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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Newpaper scan

Hi everyone, I just wanted to follow up and post the news articles from Rajasthan Patrika and Dainik Bhaskar here. The scan of the articles is given below, followed by my translations:


Upper one (from April 9th version of Rajasthan Patrika)
 The Start of a Computer Literacy Center
       On Wednesday in the village of Kukrela in Gram Panchayat (village cluster) the sarpanch (village mayor) Dholaram Khatik ceremonially opened the a computer literacy center. The sarpanch said that computer knowledge is very important for today's youth. He said that Lok Sahabhagi Santha is a volunteer organization. In the Viratnagar block (county) LSS is starting a pilot computer literacy center.  NGO worker Rohitash Kumarmeena said that during the summer vacation the students will be taught basic information about the computer. NGO workers Gopal Singh, Shyam Singh, and others were also present at the ceremony.

Lower one (from April 9th version of Dainik Bhaskar)
 Students to Learn About Computers
     In the village of Kukrela in Gram Panchayat Bhamod on Wednesday the sarpanch  Dholaram Khatik ceremonially opened the computer center of Lok Sahabhagi Sanstha (LSS).  Sarpanch Karthik said that computer education is of great importance for today's youth. During the summer vacation students will learn about computers at the center.    


Anyways, no photos made it, but I still think this is exciting stuff. We will work to continue our progress. Have a great day!

Friday, April 13, 2012

LSS makes the newspaper, starting of summer work, and lots of photos!

Hi all,
    So, super exciting news here. The opening of our village information center in Kukrella attracted two of the bigger regional newspapers, Dainik Baskar (http://www.bhaskar.com/) and Rajasthan Patrika (http://www.rajasthanpatrika.com/). Rohitash tells me that stories and photos about our work have appeared in both newspapers and that he will have scanned photos to post on the blog soon. This is another important step in building our program, since getting this type of name recognition will make fund raising in India much easier. We have had the mantra that in our first three years of operation we just wanted to build strong programs, and then we'd focus on fundraising after that. I think this choice is working nicely for us and the support we are seeing reflects the strength of our programs. We will work to ensure this remains the case!

    Alright, we have started our second year of computer work in earnest. The youth leadership and technology groups (YLTGs) have started up in three villages (the other villages' students are still in their examination period, so we cannot start there yet). We have also opened our village information center in Kukrella in a ceremony attended by the sarpanch (village mayor, in India's system) and the newspapers. As detailed in previous posts we will begin by reviewing what we learned last year (basics of the computer) and then will go on to MS Word and typing skills. There will definitely be a good stream of posts as this work develops. For now, enjoy the photos below.

The poster for our village information center


Gopal with the village sarpanch (mayor) at the village information center opening  ceremony

Gopal with student at opening ceremony

Teacher with students in Kukrella

Same as above

Students on computer in Mohan Gujar ki Dhani

Students working on laptop


    Finally, our microfinance work continues unabated, with the women and their families enjoying the benefits they have to offer. These are a cornerstone of our work/operational philosophy, so we always work to keep them strong. Below are some photos.

Woman filling out documentation in Mohan Gujar ki Dhani

Meeting in Barwara

    Stayed tuned for some scans of the newspaper articles. Have a great day!