1200 Attend Mala School Reunion
Sponsors frequently ask what happened to the child they sponsored who graduated from Project Mala schools, one of the programs supported by the ORIA Charitable Fund. Early last year, Project Mala held a ‘Past Students Day’ at Guria School and were amazed when 1,200 students turned up. Add this to the 450 children still at Guria, plus siblings and parents, and the total reached almost two thousand attend the event. There were lots of stories of hardship and success. One father came on his own to tell us how his son had gained himself a job in Saudi Arabia. Some of girl students came with their husbands and children, whom they hoped would also be able to enroll at a Mala school. Ajay, another former student now works as an electrician repairing fans. Ajay had not been able to continue his education after leaving Guria but asked to enroll for the middle school and was prepared to sit in a class with children 15 years his junior. Project Mala School Guria is located at Village Guria on the Varanasi – Allahabad G.T. Road around 35 Kms from the Varanasi main railway station. Guria school was established in 1989; it now has a strength of 462 children from class 1 to class 8. It has 9 class rooms, a big dining hall and two rooms for extra curricular activities. The total area of the school is around 67,000 sq. ft that includes a large play ground as well. Project Mala School Guria serves 15 villages within its 4 km radius. Most of the children walk to school except those who are lucky enough to have bicycles. The villages served by Guria School are Guria, Shivrampur, Ramachanderpur, Thathra, Mahamalpur, Mahadvepur, Bihara, Bhainsa, Piparia, Babusarai, Katka, Gaurali Padao, Gaurali, Charraha and...
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