Excited to Learn Technology

During one of our Computer Technology Program training sessions I was passed a love letter from one of the teachers, S.E. Sangeetha, expressing her excitement of our training session. Naturally my heart melted after reading her great attempt of writing in English so that I could understand her emotions.

I decided to share her letter with our supporters. 

Listed below I have typed out her email so that you all can review. Please do not be judgmental regarding any of her spelling or grammar, thank you in advance:

“My name is S.E. Sangeetha. I am working in the RISE School.

First, I will like to say thank you to Mr. Krishnan and our correspondent Geetha Krishnan for giving me this great opportunity to learn about laptops and meet Bridget and Abby. Both are very nice persons. This has been the first time I have ever met and talked to foreigners very closely. 

Already I had seen M.S. office in basic documents. These past two days I practiced a lot of new things using the laptop. I also got to learn how to use a LCD projector. This will be very useful in my class teaching for this academic year. I hope my students will enjoy this method of teaching.

Bridget and Abby make the class very interesting. I like your teaching and you also.

Thank you!”

I hope you enjoyed the note! It is a great delight to be teaching women about the use of technology. 

Thanks so much for reading. 

Can You Be A Successful Leader in the 21st Century and Be Fearful of Technology?

Meet Madame Sharadha, the principle of Rural India StudentEducation (RISE) elementary school located in the small rural village of Thimmanguthu near Pollachi, India. Fierce and determined she leads a team of ten teachers to adopt an all English curriculum that is technological advanced. Her passion and objective is clear, she wants to push the boundaries of learning in the rural village.

Madame Sharadha (in middle) speaking with students

First to graduate in her family, she holds a Master in Education and is the breadwinner in her home. Highly respected, she walks with confidence amongst the villagers and teachers, but one thing keeps Sharadha up at night, her fear of technology. How can a woman so powerful and accomplished live a life fearful of electrical devices designed to advance human life? The capabilities of a laptop/computer and other electrical devices fascinate her but she is still very weary of being a middle-aged female living in such a technological world with limited knowledge of the field. As any great leader Sharadha encourages her teachers and students to advance in the field regardless of her shortfalls. 

With the Computer Technology Program taking place this summer Sharadha made a special request that we help her get over her fears of using the computer because she knows education is the key to success. Learning how to use a laptop and its applications can only help Sharahda and her vision in turning the RISE elementary school into an advanced technology institution for her students.

We salute Madame Sharadha on her mission and are very thankful to help her reach goals.

To learn more about Madame Sharadha tune in www.youtube.com/IndiaRise for in-person interviews on her progress and vision. (Please Note: Youtube clips will be public after June21st)

"All I want is a Laptop"

“If I had one wish – I would ask for a personal laptop!” words of ten-year-old Sri Lakshmi, a student of the Rural India Student Education Foundation (RISE).  Sri Lakshmi is an only child and the only child living on the RISE campus. Extremely smart she translates English to Tamil in her village, she knows how to use a laptop and she is extremely advanced in mathematics. Her hobbies include yoga, karate and dance; all activities that are taught at the RISE elementary school. She tries to hide her beautiful smile as she shows off her moves. When we asked her “What do you want us to help you with?” she quickly responded: “All I want is a laptop,” she went on for twenty minutes on how a laptop could help advance her in school. She loves translating for the people in her village and would love to help create translation signs for the elderly workers in the village. Only ten years of age but already inspired to help teach the people of her village be more advanced.

Sri Lakshmi was one of the first of ninety students to greet us on the campus. As our bus arrived in front of the campus it dropped us onto a dark path to our place of residence, for which we would be staying for the duration of our trip.  Our first memory of Sri Lakshmi was her beautiful smile and greeting us in English “Welcome to Rise Foundation, I have spent all day waiting for your arrival; I hear you are the teachers with the laptops.”

It is such exciting times for the students at RISE elementary to have foreigners visit the campus to deliver laptops and train teachers. Our aim is to help all of the determined students at RISE gain access to their personal laptop allowing the young children of the village to use laptops for homework assignments to increase their confidence as they enter higher levels of education in a technological advanced world.

We are currently collecting donations to help Sri Lakshmi purchase a laptop. We were able to secure a special discount at a local computer store offering laptops to us starting at $500. To donate or learn more about Sri Lakshmi wish please feel free to contact abobe@mills.edu