Computer programming and digital and creative technology skills are vitally important in today’s digital age. We would therefore like to set up a computer lab and creative learning center so that the children we support in Kolkata, India can learn these skills and others including music recording and production, photo and video editing, gaming and programming. These skills are rarely taught pre-college in underserved communities and, by providing the children with computing and tech based creative skills education, we will help empower their path out of poverty.

Cost – USD 9,000 – this covers the set-up costs including laptops, speakers, peripherals (keyboards, mouse), pocket drum kits and the cost of part-time specialist teachers. The cost in year two and beyond will be about USD 3,500 for teacher salaries, equipment maintenance and replacement parts.

Nutritious and regular meals are vital for the physical and mental health of all children. Those that do not receive good quality meals suffer from concentration challenges, have a higher propensity for mental health issues and are more likely to fail to meet their potential.

Children in developed countries are generally provided with school meals. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many of the underserved children in poorer societies because schools cannot afford to provide meals. As a result, the kids survive on whatever their parents can afford to provide and as they typically only earn $1-3 per day, and nothing if they don’t work, the children often receive little or no food and resort to junk food to mitigate their hunger. Given these challenges, we wish to introduce a consistent and nutritious meal plan for the children we support in Kolkata.

Cost – USD 8,400 – this covers a daily meal, Monday to Saturday. It equates to $700 per month and on a per child basis, this is $28 per month for the 25 children that will participate in the meal program, or about $1 each per day. This includes the cost to prepare and deliver all the meals to the premises on a daily basis.

Internet connectivity is a vital part of everyday life and education in the 21st century. We would therefore like to provide an internet connection for the first time to a school in rural Nepal. The school, which is a 30-hour road trip from Kathmandu, currently educates more than 100 children, aged between 5 and 10, and has no online service today.

As a result, all teaching is rudimentary and is delivered using books, which are out of date, and writing boards and paper. An internet connection will allow the teachers to upgrade the quality and variety of the education they can provide through the delivery of online courses. It will also introduce the children to the wider world, via internet- based programs, and expose them to technology for the first time. This simple proposal to supply an internet connection has the power to completely transform the quality and variety of the education that these young children will receive.

Cost – USD 3,000 – this covers the up-front cost to set up the service. In addition, it will cost USD 600 per year, or 50 per month for the service. The cost details are:

• One off hardware costs:
  • To access the internet – USD 1,300.
  • To deliver the service in the classrooms –
    • Laptops – USD 1,200 for two devices
    • Projector – USD 500 for two devices.
• Monthly internet service costs – USD 50.00

Education is critical to help visually challenged children lead better lives and improve career prospects. Contrary to popular belief, visually challenged people, that are provided with good education opportunities, are now leading successful lives as teachers, administrators, accountants, bureaucrats and computer programmers.

A) Provide individual children with laptops to empower learning –

Laptops have become essential for visually impaired students to continue their learning after school. As braille books are not always available, older children rely on laptops to access audio material and to record and take notes, which is crucial for exam preparation. Making notes in braille is not practical or efficient, and sharing them is difficult. Laptops, in comparison, provide a more accessible and sustainable tool to empower the education of visually impaired students.

We therefore wish to provide laptops for the visually impaired students that we support.

Cost- USD 2,500 – which will cover 6 laptops at a cost of about $415 each.

B) Sponsor the setting up of a computer lab to help visually impaired kids between grades 1 and 10

The computer lab, to be located in a rural village near Hyderabad, India, will empower children between grades 1-10 with the essential computer literacy skills required to help them advance academically, prepare them for future educational and professional pursuits and provide them with the evaluation and digital literacy skills and exposures necessary to overcome the many barriers they face, so they can succeed in the digital age.

Cost – USD 3,000 – this will provide 3 desktops, 5 workstation tables, chairs, repairs and painting of the facility, all the electrical set up work, the creation of a storage space and the setting up of security cams. The cost estimate of USD 3,000 comprises USD 1,500 for the desktops and USD 1,500 for the supporting infrastructure.

A reliable power supply is a given in the West. However, the school of 270 children that we are supporting in rural Bangladesh has no power for 50% of the typical school day. By providing solar panels, we can substantially mitigate the power shortfall and provide the school with a more reliable power supply required to provide lighting and fans and also run computers and multimedia. As 270 children attend the school, the impact of this project is significant.

Cost – USD 2,500 – to cover the upfront cost of the solar panels and the installation. Annual maintenance is estimated to be USD 200.

This school educates 680 children from various villages in rural India, aged between 3 and 18. Although the school has a reliable electricity supply today, it is expensive. By setting up solar panels, the school will be able to reallocate the funds that it allocates to pay for the power supply (approximately $2500 per year) into education facilities that directly benefit the children that the school serves. Based in an expected useful life of 25 years for the solar panel system, the school will benefit from USD 62,500 of ‘additional’ education funding in current $’s which will directly benefit the large student population. In addition, this is an environmentally good solution for the local society.

Cost – USD 14,000 – to cover the upfront cost to purchase and install 30 KW of solar panel capacity. Thereafter, annual maintenance costs after warranty periods expire, are estimated to be USD 500 per year.

The provision of multimedia capabilities enhances education and provides children that live in remote rural communities with a vitally important window on the world beyond their local communities and will provide a more dynamic and effective learning environment. More than 600 children attend this school and they will all benefit from this proposal to enhance five conventional classrooms with multimedia facilities. The use of audio-visual materials, such as videos, animations and interactive presentations will:

• Enhance engagement – by capturing their attention and making lessons more interesting.
• Improve comprehension – by helping them grasp complex concepts and topics more easily.
• Increase retention – by helping them to remember content more effectively when they can see and hear it, as opposed to traditional lecture-style teaching.

Prepare for the digital age: by equipping them with digital literacy skills and comfort with various media formats.

The project goal is to create five multimedia classrooms for the school.

Cost – $ 7,500 – to cover the upfront cost of interactive panels $5300, computers $1200 and sound systems $1,000.

Computer programming and digital literacy skills are a vital part of education today. This project aims to establish a computer lab and a reliable internet connection for a school of nearly 300 children in rural India. In addition, to mitigate the impact of frequent power supply interruptions, the project will also look to provide a UPS power supply to provide backup power when the mains supply is down. Provision of a reliable internet connection and power supply is essential if the children are to access online resources and coding platforms with confidence and efficiency.

The new computer lab will benefit both students and teachers and will serve as a hub for digital learning and innovation, catering to various educational and vocational needs. Our objective is to provide a mix of facilities including:

• Hardware:
  • Desktop Computers or Laptops with basic specifications
  • Printers, Scanners, and other peripherals
  • Online UPS units for power backup
• Software:
  • Licensed programming software
  • Antivirus and security software
• Internet Connectivity:
  • High-speed internet connection
  • Networking equipment

Cost – $ 6,000 – to cover the upfront cost of 20 refurbished desktop computers ($4,000) and the other software and hardware costs of $2,000). The internet connection cost is estimated to be $100 per month.

Impoverished and marginalized children often struggle at school, understandably so given their backgrounds, family circumstances and limited exposure education opportunities. Study centers have been established to provide remedial and supplementary education to these children. Currently, there are 60 study centers located in rural and urban slums helping children overcome challenges in their school course work and complete their homework. The study centers are open in the evenings between 6-8pm and have provided education help to about 1450 children so far.

The project objective is to provide all the study centers with essential infrastructure so that they can better fulfill their education mission. The infrastructure required includes chairs, tables, chalk boards, water filters, solar lights, library facilities and mattresses. These facilities will help to create a more stimulating and engaging learning environment for the children, promote their social and emotional development and enhance retention by providing a comfortable and welcoming environment.

A needs assessment will be undertaken to verify exactly what is required for each center.

Cost – $6,500 – this covers currently known facility needs across the 60 study centers for chairs, tables, solar lights, water filtration, chalkboards, mattresses and library facilities.