This year pamie.com reaches out to those in need in a place most of us will never see. While governments and relief workers have worked very hard to get conditions back to some kind of normalcy -- meeting the basic needs of the people and communities that were hit by the Tsunami of December 2004 -- it has been extremely difficult to get the basic requirements of the children. This means there's no money for books, notebooks, bags, school supplies, stationery -- the things required for going back to school. While the government has been able to help many, they don't have it within their budget to supply the back-to-school necessities for the youngest children. What do people of pamie.com love? Office supplies. Particularly when they're "Back to School" supplies. I contacted the good people at Asha for Education and asked if we could help. They were thrilled. I'm proud to announce we're sponsoring the villages of the Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu that have suffered from the effects of the Tsunami.  There are about 2400 children in fourteen villages who need help with books, school bags and uniforms.
The cost of one educational kit, sending one child back to school with everything he or she needs is 200 Rupees. At the current exchange rate, that is $4.61 USD. That's $5.76 Canadian. 2.47 UK pounds (more currency conversion here). You can send a kid back to school with everything he or she needs for less than your fancy cup of coffee. For a third of a CD. A quarter of a hardcover book. This book drive always makes a huge impact, but this year it could be stunning. The school year starts at the end of June. Seeing as how we normally send anywhere from five to seven hundred books to a school at an average of fifteen dollars a donation, I'm confident we can sponsor multiple villages this year, sending hundreds, if not thousands of kids back to school with the supplies they need, and one less thing to worry about as they get their lives back in order.
Let's start the goal
at $3,500, which will help 700 kids. [check
status of book drive]
[update:
You hit that goal in two days. You are amazing! Let's see if we
can hit $7000, which is 1400 kids, more than half of the 2400 in
need.]
 If we bust through that quickly, we'll raise the goal. How many villages can we help? We'll just take it one school district at a time. That's all we can do.
Once you've donated, please shoot an email my way so I can add you to our list of donors. If you specified your donation to a specific village or school district, let me know so I can put it down. If you want to include your URL so your name is linked to your homepage (for those of you who like web traffic), please do so. Just like every year, I will post your letters as they come in, which is always my favorite part of this book drive. You can and do make a difference. I'm always proud of you. Ancient Kancheepuram, the City of Thousand Temples, is one of the seven most sacred pilgrim centres for the Hindus.It is also known for its thriving handloom industry. Kanchipuram has over 1600 Anganwadis (preschools for 3 to 5 year children) and 1162 Government schools. 275,299 children study in the schools. 543 schools need additional buildings, while 800 schools need toilets for both girls and boys. 434 schools need toilets. We're starting with the basics. Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change.
In keeping with this focus, volunteers are involved with and support projects that are secular and have an education-related component to them. The objectives of this group are: - To provide education to underprivileged children in India.
- To encourage the formation of various local groups across the world to reach out to larger sections of the population.
- To support and cooperate with persons and groups already engaged in similar activities.
- To raise the required human and other resources to achieve the group objectives.
- To provide opportunities to individuals living outside India who wish to participate in Asha activities in India.
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environment, socio-economic aspects and women's issues.
Your donation is 100% tax deductible in the US, as well as a few other countries. 
[A PICTURE OF TRAGEDY: A painting by a 11-year old boy from Nagapattinam.] These are the villages we're sponsoring. What seems overwhelming at first can be achieved, one place at a time. 1. Paramankanni Colony:
This is a small village of 50 families. This is a Dalit community who are agricultural laborers. Due to the tsunami 5 acres of land has become salinated and there is no livelihood available to them till the land recovers. Currently, people are surviving only on relief.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached.
-- ACDS contacted Red Cross Society, they gave handloom uniforms
for 60 children
2. Paramankanni Kuppam:
This is a village of 200 families. 75 houses were damaged by the Tsunami in this village. At this time one School is functioning up to 5th grade run by two teachers. This area is based on fisherman community.
Relief Work:
-- All affected families received Rs.4000 and 60 kg of rice compensation from Government.
Needs:
-- Educational materials are required for 75 children.3.Seekanakuppam:
In Seekanakuppam, two areas were affected R.Nagar and Sathya Nagar. There are 180 families who live in these two areas. There were no deaths reported but there was heavy loss of property. Also after the Tsunami, a lot of thefts took place which has also hurt the villagers. Before the Tsunami struck most people in this area had a reasonable livelihood through agriculture, but again at present there is no agricultural work and the laborers have been affected much. One middle school is functioning with five teachers. Children are going to school.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached.
4.Perinthuravukuppam:
There are 185 families who live in this village. There were 65 huts that were damaged. One school is functioning up to class V with two teachers. The primary occupation of this village is fishing. However, due to damage to boats and loss of nets people are unable to fish and their livelihood has been affected. Additionally, 30 youth (dropouts from school) are interested in receiving vocational training.
Relief Work:
-- Government constructed 100 temporary shelters in this area.
5. Manjalvillakam Colony:
Is a small village of 25 families. People are living without any occupation. In this area, people are facing problem of livelihood.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached
6. Perinthuravu Colony:
Is a village of 30 families. It is mostly a Dalit community. People are living without any occupation. In this area, people are facing problem of livelihood.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached
7.Theinpattinamkuppam:
There are 68 families in this village including 75 children. No educational support has been provided. The community is based of fishing and awaits the relief from the government. They do not have an occupation presently and there are requirements of food.
Relief Work:
-- Government constructed 50 temporary shelters in this area.
-- Women’s Collective (WC) constructing the temporary shelter for remaining 18 families.
-- All affected families got Rs.4000 and 60 kg of rice compensation
from Government.
8.Theinpattinam Colony:
There are 100 families in this village including 45 children. It is a Dalit community. People are living without occupation. Agricultural land was salinated and hence not useful for farming currently.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached.
9. Kolavanji
Colony
There are 82 families in this village including 20 children. It is a Dalit community. People are living without any occupation since the land they work on is salinated. There are 10 youth (dropouts) in the village who are interested in vocational training.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached
10.Vadapattinamkuppam:
There are 128 families in this village. 65 huts were washed out. There is no school in the village. However, 70 children go to a school that is situated 4km from the place. Boats and nets were completely damaged and work is still at a rest.
Relief Work:
-- Government constructed 100 temporary shelters in this area
-- Women’s Collective (WC) constructing the temporary shelter for rest of 28 families.
-- All affected families got Rs.4000 and 60 kg of rice compensation
from Government.
11.Kanathurkuppam:
There are 130 families in this village. 60 huts were damaged. The village is a fisherman community. People are living without occupation due to loss of nets and boats. No school is functioning in the village.
Relief Work:
-- Government constructing temporary shelter
-- All affected families got Rs.4000 and 60 kg of rice compensation
from Government.
12. Keelarkolai
Colony:
There are 52 families in this village. It is Dalit community. People are living without any occupation. People do not have a livelihood as they were agricultural laborers and are now out of work. There are also no proper roads to get to the village. It is in an isolated area that doesn’t have drinking water supply. To get the drinking water, people have to travel for 2 km. There is no school and the children go to the neighboring village to attend school.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached
13.Cuddalore
Village:
This village consists of three kuppams – Chinna Kuppam, Periya Kuppam and Alli Kuppam. There are 221 families in Chinna Kuppam, 90 families in Periya Kuppam and 50 families Alli Kuppam. Huts are completely washed away. In these kuppams, among 135 children, 40 children are going to school 5 km away by sharing an auto. In Periya Kuppam, a school up to 5th grade is functioning.
Relief Work:
-- Government constructed 100 temporary shelters in this area
14.Cuddalore
Colony:
There are 300 families in this village. It is a Dalit community
who are agricultural laborers. Presently people are living without
an occupation. A school up to V classes is conducted where additional
teacher is also required.
Relief Work:
-- No Government interventions. No compensation was reached
I'll go first. It wouldn't
be right if I didn't throw down in a big way, so I'm going to sponsor
55.3 students, at $255.
Your turn. | 
2005 - Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India