Vinodkumar

VinodKumar K is studying in class 8 in Kancheepuram District. His is the first generation to be studying in high school. His father Kaniyappan and his mother Yellamma have not studied much.Vinod gets an amount of Rs 1500 / year for his studies and his parents are very carefully depositing the same in the Post office and they spend the money on Vinod’s educational requirements like pens, books, etc. Vinod is very good in Tamil and is average in other subjects. He cannot handle English very well he says. He has good computer skills. He is very much interested in science. He can explain science experiments very well; his vocabulary in Tamil is excellent. He is interested in knowing scientist and his role model is Dr. Abdul Kalam.His after school routine is watching Television in his neighbours house and playing cricket with his friends.

Dharani

Dharini S, aged 15 is studying in class 10 in Vellore district. She is the eldest daughter and the first generation child to be studying in a high school. Her father is Shankar and Mother is Lakshmi. They are running a Meat Shop where they sell Mutton and Chicken and they are also woodcutters.Totally they are five children at home. Dharani wants to become an Engineer. She is weak in Maths and good in English. Her activities are running, drawing, embroidery and dance. She also runs a tuition centre and around 20 children attend her tuitions. She has also established a library in her house and many children are using this facility. She is not very impressive in public speaking but good in group discussions. She wants to become an expert in computers and scoring 400/500 in her quarterly exam, she has scored the highest marks. Her parents are using the scholarship amount very judiciously on her education and she has been supported by the CSS Foundation. Dharini says her parents are the role models for her.

Meena

Meena S, is studying in class 9 in the Vembakkam Block. Her mother Pushpa, is a coolie. She has three daughters whereas Meena is her second. Her house was in a very bad state, so a Self Help Group has assisted her family to rebuild her home to an extent. Meena is a very intelligent and talented girl. Her parents want her to become an IAS officer. They think Meena has the capacity to achieve this goal. She is interested in singing, drawing, dance, gardening, storytelling and writing. She writes short stories in Tamil.

Her Achievements at such a young age:

1) Meena conducts classes for children studying from class 1 to 5 in various formats,

Tamil Activity: How to read Tamil?
English Activity: How to read English?
Math Activity: Number Counting

These classes are conducted daily in the evenings between 7 and 9.

2) She has won prizes in various categories of her interest:

Essay Competition at the school level - 3rd prize
Story writing competition - 2nd prize
Quiz Program - 3rd prize
Vocabulary - 1st prize
Dance competition by Self Help Group - 1st prize

In the month of January she participated in a story telling competition and in the same competition at the District level she got a prize. Whenever Meena wants to participate in a competition she borrows money from her neighbours and takes part in the activity with full interest. Meena’s other hobby which is very interesting:

She has studied a lot about Herbal Plants. She has visited an office from where she has picked lots of details on Herbal Plants. This place is very close to her home town. She has developed this study on Herbals Plants as a hobby which is amazing to see in a young girl studying in class 9.

Her Goal
She wants to have lots of Computer Knowledge
She wants to improve her English Skills
She wants to learn Classical Music.

Her Mentor lives in Chennai. They meet once in 6 months and their other form of communication is through letters and phone.

Vijayalakshmi

S Vijayalakshmi is studying in class 9. Both her father Shankar and mother Sashikala are coolies. Vijalakshmi has a brother. Her parents want her to become an IAS officer and she wants to be a doctor.

Her Achievements

She Helps Children in her neighbourhood from 1st to 5th class to do their homework and group activities. She helps them with subjects like Maths & English. She has won prizes in singing, dancing and storytelling at the school level. She gets good marks in Tamil and Science. She is very shy and her communication level is low. Her goal is to gain more computer knowledge. She wants to join classes where she can learn dancing, singing and drawing. Her mentor is in Chennai.

Kalaimagal

M Kalaimagal is studying in 9th Std in Vellore District. She is the eldest daughter of Manickam and Porkodi. Her sister Kalayarasi is studying in class 6. Kalaimagal’s family wants her to become a Doctor. She has been a 1st rank holder throughout her schooling till date. She finds English and Maths difficult. Her favorite language is Tamil and the other subjects she finds very interesting are Social Studies and Science. She has a basic level knowledge in handling a computer. She is a very talented and an intelligent girl. She is fond of dance and dances very well. She has learnt dance on her own interest and has not been trained. She has got 1st prize in dance at the school level. She participates in all the activities conducted in the school. But she is not much interested in Essay Writing, Painting and Drawing. She has also won 2nd prize in the Oratory Competition.

Kalaimagal is very active in Drama also. Her name is recommended in every Street Plays conducted by AID INDIA and was selected for the Eureka Child Festival. She belongs to a village called Aayal which is 4 kms away from Banavaram. She is very keen to see development in her village. So she has started running a library. She conducts tuition for children from her village. She is using the Primary Kits of AID INDIA to the maximum level. According to Hari Kumar, Kalaimagal is one of the best coordinators in AID INDIA. She is one of the first 5 students to be called among 15 other students when some activities are planned by AID INDIA.