Help us to rebuild Learning Centers
By Biswajit Nayak
The Aveti Learning story is a story of hope for children in poor rural and urban communities in Odisha. Tragically, that hope has been destroyed by Cyclone Fani. The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani ravaged the east coast of Odisha when it made landfall on 3rd of May, 2019. Cyclone Fani, equivalent of a category-4 hurricane, has caused unprecedented devastation and affected at least 10 million people across the state in 46 towns and 14,835 villages.
By 5th May the storm began to dissipate, although there has been no electricity or running water for days. We have been in touch with some of our Learning Centers to ascertain the damage, which is fairly extensive. There are 3 learning centers that are in need of our immediate help. You may already know their stories from recent blog posts on Medium. All of these centers are non-for-profit and donation can be given to them directly.
1. International Public School For Rural Innovation (IPSFRI)
Anil Pradhan upon completion of his engineering degree is running a village school in one of the remote villages situated in the Island of 42 Mouza in Odisha. It just took only 3 hours to see his efforts of the last 3 years in establishing International Public School for Rural Innovation ( IPSFRI ) going in vain. He could barely believe his eyes when these winds broke the glass windows and rushed into his labs. One of the Digital Smart Labs was recently set up, which was devastated before his students could actually use it. Innovation Lab, Open Design lab, Tod-fod-Jod Lab and Mech Lab were flooded with water and many world-class machines/devices either went off the labs or have little chance of working. These children are passionate about Anil’s hands-on learning curriculum and eager to get back in the Lab.
2. DAYA DEVELOPMENT CENTER
Anna Basiston is responsible for bringing loads of light to the urban slum in Bhubaneswar, Odisha through her NGO Daya Development Center. Using the Aveti platform, Daya is able to provide after school math remedial lessons to 40 marginalized students from the nearby slum.
Many of these children, if they have been in a classroom setting, have not received the attention that they deserve and are often grade levels behind due to difference in ages and development levels. Because of this, students get frustrated and think they are incapable of learning. At Daya that is not the case — Anna’s love and passion for each student permeates through the walls. Those walls have been broken and the roof has been blown away by cyclone Fani. It’s a devastating hit. We can’t let the storm take the light away.
3. Divyajyoti Sevashram
Divyajyoti children home houses 30 kids in its premise. This home is an all-encompassing organization that provides children the basic necessities: nourishing food, water, shelter, and education.
With the help of Tessolve Semiconductor, Divyajyoti is bringing world class digital education to its children. Children like Alka(pictured above) are now receiving the fair chance they deserve to move towards greater opportunities presented outside of their small community. This beacon of change was a direct path by Cyclone Fani. Divyajyoti has suffered devastating destruction. The children are eager to get back in the classroom where they are stimulated, engaged, and progressing towards bigger, brighter futures. We can’t stand by and let this chance get taken away from them.
Food, water, and shelter are basic necessities. Education is too. Everybody is entitled to the right of education. It is our duty as a society to fight together for that right against any storm — against all odds. We can’t wait to rebuild these 3 centers better than before! The children are counting on us and we want to get them back in the classroom as soon as possible.
