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From Humble Beginnings
The Story of the
Indo-International
Schools begins in 1996 with the students and professors
in the Learn and Serve in India program of the State
University of New York College at Oneonta. Deeply touched by
the plight of the impoverished children, they establish a
one-room schoolhouse in Dundlod, Rajasthan. With the support
from the
Ninash
Foundation of Oneonta, the royal couple –Mr. Raghuvendra
Singh and Mrs. Ganga Singh, and a French benefactor- Mr.
Frank Mulliez, the growing school moves to a new building in
2000.
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The first
Indo-International
School, complete with a computer center, library and adult
training program for women, becomes a focal point of the
village.
Through the efforts of many supporters and the leadership of
Professor Ashok Malhotra and Ms. Linda Drake, co-directors
of Learn and Serve in India, the
Ninash
Foundation sets out to build one school per year “to
promote literacy among children and adults throughout the
world”
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Schools
for the New Millennium
Amidst the ruins of the tragic earthquake of 2001, the
Ninash
Foundation establishes the second
Indo-International
School, by building a complex consisting of 10 classrooms
for 205 children in the village of Kuran, Gujarat.
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The
Ninash
Foundation teams with the Vaidic Mission Trust and
others to help the people of Kuran rebuild their entire
village, a project they complete miraculously in only
three months.
With
international support, the two
schools begin to transform their villages and
regions. SUNY Oneonta President Alan Donovan and members
of the Philosophy Department accompany the Learn and
Serve 2001 group as the
Indo-International
Schools continue to grow.
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The
Indo-International
Schools project is featured in the
international media and on ABC and NBC news,
presented to the Dalai Lama, named a Gift of Service to
the World by the Parliament of World Religions,
recognized by the East-West Center for promoting US-Asia
relations and cited by the Templeton Foundations in
naming SUNY Oneonta to the Honor Roll of
Character-Building Colleges.
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The Quest Continues
The
Ninash
Foundation will next establish the
Indo-International
Art Restoration; School in Jaipur to provide education and
vocational training for older children while helping to
preserve the cultural heritage reflected in the glass
paintings in India’s ancient castles and monuments.
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The
Ninash
Foundation is raising funds to replicate the
Indo-International
Schools project in other parts of India. The
foundation’s goal is to build
schools that will educate 50 million impoverished
children and transform the communities in which they
live.
With continued support from so many individuals and
organizations, the
foundation will build
schools with village libraries, establish computer
and vocational centers, and improve the quality of life
for some of the world’s most impoverished children, one
community at a time.
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How you can help
You can help the 50 million underprivileged
children of India by supporting the drive to raise funds to
build one new school each year in a different impoverished
area. Your tax-deductible contribution to the
Ninash
Foundation, a 501©(3) charitable organization, will
directly support the project.
A donation of $5000 will build a classroom in a school;$850
will pay a teacher’s annual salary;$40 will support a child
through an entire year of education; any amount will help
provide supplies for a new facility. As the individuals in
the Learn and Serve in India program have shown, you can
make a difference.
Professor Malhotra and Ms. Linda Drake return to
India on a regular basis to continue their work on the
Indo-International Schools.
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