These children are reaching out to you this Diwali, asking for a smile

Sameera Ahmed| October 16, 2014| 8.00 pm ISTDiwali is just around the corner. As tradition demands, new clothes are bought and cracker shops are visited. In the midst of all this, one organization reaches out to friends and well-wishers every year for help to buy its students the only extra set of clothes they get – apart from their school uniforms .Vanavil, a school started in 2005 at Nagapattinam was initiated by Prema Revathi and a group of her friends to help out children from marginalized nomadic communites, the Narikuravar and Boom Boom Mattukarar, kids who otherwise would have been begging. Prema Revathi, one of the founders of the Vanavil school said, “ We have a total of 150 students with us. From sixth standard to tenth, they go to a nearby government school for studies”. The school has an attached hostel for its students. The school runs on money from the government, and sponsorships from well-wishers and friends. “ We reach out to people every year,” said Revathi as the school has again come out in appeal for help to buy its students a new set of clothes. “One set of new dress for each child,” said Revathy is what the school aimed to achieve.The school hopes to raise Rs. 90,000 for the kids broken down to Rs. 600 for each one of them. “We generally get funds in the beginning of the academic year,” said Revathy in the hope to collect the required funds by Diwali.