Grit, determination, passion, hard work, continuous learner, gratitude… 

All the above describe the simple and unassuming Rajadurai from Villupuram.

Raja was born and brought up in a humble backdrop with his parents working as brick kiln workers.

At the brick kiln, the work would be only during nights thereby affecting their health as the sleeping pattern gets altered. Unfortunately, to make ends meet, this was the best his parents could do.

To ensure Raja and his siblings have good education, his parents used to work as agricultural field laborers. But with lack of rains that was not a very viable alternative.

In spite of trying circumstances, Raja had big dreams and aspired to become a Doctor. This dream took seed in his mind at a very young age, when his brother was ill and no doctor could appropriately diagnose the illness for 3 months.

With life’s ups and downs, mostly downs life was continuing. Up to 9^th standard, Raja studied in a Government Higher Secondary School. After 9^th, a private school gave him an opportunity for free education for the next three years i.e., class 10^th, 11^th, 12^th.

At Senthamangalam, Villupuram district, Raja scored 479 marks in the 10^th grade. So, they offered him free education for my 11^th and 12^th grades.

While Raja had dreamt of becoming a Doctor, he finally ended up being an Engineer.

Raja tried for Medical but had a cut-off deficit of 0.25. He scored 193.75 for which the cut-off was missed by 0.25. Which meant, he would have to join a private or self-financing college. But then, that would be a huge financial burden for his parents and therefore he had to choose Engineering as he would get a seat in a government college.

But there was a glimmer of hope in Raja’ life when he chanced upon ILP during summer vacation. ILP had organized a session to collect details about the kids of brick kiln workers with the aim of supporting them and guiding them to help them achieve their educational dreams.

Raja’s struggles continued during the 2^nd year of Engineering. While he completed his first year, his educational loan was not sanctioned during the 2^nd year. ILP stepped in and provided him the scholarship to complete his Engineering.

Raja had even thought of working at a Xerox shop due to lack of confidence and communication skills. ILP team counselled him, “don’t waste your life by being in a Xerox shop in Villupuram”. This gave Raja a confidence boost and the belief that with his knowledge, hard work and determination, he can not only scale up but also be a role model for other youth to emulate in the same situation.

After completing his Engineering, Raja got his first job. While Raja wanted to do just design works, he was unwillingly loaded with other tasks such as vendor management, operations, finance and people management. During his tenure there, Raja detested these additional tasks thinking he would lose his design skills.

But looking back, today as Raja runs his own manufacturing unit, he is thankful that he got a practical hands-on experience of various departments that need to work in tandem to run a successful business.

After a year, Raja quit his first job company and moved on to another company where he continued for a year and a half.

Raja always felt that he lacked in communication skills and was unable to scale up and this continued to be his drawback always. Once again ILP stepped in to arrange communication skills coaching for him which gave him the much-needed boost to confidently present himself and his ideas in the market.

In 2019, armed with new found confidence and enthusiasm, Raja set-up his own manufacturing unit – CDI – Custom Design and Innovation. Today, Raja employs 3 people under him and has completed a whopping 1900 projects in just 4 years with 97% of projects meeting customers’ vision.

What an awesome journey? But Raja knows, this is just the beginning and he has miles to go.

In this 4-year long journey of setting-up his own manufacturing unit, Raja encountered multiple problems such as not finding the right talent, unable to offer great package, training the new joiners who get trained and disappear without even informing…etc.

Raja takes pride in saying that his start-up journey started with the best investment provided to him by ILP i.e., laptop. The laptop that ILP gave him when he was a student is close to his heart and he kick-started his Founder’s journey by using it for doing his business as a good omen.

But with Raja’s persistence and hard work, no hurdle is too big to cross. He has big plans to make his start-up CDI a well-known name in the field of industrial design.

What’s more? Raja is a man of principles and ever grateful to ILP for their unwavering support at every step of his education. He now wants to do something in return as a token of gratitude for all the support ILP has offered him.

While ILP supports multiple students every year with education loans, Raja wants to train the interested students in the field of design and manufacturing and also offer them a job. He wants to be a support system for other deserving students to boost their confidence.

Raja is also pursuing his MBA in Finance to strengthen his knowledge which will further help him in his business.

With such an attitude, tenacity, resolve and dedication, there is no stopping Raja from achieving his dreams and helping others achieve their dreams too.

If you know any deserving students looking out for a job in design engineering field, please feel free to contact Rajadurai on 9524887985 or email at cdismartwork19@gmail.com

Even a single person can make a difference.

And making a meaningful difference is N. Swapna, a Vidya Saathi in the lives of students from V Agrahara village.

Swapna conducts classes for 2 hours everyday teaching the kids foundational Kannada, English and Math.

Her hard work and dedication to improve the learning levels of students is showing results as can be seen from the performance in the final learning level assessment.

The parents and teachers are happy with the outcome of the FLN (final learning outcome).

Currently, there are 48 children studying in GHPS V Agrahara between the age group 6-14 years which was started 50 years ago.

India Literacy Project helped set-up Village Learning Center (VLC) in V Agrahara village and recruited n. Swapna from the community who is a B. Com degree holder.

Swapna coached about 11 students for the entrance exam of Moraji Desai, Navodaya and Adarsha residential schools and they are confident of securing admission in these schools.

Vidya Saathis (i. e. , friends for education) are village level volunteers that ILP partners actively recruit and train.

Vidya Saathis are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Village Learning Centers (VLCs), and to teach children to improve their Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN).

Vidya Saathis engage with all the children assigned to their VLC in a child-friendly and safe manner and ensure that the children are actively engaged in various learning activities.

Vidya Saathis supplement the efforts of teachers and parents to ensure that all children are in school, attending regularly and learning well.

A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people

So, well said by none other than Dale Carnegie who has authored some of the most extensively read books the world over.

Keeping this motto in mind India Literacy Project has partnered with UST to set-up Gram Panchayat libraries in Tamil Nadu.

What started with 10 libraries in 2021 has today grown to 15 libraries.

The panchayat libraries have not just promoted the joy of reading for children but has also encouraged the village youth to volunteer in running the libraries efficiently.

Even the panchayat leaders have been participating actively thereby setting an example that reading can be joyous at any age.

Not just reading, but the kids are also taught origami art and encouraged to do storytelling based on the books they have read leading to improved confidence levels.

The best part is the “Star Reader” awards handed out every month for the book worms.

Making memories that last a lifetime in a fun manner in the summer camp

India Literacy Project, Hyderabad chapter is conducting summer camp for kids aged 5 years & above at MPPS Parvath Nagar & MPPS Nallagandla schools from 25th April to 10th May.

In the summer camp, the kids are learning a horde of things in a fun manner.

Be it yoga, math, art, origami, solving puzzles, language activities, music, dance etc.

The ordinary world becomes extraordinary the minute one starts reading…

Opening a whole new world for the kids of Rangareddy and Medhcal-Malkajgiri districts is Qualcomm with its library program Aqriti facilitated by the United Way of Hyderabad.

Qualcomm collaborated with ILP to sponsor libraries in 100 schools and provided 35,000 books. This initiative impacted 8000 students from grades 1 – 5 along with training 20 librarians. Not just opening libraries but India Literacy Project also conducts reading level assessments via GROWBY reading methodology wherein books are color coded using six colors, green to yellow (grow by- green, red, orange, white, blue, yellow).

Children are first assessed on their reading levels and mapped to one of the colors. The children are then encouraged to pick books from their level.

Through child friendly books and a structured framework and monitoring process, library program brings the joy of reading to the classroom and helps improve reading in native and English language.

Curiosity is the mother of science…

Tapping this curiosity in students is India Literacy Project’s science kits.

The science kits provide a space for children to observe, understand, experiment, and discuss various aspects of science and the things around them.

Students can touch, feel and build without fear of breaking expensive items.

The science kit covers:

• 200+ chemistry, physics, and biology concepts
• Everyday items along with a few specialized components
• A detailed manual containing items required and setup and concepts
• Experiment videos, manuals, and a structured training program

The science kit is aligned with NCERT curriculum from grades 5 10.

The goal of the science kits is not just to simplify subject understanding, but also to increase scientific temper.

We can give our children only two things in life which are essential. Strong roots and powerful wings.

India Literacy Project strongly believes and works towards ensuring a solid Foundational Literacy & Numeracy program (FLN) for children in grades 1 to 5.

This is done by Village Learning Centers (VLCs) that are managed by village level volunteers called the Vidya Saathis (VS).

A VLC is a space that is set up in the community for the children to attend in order to improve their learning levels.

A VLC is set-up in a suitable place identified in consultation with the local community, leaders and parents.

The space for the VLC location is set up through local contributions. Each VLC will typically have 25-30 children registered and attending regularly.

Vidya Saathis (i. e. , friends for education) are village level volunteers that ILP partners actively recruit and train. Vidya Saathis are responsible for the day-to-day management of the VLCs, and to teach children to improve their Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN).

Vidya Saathis engage with all the children assigned to their VLC in a child-friendly and safe manner, and ensure that the children are actively engaged in various learning activities.

Vidya Saathis supplement the efforts of teachers and parents to ensure that all children are in school, attending regularly and learning well.

Every Vidya Saathi is continuously guided by ILPs NGO partners throughout the year.