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Help a Family in Need This Holiday Season
December 2009
By Tyler Chernin
 Meet
Vinay. He is in
6th grade and was
born in a tiny, agrarian village
in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Vinay’s family are farmers, and
poor even by Indian standards. Life
in much of Madhya Pradesh is hard,
and frequent droughts make living
off the land unpredictable and challenging.
Against impossible odds, Vinay was
chosen to attend a
boarding school
in Jhabua district, known as the
Bhil Academy. The school, set up
with foreign aid and through the
dedicated efforts of Dr. Fabian
Toegel, continues to be supported
by the generosity of several NGOs
and provides a quality educational
opportunity to a handful of children,
such as Vinay. For these children,
born to extreme poverty and hardship,
a chance to study at the Bhil Academy
is an opportunity of a lifetime
and a real hope for a better life.
Recently, a brand new campus was
built for the students in the countryside,
with room to play and explore, and
just be kids!
Vinay is one of the brightest students
at his school and continues to excel
in all his subjects. He is an avid
English-speaker and is showing great
promise, but his chance at a brighter
future is in limbo as his family
struggles to make ends meet in the
wake of a terrible personal tragedy.
Vinay’s father, who suffered from
liver disease and severe diabetes,
needlessly passed away at a young
age several months ago, to diseases
that would be considered routine
here in North America.
On top of losing the family patriarch,
Vinay and his family now face an
overwhelming financial debt from
countless hospital bills and even
loans from threatening money lenders.
The amount? A mere $3,000. To us,
a reasonable price for months of
hospital care. To them, a small
fortune. But worst of all, there
is the very real possibility that Vinay’s family, unable to support
themselves without him, would be
forced to withdraw him from the
Bhil Academy, essentially ending
Vinay’s chances at developing his
enormous potential.
This holiday season and beyond,
please consider donating whatever
amount you can, no matter how small,
to help us lift this incredible
burden off of Vinay and his family.
The holidays are a time for us to
reflect on the blessings in our
life and to realize how lucky we
all are to have been given even
the most basic of opportunities.
Your gift will go such a long way,
so
please consider offering a donation
as a gift for the holidays. |
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