Why am I fundraising?

I have been a teacher of Shashank from 2009 to 2011 in a Pune Municipal School as a part of Teach For India Fellowship. I have had the opportunity to be in touch with him and watch him grow from a 8 year old to now, a 14 year old teenager who is highly self-aware of what he wants from life. I always beleived in the potential of Shashank and what he can achieve in this world.Shashank's parents migrated to Pune from UP and his father, Uday was an auto rickshaw driver until he lost his permission to drive. Uday now runs a Pan-shop near a college in Pune. Shashank's mother Pushpa didi is a housewife and finds ways to support the expenditure of the family. Shashank's younger brother Prashant studies in a PMC school. The family live in the slums of Wanowrie gaon in Pune.

Shashank dreams of becoming either a Civil Engineer or a Cricketer. I have believed that his destiny of pursuing his dream should not be determined by the economic condition of their family. After moving him into a better school in 2011, over the past 4 years,  I have been supporting Shashank with contributions from my salary and also from the help of few good friends.

Although Shashank struggled a bit in the beginning to settle into the new curriculum, he is used to it now and is doing pretty well. He still has to improve in his Hindi, Language comprehension and Computers - he has been able to get decent grades across subjects - ranging from A- to C+

Its now time for the final leap! Shashank has entered into his 9th and 10th grades - the two most crucial years of Secondary Schooling and he needs support from all of us. I am calling for action - Please support me in raising money for Shashank's two years of education that will help him, and subsequently his family to achieve their dreams.

What do I plan to do with the funds?

Shashank truly deserves an excellent education. Studying in one of the foremost CBSE school in his community (City International School), he is able to attain skills and knowledge at par with his priviledged peers. As mentioned above, Shashank's biggest barrier is his economic condition. With the money raised, I wish to pay his School Fees, Tution & Remediation Support. Below is the split of the requirement for the next 2 years:

School Yearly Fees: 40,000 Rs (9th Grade) + 50,000 Rs (10th Grade)
Tution & Remedial Support: 25,000 Rs (9th Grade) + 35,000 Rs (10th Grade)
TOTAL: 1,50,000 Rs.

FAQs

How will the money reach Shashank/School?
- The money will be transferred to my account/create a new account for Shashank and use it for his school fees, tution fees and for purchse of other supplementary material for his remediation.

How will we get updates?
- As soon as the money is spent for a specific thing, I will keep sending updates through Milaap platform with necessary bills and other information about the money utilization. A detailed account will be maintained.

Please reach out directly to me for any further questions/suggestions.

Madhukar Banuri

Project Lead - Pune Action Task Force;

2009 Teach For India Fellow; 2015 Acumen India Fellow