LET'S BRING LIGHT FOR EDUCATION, TOGETHER

Pan IIT Fundraiser Musical Evening

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About this event

The alumni of IITs in Bangalore are coming together for a musical fundraiser evening. Renowned Hindustani musical group, Sunaad will be presenting ISHA RUMI: Beyond Form - a theatrical juxtaposition of the Ishavasya Upanishad and the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi sung in Dhrupad interspersed with dialogue, narrative and story-telling. Inspired by Sri.M, music composed by Padmashri Gundecha Brothers, Drama Direction by Rajyashree Dutt and Tara Kini providing Concept and Direction, the show promises an enthralling musical treat.

Through this fundraiser evening, we take a step forward in our mission to provide clean solar lamps to students in rural areas of Karnataka where electricity is elusive.

About LiFE

Conceptualized over 10 years ago, LiFE has impacted lives of more than 1 lakh children in Karnataka. LiFE provides free solar powered LED lamps to students of class 8 - 10 in rural Karnataka to encourage them to come to school by incentivizing attendance and providing affordable, cleaner and safer source of light, thus empowering students to learn.

Why did we start LiFE?
Lack of proper infrastructure including shortage of basic facilities like electricity ultimately lead to student attrition in rural India. Lack of reliable electrical power forces students to resort to kerosene lamps and candles as they require adequate lighting to study at night. Dim light, heat and the harmful smoke of the kerosene lamps adversely affect their productivity. There is also an increased risk of fire accidents and other health risks like burns, injuries and poisonings from fuel ingestion when children handle these kerosene lamps. These problems coupled with the apathy of parents towards the education are contributory factors to their difficulties which ultimately result in children dropping out from school.

What we do to solve this problem?

Project details:
  • Every Government school student (high-school) gets a battery operated light for use at home. Every lamp costs ~INR 2000 (inclusive of solar panel, battery and charging station).
  • The school has a battery charging facility and the student brings the lamp to school every alternate day for charging (improves attendance).
  • Upon these students finishing the 10th Standard, the lights are turned over to the next set of students in the class. This means that every lamp that is given supports more than 5 batches of students (considering the lifetime of a lamp to be five years)
  • In order to strengthen the program, each student is encouraged to contribute Rs.100 (used for post-warranty repairs) towards the lamp which is kept in a separate bank account maintained by one school teacher and one villager.

Benefits:
  • The student (along with her/his siblings) gets to study at home every evening.
  • As the charging station is placed in schools, LiFE increases the attendance rate amongst school-goers
  • The family actually has a light at home for them to escape the dark
  • The student (along with siblings) gets to study under 6-8 hours/day of clean and safe light every evening
  • No kerosene lamps or candles (which have dangerous fumes) are required.

Outcomes:
  • Society benefits with an improved proportion of school-going children.
  • These empowered students are able to aim for better opportunities in life.
  • The society at large benefits from an improved proportion of school-goers, who are then able to aim for better opportunities.

Why join this movement?
We invite the Bangalore alumni chapters of IIT Kharagpur, Kanpur, Delhi, Bombay, Madras and other IITs to join hands in giving back and making the light of education reach the unreached. Your contribution of INR 1075 will have a multiplier effect down the years in the lives of these children.

Partners in change

  • Impact partner: Menda Foundation- For every Rs.1075 contributed on this project, a matching contribution shall be made by Menda Foundation, an initiative of Mr. Arjun Menda, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur
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Details:

  • Timings - Sunday, February 19 at 6 PM - 9 PM
  • Venue - Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha, 8th Main Road HAL II Stage, Bangalore