Fifteen year old Rekha comes from the village of Mau and is studying in class 9A. Her father, Shyoraj, is a farmer while her mother, Kanti, is a housewife; her father has an 8^th grade education and her mother has none. Rekha has two brothers and two sisters, all of whom live together in a two room house; the house has no toilet or electricity, but it does have a hand pump for water. The family owns three buffaloes which provides milk and labor, thus providing an additional source of income.

At school, Rekha loves learning vocational skills and is currently learning machine sewing. In the afternoon you can find her with a tape measure around her neck because of this class! After graduating from Pardada Pardadi, Rekha wants to go to school to become an air hostess; she wants to have a job so that she can look after herself in the future.

Pardada Pardadi has chosen to open a school the area that Rekha lives, so that these girls can get an education and have the ability to have a job after they graduate. Supporting these girls will ensure the success of them!

Thank you so much, Shannon, for your generous donation, thereby ensuring that Rekha gets to attend another year of school.

Thank you, Wilfrid, for donating a set of two uniforms, a sweater, a pair of shoes and socks for Rekha, that will last her an entire academic year!

Your support will surely help her realize her potential and motivate Rekha to work towards fulfilling her goals!

Thank you again!

Dear erika, Melissa, Paris, Amit, Patricia, Larissa, Laurent, Craig, Dennis, Alice and Brad and Belinda,

Seventeen year old Krishna hails from the village of Malakpur and is currently in grade 9 at the high school run by Pardada Pardadi in Anoopshahar, India. Her father, Ram, is a farmer and her mother, Savita, is a housewife. Her family lives in a two room house along with five sisters and a baby brother. The family has no toilet, but they do have a hand pump and electricity. They also have one buffalo which is gives them milk.

Krishna loves music, both listening to music and learning it in the music classes conducted in school. Apart from acquiring knowledge, what she loves best about attending school is learning vocational skills. She is currently learning machine sewing and she also loves machine embroidery.

Like any other girl from rural Uttar Pradesh, she never thought she would get the opportunity to attend school and dream of having a career and be economically independent. Despite being illiterate themselves, both her parents were very supportive of the girls being educated and got them enrolled in Pardada Pardadi. Krishna is one of the brighter girls in her class. She is very grateful to her school and parents for having faith in her abilities and for giving her the opportunity to step out of her home and learn marketable skills – a privilege not every girl enjoys in her village!

Your generous donations, Erika, Melissa, Paris, Amit, Patricia, Larissa, Laurent, Craig, Dennis (x2) and Alica and Brad (x2) will ensure that Krishna gets to attend another year of school at Pardada Pardadi. Your donation  of a set of two school uniforms, Belinda, will ensure that Krishna takes pride in her smart appearance and looks forward to stepping into school every day.

Thank you all for coming together in support of Krishna!

Sixteen year old Anshu comes from the village of Manapur and is studying in class 9A. Her father, Bhagwandas, is a farmer while her mother, Harviri, is a housewife. Both of them are uneducated. Her family lives in a two room house along with her 7 other sisters and brothers. Furthermore, they do not have a toilet and they must use the village hand pump for water. However, they own a cow, two buffaloes, and have a electricity connection in their home.

Anshu’s parents fully support her decision to go to school along with her other sisters. Her parents have taken action to keep all of their girls in school, giving them opportunities they themselves never had.

With this kind of support, Anshu wants to succeed in life. Her favorite classes are English along with vocational work. Anshu’s dream one day is to become a police officer in the nearby village of Dibai.

Thank you so much, Patricia for supporting Anshu in your donation of a new uniform. Hopefully when Anshu is playing her favorite game, baseball, she won’t get it too dirty! Thank you again!

Sixteen year old Preeti comes from the village of Karanpur and is studying in class 9A. Her father has passed away while her mother, Vimlesh, is a housewife and farmer. Her mother is a farmer because she needs to support the family since she does not have a husband anymore, and currently they earn below the poverty line.

Preeti’s family lives in a one room house in which her mom, herself, and four other siblings live. Their main source of water is by a village hand pump, but her family does have a toilet. However, they have no electricity connection and have only one cow.

Even with these odds, Preeti wants to succeed in life. Preeti loves English along with computers; she loves to type and currently she is teaching herself how to. After finishing school, Preeti wants to start her own beauty parlor for the ladies in Anupshahr.

Thank you so much Diane for supporting Preeti in your donation of a new uniform. Hopefully when Preeti is playing her favorite game, football, she won’t get it too dirty! Thank you again!

Fourteen year old Savitri comes from the village of Manapur and is currently in class 9A. Her father, Gyan, is a farmer and her mother, Angori, is a housewife; Savitri’s father has only a 5^th grade education while her mother has none. Savitri’s family, along with her four older brothers, lives in a 3 room house that has no toilet or electricity but it does have a hand pump though. Furthermore, they have four buffaloes which provides them milk and is another source of income.

Savitri is extremely happy to be attending school at Pardada Pardadi. She loves hanging out with her classmates and catching up on the latest gossip. One of her favorite subjects is Home Science; with all of this, Savitri has a very good attendance because in 8A, she came 90% of the time! When Savitri graduates, she wants to become a doctor so that she can help people in the future.

Pardada Pardadi has chosen to open a school in the area that Savitri lives, so that these girls can get an education and have the ability to have a job after they graduate. Supporting these girls will ensure the success of them!

Thank you so much, Phyllis for supporting Savitri in your donation of an entire year of tuition.

Thank you, Diane, for donating a set of two uniforms, a sweater, a pair of shoes and socks for Savitri.

Thanks to your support, she can now complete her education and work towards her goal of becoming a doctor!

Fifteen year old Ekta comes from the village of Anupshahr and is currently in class 9B. Her father, Jaivir, works in the town of Sanmika, and her mother, Sanju, is a business owner. Ekta§s mother§s education is at class 10. Ekta and her two sisters and one brother live in a four room house that has a toilet, electricity, and a hand pump for water.

Ekta loves going to school because it gives her and her friends independence. She comes from a family of strong, independent women. Her mother owns a local beauty parlor, a computer which villagers can use, and a sewing business which does machine embroidery, and she is a role model for Ekta and her fellow students.

Ekta, herself, is an extremely smart and outgoing girl. She came first in all of class 8 last year in exams, making her mother very proud. Her attendance is also exemplary- in grade 7, it was 95%, and currently it is 99%!

Besides excelling in studies, she is also learning hand embroidery at Pardada Pardadi school. She has got a natural talent for it, and her teachers are confident that she will be able to master some of the more intricate embroidery styles too. With this knowledge, Ekta would later be able to earn money by opening her own hand embroidery shop from home. This would give her income to spend on her family, and more importantly, provide her with greater decision-making power than women usually have in her village.

Thank you, Debra, Anuj, Maria, Venkat, Susan and James, Ehtasham, Niranjan, Dace, Chuck, LE STRAT (x2) and Dennis for donating an entire year of vocational training.

Thank you, Denise, for donating a set of two school uniforms, a sweater, a pair of shoes and socks for Ekta.

Ekta dreams of joining the police force someday, but till that happens, your generous donations  would ensure that she gets to attend school and has a marketable skill to fall back on!

Thanks so much for your support of Ekta!

Sixteen year old Madhuri comes from the village of Anupshahr and she is currently in class 9A. Her father, Jatendra, is a wheat grinder (miller) while her mother, Usha, is a housewife. Both parents were educated until 8^th class. Madhuri has three sisters, and their family has a three room house. Furthermore, Madhuri’s family has a toilet, a hand pump, and a television.

Madhuri is an extremely intelligent girl, who was first in her class in exams last year; she also prides herself on attendance, last year in class 8A she came 92% of the time! She likes to dance and her favorite class is drawing. Madhuri has blossomed under guidance and encouragement of her school – Pardada Pardadi; she is often the emcee for school functions because of her poise, confidence and clear speaking voice. When Madhuri finishes school she wants to become a clothing designer.

The school has chosen to open a school the area that Madhuri lives, so that these girls can get an education and have the ability to have a job after they graduate. Supporting these girls will ensure the success of them!

Thank you so much, Juan for supporting Madhuri in your donation of a new uniform. Thank you again!

Nineteen year old Neeraj comes from the village of Torai and is in class 9A. Her father, Mahindra, is a farmer while her mother, Harpyari, is a housewife; both of Neeraj’s parents are not educated. Neeraj has four sisters and two brothers whom all live in one room with no toilet, but it does have electricity. Her family has two buffaloes and a cow which provides milk and another source of income.

Neeraj’s parents support her education at Pardada Pardadi along with her two sisters, Sarjiti and Reshvait who are both in class 8. Neeraj likes everything about school, including studying, hanging out with friends, and playing sports. Last year in class 8A, she had a 99% attendance! One of her future goals in life is to become an English teacher since that is one of her favorite subjects at school.

The school has chosen to open a school the area that Neeraj lives, so that these girls can get an education and have the ability to have a job after they graduate. Supporting these girls will ensure the success of them!

Thank you so much, Juan for supporting Neeraj in your donation of a new uniform, and hopefully she won’t get it to dirty while she is playing her favorite sport, softball!

Fourteen year old Rashmi comes from the village of Karanpur and she is currently in class 9A. Her father, Bhojpal is a farmer and her mother, has passed away. Rashmi has 5 brothers and sisters and they all live in a two room house; her family has no toilet or electricity, but they do have a hand pump for water.

At school, Rashmi is a leader in her class. One of her favorite subjects is English and drawing. Furthermore, she is extremely appreciative of everything that her school – Pardada Pardadi provides for her especially the food that is served to her two times a day! Rashmi’s future plan is to become a good police officer after she graduates from school.

The school has chosen to open a school the area that Rashmi lives, so that these girls can get an education and have the ability to have a job after they graduate. Supporting these girls will ensure the success of them!

Thank you so much, Neel for supporting Rashmi in your donation of a new uniform, and hopefully she won’t get it to dirty while she is playing her favorite sport, football!

Fourteen year old Bhavna comes from the village of Karanpur and is class 9B. Her father, Chandra, is a farmer, and her mother, Ramvati, is a housewife; Bhavna’s father has a 10^th grade education while her mother had none. Also, Bhavna has three brothers and three sisters all of whom live in a four room house; the house has a toilet along with electricity and a hand pump for water.

Bhavna is a quiet girl who likes to play kho-kho. One of her favorite subjects is English, and she likes to practice with anybody and any current volunteer. Bhavna really appreciates her school –  Pardada Pardadi because she knows that it is giving her an opportunity that might have never been. She wants to take full advantage of all her classes, so that she can succeed when she graduates.

The school has chosen to open a school the area that Bhavna lives, so that these girls can get an education and have the ability to have a job after they graduate. Supporting these girls will ensure the success of them!

Thank you so much, Lily for supporting Bhavna in your donation of a new uniform!