Jacoba Van Der Mei, after her initial visit to Gurukulam has been very supportive of the work being done at school.
Her impression of Gurukulam, in her own words:
Her impression of Gurukulam, in her own words:
Gurukulam
school - Building a future for fishermen children in Kovalam
Colourful, loud and bustling,
India in short: “organized chaos”. It is this dynamic environment that made me
decide to move to India for a year. Leaving the overly structured banking life
in London to indulge in a country where flexibility is key. A sabbatical year
with the objective to devote time to helping others, from supporting education
to social entrepreneurship.
Visiting the Gurukulam “Trust Children” school
in Kovalam emphasised my view on the impact and importance of education. I’ve always been
in favour of the “teach people fishing instead of giving them fish” theory. But
the Gurukulam school has shown me this in reality;
the fisherman village children are actually obtaining skills to break the cycle
of poverty. Learning English really makes a difference in a country like India,
where the local language will most probably not guarantee a decent job in 10 years’
time. From this perspective I dare to say that the Gurukulam “Trust Children”
school stands at the basis of a bright future for these kids!
Entering the school, it was an overwhelmingly warm
welcome; bright smiles and energetic kids looking at us when entering the class
rooms. It was great to see school children being so cheerful. The genuine joy they
bring works so contagiously, that I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the
day.
All students are clearly aware of the daily
routine. After class they go in small groups to thoroughly wash their hands
before having lunch. When they have collected their lunch all will go back to
the classroom to neatly place their napkins and sit together to enjoy their
nutritious meals.
English medium school
I am very impressed by the way the Gurukulam
school manages the day-to-day operations of the school. They have an amazing
group of staff, who are all genuine people persons who love to make a
difference in their own community.
Every year another class room is added to expand
the English medium school another year. They have reached class 10 now and
based on the achievements of the staff and children, I am sure the children
that graduate at class 12 will be properly skilled. I fully realised that in
addition to learning English, these children gained confidence and increased
their self-belief at this school, crucial skills when growing up!
This visit to the Gurukulam school has given me
a heart-warming feeling. A feeling which increases my confidence that education
will make a difference.
Jacoba Van Der Mei
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