Hi all,
Been a bit since my last post, so let's get started with the latest news from Rajasthan.
First of all, we have two exciting things going on that will help propel our organization forward. The first one is that someone has contacted us and wants to give us a plot of land for our NGO office. We currently pay rent at an office in Khora, so this would help us establish ourselves more permanently in the area. The deal has to be approved by the local gram panchayat (village council), so we will wait to hear from them. Regardless of the outcome, we are excited by the offer, as it shows the belief in our work coming from the community. We'll cross our fingers and hope for a yes.
The second thing is that the field workers are currently meeting with a man from Delhi who is an expert in applying for the foreign contributions registration (FCRA). As I mentioned in the past, in India for the first three years of operation you have to have an oversight organization monitor your work. For us, that organization is NSS. NSS does good work, but they also take a hefty fee for it, roughly 17.5%, so we are very excited to be starting the process to strike it out on our own and to be able to use all of our funds for operations. The extra money will allow us to hire Shyam Singh on full time (here is currently half-time), and do a few other things currently out of reach. Additionally, without the fee we will be able to fundraise much more aggressively because donors do not get turned off by the fee. This should allow us to expand our current operations and finally start the environmental work that is part of our organization's mission. It is exciting to be starting this process.
An important piece of applying for our FCRA registration is the audit of our 2nd year's work, which I have posted below. We are committed to the utmost transparency so that all who give to us can trust our work. Please take a look at it and see all of what goes into our work.
Finally, a few more loose ends. We continue our microcredit work, including adding more groups. Everything is going very well in this area. We are currently converting the bank accounts of the groups to conform with new government rules, so that has taken time, but it's getting close to being done.
As for the computer groups, they are currently less busy because the coming of the school year, but there are still students practicing on the computers when they have time. We are currently getting the data collected and analyzed from their exams and surveys. I'll post that data as soon as I have it. Below are photos of the students working on the computer and taking the exam. I think the photos show the environment we are working in and why this work is so important. We will work to keep improving this program, including integrating the results of the surveys and exams into future work. We will keep you updated.
Well that's it for now. Exciting things are afoot! Have a most lovely rest of your summer.
Been a bit since my last post, so let's get started with the latest news from Rajasthan.
First of all, we have two exciting things going on that will help propel our organization forward. The first one is that someone has contacted us and wants to give us a plot of land for our NGO office. We currently pay rent at an office in Khora, so this would help us establish ourselves more permanently in the area. The deal has to be approved by the local gram panchayat (village council), so we will wait to hear from them. Regardless of the outcome, we are excited by the offer, as it shows the belief in our work coming from the community. We'll cross our fingers and hope for a yes.
 |
| Gopal, Meg, Derek, Rohitash, and Grant on the roof of our current office in Khora |
The second thing is that the field workers are currently meeting with a man from Delhi who is an expert in applying for the foreign contributions registration (FCRA). As I mentioned in the past, in India for the first three years of operation you have to have an oversight organization monitor your work. For us, that organization is NSS. NSS does good work, but they also take a hefty fee for it, roughly 17.5%, so we are very excited to be starting the process to strike it out on our own and to be able to use all of our funds for operations. The extra money will allow us to hire Shyam Singh on full time (here is currently half-time), and do a few other things currently out of reach. Additionally, without the fee we will be able to fundraise much more aggressively because donors do not get turned off by the fee. This should allow us to expand our current operations and finally start the environmental work that is part of our organization's mission. It is exciting to be starting this process.
 | ||
| Shyam Singh facilitates an SEG group meeting. With our FCRA registration we will be able to hire Shyam full time and expand the scope of our work. |
An important piece of applying for our FCRA registration is the audit of our 2nd year's work, which I have posted below. We are committed to the utmost transparency so that all who give to us can trust our work. Please take a look at it and see all of what goes into our work.
Finally, a few more loose ends. We continue our microcredit work, including adding more groups. Everything is going very well in this area. We are currently converting the bank accounts of the groups to conform with new government rules, so that has taken time, but it's getting close to being done.
 |
| SEG meeting receives training from government agricultural officers |
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| Shyam Singh facilitates an SEG meeting |
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| SEG meeting with Gopal and bank staff. We are currently converting the bank account of the SEGs to conform with new government rules. |
As for the computer groups, they are currently less busy because the coming of the school year, but there are still students practicing on the computers when they have time. We are currently getting the data collected and analyzed from their exams and surveys. I'll post that data as soon as I have it. Below are photos of the students working on the computer and taking the exam. I think the photos show the environment we are working in and why this work is so important. We will work to keep improving this program, including integrating the results of the surveys and exams into future work. We will keep you updated.
 |
| Student practicing with a typing game in Barwara. |
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| Students taking computer exam in Mohan Gurjar ki Dhani |
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| Students taking computer exam in Pando |
Well that's it for now. Exciting things are afoot! Have a most lovely rest of your summer.
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