Tailwind Gives Back

Tailwind Supports Bethel Livesey Memorial Middle School through "Share in Asia"

 

The Bethel Livesey Memorial Middle School is a public school established to educate underpriviledged children in the area of Mielkal, India.  Most of the people in this area are Muslims, a few are Hindus, and a handful are Christian.

 

Origins

 

The school was founded after Reverend Job Gnanaprakasam heard that many children in this area had to risk their lives to go to school.  They had to cross over the lanes of the main highway, basically the equivalent of a freeway, to get to school.  A few children lost their lives as they were run over by trucks, buses, and other vehicles and other children were badly injured.  Some of the parents vowed not to send their kids to school to avoid such tragedies.  Rev. Job, obsessed with a vision to educate these children, and with the help of a Swedish Organization, ventured in to establish the school on the safe side of the highway.  In its first year, the school had 55 students and 2 teachers.

 

Today

 

Today there are 523 students taught by 20 teachers who together pursue the vision of education and are marching steadily towards a brilliant future.  The school serves students in grades 1 - 8.  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that these kids portray the Indian Culture in an extra-ordinary way through their art and dances. Sports are also an area of specialization for the kids in the school. Christian ethics and good standards of moral living are also taught to the kids.  They are trained to sing and dance and pray.  The school management has left no stone unturned for the development of the school and imparting preeminent education to the students.

 

Drinking Water Problems

 

But there is not much of education fees that can be collected from the children from such extremely poor background.  Most of the families there make close to $50 a month, which in itself is a big achievement.  The school is situated in a very hilly area, which makes it difficult and unbelievably expensive to buy drinking water.  They use the same water for the toilets, for cleaning and the same water for drinking. It is not surprising that many of the children fall sick often.  A drinking water facility is the need of the hour in this area.

Tailwind is assisting this school by building the right facility to provide quality drinking water for these school children.