Monthly Newsletter – June 2012

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the year, but it has certainly been an eventful one for the foundation. The Rukmini Scholars are already three months into their school year, and the program has also officially kicked off the mentoring program as well. We look towards the second half of the year where we will try to expand our support base and reach a larger audience with our mission and message. We will also continue to strive to improve the quality of education that these girls will receive by incorporating a new curriculum that we have been working on with our partner school (A School for Community – ASC). In order to achieve these goals, we will also continue to hold events and fundraisers so that we can support these planned activities.

Funraiser Event in Columbus, OH

Our philosophy around fundraising has always been to hold small and inexpensive events that can bring people together in a fun atmosphere. In keeping with this theme, we held another bowling “funraiser”, but this time it was held in Columbus, OH at Sawmill Lanes. Our friends and supporters from the Columbus area came out to show their support for the Rukmini Foundation by bowling and participating in a raffle for a Pink iPod Shuffle. They also showed support for the foundation by purchasing official Rukmini Foundation t-shirts. It was a hugely successful event because we made some new friends and were able to spread the word about our activities in Nepal.

View photo album from Columbus Ruk & Roll Event

Many thanks to our great friends and supporters in Columbus. We had a wonderful time, and we raised almost enough money to keep two girls in school for an entire year. Doing some good while having a lot of fun is something our foundation takes great pride in. We can’t wait to do it again.

Speaking a New Language

While we are expanding our reach within the United States through our events, we are also looking to expand our support globally. In order to leverage the foundation’s connections with Japan, we have now launched a Japanese version of the website. The new site gives our Japanese-speaking friends a way to learn more about foundation’s mission and current efforts while also providing a way to support our efforts through a new donation page. The site is accessible from a new menu item. You can visit the Japanese homepage by clicking on the link below, but it will probably help to be fluent in Japanese.

Rukmini Foundation Homepage in Japanese

Visiting Rukmini Scholars at Home

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we have officially kicked off our mentoring (Didi) program. Our mentors are now beginning to visit the students at their homes to get to know them better and to begin establishing a good mentor/mentee relationship. The mentors will be preparing a report from their visit, which we will share with you. These reports will give us insight into the lives of these girls, the challenges they deal with on a day-to-day basis, and the dreams they aspire towards.

Our first report is about the visit to Sushmita’s house where we learn about how she spends time away from school. We also learn about her desire to take part in sporting activities like cricket. These home visits will not only strengthen the relationship between our Rukmini Didis and the scholars, but we also hope that it strengthens the relationship between our supporters and the foundation.

What to look forward to

In future updates, we will bring you more stories from the home visits by the Rukmini Didis. These stories will give us an insight into the lives of the Rukmini scholars and we will better understand the kind of challenges these brave girls have to deal with as they attempt to empower themselves through education.

Thanks again for all of your support. Till next time … Namaste.

CONNECT WITH US