Ekal Dallas Gets One Step Closer to Achieving Mahatma Gandhi's Dream of a Literate India
Ekal Vidyalaya of Dallas, a chapter of one of the foremost illiteracy eradication NGO’s in the world, just completed an eclectic Public awareness campaign combined with a wonderful entertainment program for its patrons and donors.
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 11, 2009 -- Ekal Vidyalaya of Dallas, a chapter of one of the foremost illiteracy eradication NGO’s in the world, just completed an eclectic Public awareness campaign combined with a wonderful entertainment program for its patrons and donors. This successful event was held at the Majestic Eisemann Center Theater in Richardson, Texas on Saturday, November 7.
Mahatma Gandhi, in 1937, came up with a Basic Education Plan for India, which had as its core features a comprehensive but decentralized educational model, designed to penetrate the villages of India, which house 70% of India’s population. A vital objective of Gandhi’s vision and that of Ekal Vidyalaya, is to impart basic education, and at the same time develop other social and survival skills among the rural masses. Ekal operates primarily in rural areas of India and a few neighboring countries. ‘Ekal Vidyalaya’ means One teacher school, and is unique in that each of its schools curriculum is tailored to the needs of the villages and rural areas it serves, by utilizing local teachers, using the local language as its medium of instruction, and setting the school’s schedule based on local needs and holidays.
Ekal is the largest Non Governmental organization(NGO) of its kind anywhere in the world, and has had a meaningful contribution in bumping up the literacy rate from 11% during India’s independence in 1947, to 66% today. It recognizes that India still has a whopping 34% illiteracy that needs addressed, and has set its sight on increasing the number of its One teacher ‘Ekal’ schools from its current 26,719 to 100,000 by the year 2011, an impressive goal by any standards.
The theme for the event in Dallas was “Entertainment embedded with a subtle message of why (at least) a basic education is critical for every kid,", as stated by Ms. Kalpana Fruitwala, President of Ekal Dallas. “Ekal Dallas launched two new programs involving children this year, namely Ekal Youth Club and Ekal Kids club, both of which conduct various activities within the community," she proudly added. The Secretary of Ekal Dallas, Dr. Aarti Gupta, worked hard at fund raising on the stage to convince patrons to “Open your hearts and wallets, and share your good fortune, with our not so privileged 'cousins' back home."
Ms. Shalini Joshi, the Emcee for the event, gracefully introduced the beautiful dances and plays, conducted by a wide cross section of the Indo-American community. Performances ranged from Punjabi Bhangras by 11-year-olds, meaning of love and how it is subtly expressed in Indian cultures by the Maharastra Mandal, to a beautiful dance on the hugely popular Bollywood song ‘Jai ho’, and a tribal dance by young girls (dressed in authentic tribal costumes) as would be done by the Lambada Banjara community in the Andhra Pradesh region of India.
"All the performances were breathtaking to watch,” according to Dr. Pallavi Chavda, a generous long time patron and a member of the Ekal Dallas Advisory Board.
Dr. Nandlal Singh, another Advisory board member, along with his troupe, presented a wonderful play which focused on the need for “Spreading the Diya (light) of education far and wide in every corner of the land”. The troupe concluded its play with “Hum Naya Samaj Banayengay”, which translates to ‘We will forge a new Society’.
“It is a huge paradox and an embarrassment that while India is a leader in areas like Software, Space, and Nuclear research, it has not been able to deal with its illiteracy, while China has almost eradicated its illiteracy problem," Vigyan Gotewal, Vice President of Ekal Dallas mused, sharing his reason for working tirelessly towards this huge gala of an event. Suruchi Gupta, a first time volunteer, when asked why people donate so generously to Ekal, pointed out that “Besides the wonderful gift of literacy it spreads, Ekal lets a donor pinpoint the region of the country the donor’s money will go towards opening a new school. This lets patrons share their good fortunes with kids residing in the general area they grew up in, which brings satisfaction to many donors."
Nisha Shah, Dr. Sujata Bhusan & Sharda Rawat, while being new inductees in the Ekal Dallas team, already showed their leadership and passion by working tirelessly towards the event. Nirmita Shukla, another new member of the team, made sure that Stage Management went flawlessly, not an easy task. Rajni Patel, a member of the Ekal Dallas Advisory Board was very pleased with the “Success of the event and the awareness that it created in the Dallas Fort Worth Area, by bringing different sections of the community together."
The total donations received in 2009 from the Dallas-Fort Worth community is expected to fund well over 500 schools, which translates to about six percent of the 8,200 schools funded by Ekal USA. The response from the 900 strong audience members was that of outpouring support. While the Bollywood group High Octavez entertained the audience with popular musical numbers, Ekal Dallas succeeded in collecting $42,471 worth of pledges at the gala itself, which, at $365 per school, translates to 116 new Ekal schools. “The Ekal Dallas chapter’s total contribution this year will lead to about 15,000 new kids being rescued from the clutches of Darkness and Illiteracy," said Dr. Kishor Fruitwala, Southwest Regional President of Ekal USA.
Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, including its Dallas chapter, is a registered 501c(3) non-profit organization. It strives to eradicate illiteracy in India, through non-formal, need based education strictly in villages and remote areas, specifically tailored to the village involved.
For more information, visit http://www.ekal.org. Contact: Abhishek Sonthalia, 972-999-5897 or contact Kalpana Fruitwala at 214-499-0939.
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