environment that empowers and educates students who are deaf in a country where only one in ten children who are deaf are able to attend school.

The Oral School offers financial aid to a majority of their students. The average cost to educate a student who is deaf is around $45USD/month.
We greatly appreciate Oral School's hospitality and warmth towards us as we volunteer and observe their school.  We are showing our gratitude for them by putting on a fundraiser for the school.

We would like to give each student and teacher a book.  For the younger students, we would like to give them a copy of “Kami and the Yaks,” a picture book by Andrea Stenn Stryer about a boy from Nepal who is deaf and finds his family’s missing yaks.For the older students, we would like to give them a copy of “El Deafo,” a graphic novel by Cece Bell about a girl who grows up deaf and learns to become independent and confident about herself. We picked these books because they show kids who are deaf with a positive, warm, empowering tone.

The funds raised will go towards providing each student a book. Any additional funds raised will go towards tuition assistance for the students. Please help us support the Oral School because in the short time that we have volunteered here their community has given us so much. 

Thank you!