Dear donors and friends, 2008 donations: On behalf of FFEI, I thank all the donors in the year 2008. In this year, we were able to raise approximately Rs. 7,70,000 though it was a economically tumultuous year. I am still waiting for some more donations committed and with that we may cross Rs. 8 lakh figure. I salute all donors for the faith they put on us. Please click the following link for all donations. http://www.friends4education.org/scholarship/2008/08donations.htm 2008 scholarship distribution ceremony: We are planning to conduct scholarships function sometime in April 2009 in Hyderabad. Our organizers in India are working on modalities. We will update you when we finalize the date. Proposed changes: In fact, I am a miser. I do not want to spend a single penny unless I am convinced that each penny is used in the best way possible. I treat your donated money the same way. Wastage is want I want to avoid at any cost. As a person responsible for every penny you donate, I always think of ways and means to improve the project for better results. We have already ventured into several areas (microloans, awards, individual student help, victim help etc) and successfully implementing them within our limited resources. As I have already communicated, recently concluded award ceremony in Maharashtra was a great success. With regard to scholarships, I am thinking of the following changes in future, if not this year. · We will give scholarships as usual, but in small number. Rather than giving scholarships in cash, I prefer to give it in kind – like reimbursing tuition fee, buying books etc. But, that requires a full-time employee. So, we may not be able to do it unless we have more general funds (not tide to scholarships) to spend. · More emphasis will be given to “Educational Adoption” project. Through this project, FFEI will identify poor/rural/slum Dalit and scavenging children, adopt them at an early sage (preferably in 1st grade), and educate them in nearby schools (preferably English medium) by paying the educational expenses. We try to get the progress reports from time to time and make them available on our website. I have already spoken to a couple of school principals and organizations to help us to identify these children. Though I have been thinking of it for several years, I hesitated to get into it as I do not have enough human resources to support. But, I think it is more satisfying (to me and to the donor) to help a single child for 10 years and watch him/her grow educationally and intellectually rather than giving scholarships to 10 different people in 10 years and do not know what happens to them after that. · We will be working with known and dedicated individuals/organizations to select students. For example, we will take the help of Mr Vidya Bhushan Rawat in UP, Sankya hostel in Tamilnadu. I spoke to a couple of schools in AP. They helped us last year and we are 100% satisfied with their work. We also got good feedback from other sources about these organizations. · So far we have only unpaid volunteers and we will continue to use them wherever available. But I am also thinking of appointing a couple of part-time paid staff with a small honorarium to handle this additional work. We promise the following while using your donations: · If money is donated for giving scholarships for scavenging children, we will use it for helping scavenging children only (either by giving scholarships or by adopting them). Same in the case of regular scholarships. · If money is donated for any other purpose, we will use it for that purpose only. · We will not mix them up and use your donation only to serve the purpose you intended us to do. · We will provide details of beneficiaries as usual to all donors. If possible, we will start working on the proposed plan this year itself, at least by adopting a couple of children in 2009. If any donor has any objection, I would like to hear it by 02/20/2009. In that case, we will use his/her donation as he/she desires with zero deviation in purpose. If I do not hear from you by 02/20/2009, I assume that you have agreed with our proposal and we will do whatever we think best with your donation. I will till 02/20/2009 for your reply. So, please rush your replies. If you have any other suggestions, you are welcome to let me know ASAP. I once again thank you for your generous donations and the opportunity you have given me to help others. With regardsBenjamin P Kaila
--- On Wed, 2/4/09, Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_ka...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_ka...@yahoo.com> Dear donors and friends, Goods news ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society. -Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar Please visit www.friendsforeducation.org or ambedkarscholarship.org ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to zestmedia-dig...@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to zestcaste-subscr...@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:zestcaste-dig...@yahoogroups.com mailto:zestcaste-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zestcaste-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
