KEY International Foundation Projects for the Year 2009

KEY Projects for other years

See Projects for the Years 2002-2012

See also Annual Financial Reports for the Years 2002-2011 [pdf]

Projects for the Year 2009

For the 2009 academic year beginning in July, the Board of KEY International approved establishing scholarships for 52 low income girls (20 girls in the Sarada Vidyalya School, 16 girls in the Lady Sivasami School, 8 girls in Rani Meyyammai School and 8 girls in the Kesari School, all the schools located in Chennai, India) each for a period of 6 years. In addition, 8 boys from the Kesari School will be given scholarships for 6 years and 8 boys from the P.S. High School (North), also in Chennai, India will be given a scholarship for a period of 4 years. Most of these chilren will receive a scholarship of $30 per year, which will cover their annual tuition fees and books. For details on the projects in the other years, please visit Projects for the years 2002-2011.

The support for these children will start in their 7th grade, and the funding from KEY International will help most of them complete their high school, thus enabling them to lead more fulfilling and productive lives. These children come from families whose average monthly income is about $50.

There are several advantages to supporting these children. The poor families have shown a strong interest and initiative in sending their children to these schools at a considerable financial burden to themselves. Thus, the chance of success for these children is much higher. The schools have a mix of students, with a large proportion from primarily the lower middle-income families (family incomes of about $100-200 per month). Thus the poor children have an opportunity to mix and compete with these middle-income children and thereby have access to good quality education.

The KEY Board has also approved $1,000 for a second project which would fund the provision of primary medical care and of vitamins to over 200 poor children in primary schools located in the village of Alamadhi, about 25 miles north of the city of Chennai, India. Another $1,000 has been approved for a third project to support the poor children in their 10th grade for special tutoring and to help them pass the crucial and difficult statewide Board exam. These two projects will be administered by Mr. S. Suresh (Director of the Divine Mother Society Trust, (DMS) www.seva-dms.com). The Trust runs a small health clinic in the village and has already been successful in improving the health of hundreds of malnourished children at a low cost. Additionally, DMS Trust will also monitor and oversee the scholarship program and progress of the children in the Rani Meyyammai and Kesari Schools. As in the past 6 years, the CPR Foundation (www.cprfoundation.org) will continue to monitor the children from the 3 schools (Sarada Vidyalaya, Lady Sivaswami, and P.S. High School-North).

By U.S. standards, the support for a full year's quality education of a poor child in India is very low at about $30 per year (the approximate cost of a large pizza here in the USA!). KEY International Foundation would appreciate any help from you to support and expand our projects. You can donate by sending a check, or by using your credit card. Click on donate for more information.

Also, please note that 100 percent of your donation will go towards helping these impoverished children (the Board of Directors of KEY International covers all the very low administrative costs of the organization). KEY International Foundation is classified as a Public Charity under Section 501(3) (c) of the IRS code. All donations to KEY International continue to be tax deductible as per IRS rules.

Thanks to your generosity during the last 7 years in improving the lives of these children, KEY International now provides scholarship support for 236 children. Since most of these students receive the scholarship for 6 years, this translates to a grand total of 1,344 ‘scholarship’ years (1,080 years or about 80% of the support for girls and 264 years or about 20% of the support for boys)! We do hope that we will continue to merit your support of our worthwhile and cost effective projects of helping the poor children.

Lady Sivaswami Girls Higher Secondary School New 2009 Scholarship recepients	Sarada Vidyalaya Girls Higher Secondary School New Scholarship recepients
Rani Meyyammai Girls Higher Secondary School New Scholarship recepients with the Principal and their teacher	P.S. High School (North) New Scholarship recepients

Kesari Higher Secondary School New 2009 Scholarship recepients with the Pricipal and their teacher	The first group of students at Sarada Vidayalaya High School (shown here with the President of KEY Internatioanl, Bala Batavia) to graduate after receiving 6 years of scholarsip support
The first group of students at Lady Sivaswami High School to graduate after receiving 6 years of Scholarship support

(Photos by Bala Batavia)