Newsletter Archive

November 2002- Three trustees of Polio Children visited Sucheta Kriplani Shiksha Niketan (SKSN, a school/hostel run specifically for four hundred physically disabled children in Jodhpur, India). The facilities there were basic with water and electricity very scarce and good nutrition non-existent. December 2002- Polio Children charity registered in the UK…

…

Read More Within

Welcome to our second newsletter. So much has been achieved since our last newsletter (August 2003). Our two main projects at SKSN (a boarding school for over 500 poor and physically challenged children in Jodhpur, India) have now been accomplished. I will let the pictures do the talking. Suffice to say, Polio Children with its fantastic supporters have broken new ground in the field of charity by undertaking these unique projects.

HOSTEL FOR PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED GIRLS
This was compleled in April 2004 and over 140 girts moved in on I ” July 2004 (beginning oflhe 2004/2005
academic year). The full cost olthe hostel (including furnishing and walkways) amounted to £100,955

…

Read More Within

Welcome to our newsletter. Polio Children will complete its third full year in existence in February 2006. In this relatively short period of time we have made a significant and in a number of instances a permanent improvement in the lives of so many children. During this period I have also been fortunate enough to regularly visit SKSN (our major project – a school with 500 poor and physically disabled children in Jodhpur, India) and notice this improvement. The children and staff at SKSN are simply overwhelmed by what Polio Children has done to their lives. As always, I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

…

Read More Within

Just over four years ago we started this Charity with a mission to create social waves by bringing hope and some dignity for the then 350 polio affected children in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. We are proud to report that they have started making some seriously big waves. These pictures tell you part of the story.

• Over 35 children have now had an opportunity of university education – all of them being the first members in their family’s history to do so.
• Sajjan Dan – placed first in Jodhpur University exams – now a potential gold medallist
• Sai Ram – winner of the prestigious Dhirubhai Ambani (Reliance Industries) award

…

Read More Within

A lot has happened in the short time since Polio Children was incorporated in the United States in April 2003 and granted an exemption from federal income tax in September 2003. Our fund raising efforts got off to a flying start with a musical evening by Friends of Raagaa from Toronto, Canada. I wish to thank Mr. Nandu Atre and his group of musicians for an evening of lively entertainment, the India Community Center of Rochester for allowing us to host the performance at their facility, the many volunteers who worked so tirelessly, and above all the patrons who not only attended the show but also donated generously. We would not have been able to accomplish what we have without your help.

…

Read More Within

The year 2005 was remarkable in several ways. It marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the polio vaccine, yet the world, and particularly India, saw a rise in the number of children affected with polio. Closer to home, there was a breakout of polio in an Amish community in Minnesota, the first time polio has surfaced in the United States since 1979. Despite these unfortunate turn of events, Polio Children persevered in it’s mission of supporting programs specifically tailored for the education and rehabilitation needs of children affected with polio.

…

Read More Within

It was yet another glorious year for the more than 550 children at the Sucheta Kriplani Shiksha Niketan (SKSN), the largest school for physically handicapped children in India and Polio Children’s primary program of support. A record number of graduates enrolled in university programs, a prosthetics department was established on site, the school library hugely expanded its operation, the computer lab was fully equipped, and a residential vocational training program was initiated. And to top it all, wedding bells pealed for a female alumnus (and now a teacher at the school) who has polio in both her lower limbs– wooed by an able bodied man, no less!

…

Read More Within

One year ago, I had articulated in this newsletter our hopes of continuing to build on the success of our educational endeavor at Sucheta Kriplani Shiksha Niketan (SKSN), the largest boarding school in India for physically disabled children and the primary recipient of our support. Unfortunately, the turn of events in the global economy has temporarily thwarted our efforts. Through generous donors like yourself, we had managed to collect $22,000 to build a Vocational Training Center (VTC) for boys and girls who for one reason or another were unable to pursue higher education. However, because of skyrocketing food prices (specifically, in Jodhpur these shot up by 30% in a short span of 6 months), the funds earmarked for the VTC had to be diverted to the purchase of grain and cooking oil as the very basic survival of the school hung in balance. Yet another crisis was averted, but at a cost.

…

Read More Within

Meet Ammedi. I met her last February when I visited Sucheta Kriplani Shiksha Niketan (SKSN), the largest school in India for physically‐challenged children and our primary program of support. She looked so elegant in her ‘Namaste’ greeting posture. However, she was a totally different person when she first came to SKSN almost 8 years ago. The eldest of 6 siblings, she contracted polio in her left leg during her infancy. She does not remember much about the first 7 years of her childhood that she spent in her village where her father is a laborer earning less than $500 a year – well below the poverty line. “But my life changed when I came to SKSN.

…

Read More Within