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Changing Lives, A Rural Development Project in South India

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Newsletter August 2019

By admin | September 4, 2019
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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

5 days ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

The mat man cometh! Venkat has taken the opportunity to buy new mats for our Crakehall Primary School, Mettupalayam students to use in their weekly yoga sessions. ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

1 week ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

Just a reminder if you're looking for Xmas cards! £5 for a pack of six, plus £2 postage in the uk, for up to five packs. I can happily quote for larger orders!
Every penny will go out to Venkat in India, as all costs are covered by Rosie and myself. ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

2 weeks ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

Our latest newsletter, for photos please check our website www.irdt.co.uk


November 2020

Hello Friends,

As we look forward to a rather uncertain Christmas period, we hope this newsletter makes you proud of the support your charity has provided to so many people around Mettupalayam during this global crisis.

The Pandemic
The restrictions on work and travel in Tamil Nadu have meant that many breadwinners have been out of work and without the money to feed their families - unlike here, working from home is rarely an option. The government has provided some very basic food aid (rice, dahl, cooking oil and sugar) for those with ration cards, but as you know, many of those we support are from communities and castes who do not have the necessary papers.
So, with Venkat’s expert local knowledge, we have targeted those in need with our Food Aid programme. Initially, this was through the supply of vegetables. Queues would form several hours before delivery times. Since September, as the situation has stabilised a little, we have cooked and delivered daily lunches to a carefully selected group of around 350 of the most vulnerable people in five local villages. Designed and coordinated by Venkat and his son Anand, the programme has been supported by our teaching staff. We can only imagine some of the logistics and challenging decisions on priorities that they had to overcome. It is something that only a project with the level of longstanding local knowledge, respect, and relationships like ours could have achieved.

Our photos here capture how your support is making such a positive difference at two ends of the age spectrum. Kanakavalli is five years old and joins our 1st standard class this year. Her older sister has just finished our 7th standard. Kana has a dream that she will become a teacher. Muthammal is believed to be 85 years old. She has had a hard life doing rural labour and has depended on our food aid during the current crisis

Unfortunately, the extra financial support required for the current programme is not something FOM can maintain into 2021. But there is good news. A general election is around the corner!! (May 2021) and local politicians are introducing an increased level of guaranteed rural employment work at an improved daily wage rate. In addition, they have pledged to provide a mobile ration shop van to deliver to Mettupalayam and local villages every two weeks. We are also encouraged to hear that Covid 19 cases and deaths are presently falling in Tamil Nadu and the local area. This has resulted in the re-opening of our local Manampathi market, which has been closed since April.
All this means that Venkat will be able to refine the food aid support yet further as we move towards the end of the year and into 2021

Education

State schools in Tamil Nadu have been closed, but we are delighted that Venkat and the teachers have kept our classes running with the agreement of the local education officer. This has been done to avoid large groups and travel by delivering lessons in three local villages as well as at Mettupalayam. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Fundraising

The pandemic has made some fundraising events impossible, so we have a new idea this year – a Prize Christmas Family Quiz! We hope this will add some fun to a Christmas time which we know will be different this year. Please pass this on to your friends and neighbours too. The money voucher prizes have been donated by a very generous friend, so that every suggested £2 entry fee will go straight to the charity. To access the quiz please go to the attached link to our website at irdt.co.uk/fundraising/ If you cannot access the internet, please contact any of the Trustees and we can provide a copy for you. Please email or post your completed quiz to Adele Eldridge (details below) by 5 January 2021. Good luck and thank you.

The beautiful greeting cards produced from the paintings of our dear friend Susan Sands are blank inside, so make an ideal Christmas or New Year card. Please contact Francis (contact details below) if you would like some. The cost is £5 for a pack of 6 assorted cards, plus postage, with all the proceeds to the charity.

Adele has told us that the members of a book group she belongs to save through the year for a Christmas lunch. As they will not this year be able to meet as a group, they have decided to donate their savings (£400) to FOM. Wow! If you have any ideas of your own for fundraising please let us know and we can share these on our Facebook page.

We all want to support our local shops, but if you decide to use amazon please use smile.amazon.co.uk and nominate Friends of Mettupalayam as your chosen charity.

We often speak to Venkat and thank him and his team for their wonderful work. However, he always says that without his friends in the UK nothing is possible. Your support and friendship keep the project going and is more appreciated than ever. Thank you and we wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Contact us:
Adele Eldridge
The Coach House
Leyburn
DL83EE
adeleeldridge@gmail.com Francis and Rosie Muncaster
01969 650618 01677 425961
Hugo and Jean Welsh fmuncaster@hotmail.com
01904 769248
hugo.welsh30@gmail.com ... See MoreSee Less

Fundraising | IRDT

irdt.co.uk

Fundraising It costs around £32,000 a year (£2,700 per month) to support the work of IRDT in Mettupalayam and the surrounding villages. If you would like to help us financially, there are a number o...
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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

3 weeks ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

Another short term expansion to IRDT's social and educational work! These tribal children live in a settlement near Manampathy and haven't had any access to schoolwork for many months. We have been supporting them with daily meals and Venkat has now employed a teacher on a short term contract to provide daily lessons. We understand that the local secondary school is due to reopen on the 14th November, but there has been no notification regarding Government primary schools.
This new project will cost around £100 for each month and we would appreciate any additional donations that can be spared! ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

4 weeks ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

Today, one of the shop owners in the nearby town of Utherimerur had paid for a special lunchtime meal for our Crakehall Primary School pupils and elderly villagers in memory of his late sister and family. We often forget that IRDT receives support from local people, as well as through our UK charity. ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

1 month ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

Seven months since the local fruit and vegetable market in Manampathy closed, today is the first time open. We have been importing all the food required for our Food Aid programme direct from the large wholesale markets but it will be convenient for our villagers to be able to shop local. Signs that things are returning to normality? ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

1 month ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

It's Wednesday, so boiled eggs all round!
Our daily Food Aid programme is really making a difference to the 350 elderly and vulnerable people in the Mettupalayam area.
Thank you Venkat and staff, and also to all our Friends who have donated extra funds to enable this life saving programme to continue. ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

1 month ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

It pays to be flexible! Due to cases of Covid 19 in a school in Andra Pradesh, the local education officer has advised us that we should educate our Crakehall Primary School Mettupalayam students in their own villages, so this class is being held in Karani village!
All these obstacles are there to be overcome, but it doesn't make life easy for Venkat and the teachers.
Most Government and private English Medium schools remain closed. ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

2 months ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

We have been busy making up packs of cards featuring original paintings from our very good Friend, Susan Sands.
These are available in packs of six with a suggested donation of £5 per pack. Postage costs can be quite high but we are happy to quote as necessary.
All the costs in making these cards is covered by the trustees so every penny we receive will be sent out to help cover our project's running costs.
The cards are blank inside, so can be used for a multitude of purposes and we can make up packs of one design or mixed six.
Message us for further information or to place your orders! ... See MoreSee Less

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Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

2 months ago

Friends of Mettupalayam Trust

Apologies, I intended to post this yesterday, on International Teachers Day.
Our Crakehall School Mettupalayam is blessed with an amazing team of teachers, who all do so much to provide a superb education to all our students, irrespective of their religion or caste.
From our small, rural area, our students have had many opportunities to improve their lives, some going on to university, some into medicine, or engineering or computer science. Whatever the students ambitions, they all leave our primary school both literate and numerate.
Thank you teachers, you have the most important job in the world, as our futures are in your hands. ... See MoreSee Less

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