Our First School: The beginning of a new journey

After almost a decade in the U.S., I moved back to Likhmewala - my village where I grew up. The village sits rather quietly on the India Pakistan border in Northern Rajasthan. It has one Government school.

This is the school where I had learnt my first alphabets. The school has changed significantly over the last three decades, with many newly constructed classrooms! The school now teaches from 1st to 12th grade. It has an equal number of female and male students.

As I envisioned three initiatives (NEEV, MARG, Giving Circle), this is where I wanted to start from. I wanted to pilot all three programs in one school to see how they collectively made impact. I had given a few scholarships to excellent female students here a couple of years ago, and knew the school leadership.

On Sept 8 2021, we kicked off with Giving Circle, by finding a mentor and sponsor for Sufali. Sufali cleared her 10th board exams, with highest marks in her school in her village and the event to recognize her achievements was hosted at the school, in presence of 9th to 12th grade students.

The school leadership was very encouraged by this gesture. They work tirelessly to see their students succeed. Additional support and information makes their journey of motivating students much easier.