History and Mission of our Charity Projects - free Education for poor Children

I told you on Monday that we would not further extend our school due to corruption in India. On Tuesday I reported our disappointment in a school nearby and how we finally had the same dilemma like so many other families in India – which I told you about yesterday. And that’s while we actually just want to help the poor!

It started with letting teenage boys live in our home while they went to study in Vrindavan. This was the beginning, something already my father did when we were small. They didn’t have a place to stay and stayed with us for a few years until they had finished their studies. At some point we were approached by parents of smaller children who asked us to help them pay their children’s school fees. That’s how we started paying children’s fees in other schools.

With time we got to know that there was always a problem for these children in school: the others were bullying them because they had not paid fees themselves! Additionally, we knew that in those school, the children were beaten by their teachers. We didn’t have enough control on the management however to actively do something against that. We decided to change something. We didn’t want to sponsor the education for children who then were beaten or bullied in school! They should have fun at school and love going!

That’s how we opened our own school in 2007 with only 40 children in two classes. Poor children should be able to come and learn here completely for free! They should not have to pay even one Rupee for their education, uniforms, books or stationery! And they would get a very good quality of education!

With hands and legs we have been working on this school. Of course we have donors and sponsors who support us and to whom we are incredibly thankful. At the same time however, as the donations alone would not be enough, we are supporting our school with our business of Yoga and Ayurveda! Every participant of our workshops and retreats, everybody who stays here at the Ashram thus supports this project!

In this way, with hard work – not only to get donations but also to run the school – we have reached to this point where we are now. We have a school of more than 200 children from the poorest homes of Vrindavan. They daily come and start the day with a yoga class. After some lessons, they have a warm lunch, which was one of the main reasons for many parents to initially send their children. And in the afternoon they go home, some of them by our school bus and the rest of them by foot.

Every Friday I introduce one of these families in my blog, not only describing the family’s situation but also giving a picture and a video, so that my readers can understand who these children are and where they come from. Their fathers are construction workers, rickshaw drivers, daily labourers, cleaners, poor priests or tailors.

We have visited each and every home ourselves, we know them all by their names and we have been accompanying them on their journey. Visitors from all over the world have come to visit not only their school but also their homes. In times of special hardship we help by making extra projects, like during the big floods in 2008 and 2010 or in the case of Monika.

And at this point we are sitting here and wondering how it can be that this system does this to us and to these poor children. But there is no sense in complaining – we will go on and make it even better in future! I have many ideas for the future. Next week, I will tell you more about them!