Kardel Education Trust Fund

I knew when I started the 'Karen Maryann Scholarship' in St. Mary's School, Mangalore, that I wanted something more permanent. Was looking to make the scholarship sustain itself over the years. To avoid the 'one-time emotional donation aspect'. I was not sure which direction the scholarship would go, but I was clear that 'educating children from all walks of life, was the priority'. Keeping that in mind and speaking to a number of people I decided to start a Trust Fund with an amazing organization in Bangalore called "We Care".

'We Care' is a public charitable trust in Bangalore, India. It is non-secular and non-governmental has touched many peoples lives since its inception in 1999. In its 10th Anniversary, the 'Kardel Education Trust Fund' was formed to educate children from all walks of life. The simple belief is that children are our future and educating one child today will go a long way in educating a future generation.

'KARDEL' stands for Karen, Delon, Deloitte and Elizabeth, a trust fund in honour of all my siblings. This is a simple token of gratitude for something we got so freely from our parents - A good education.

This trust fund will be set up by Fr. Trevor D'Souza at We Care, Bangalore. The fund will educated children every year and provide basic education for children from grade 1 through 10 in English and Kannada medium. Children who will be eligible for education funding will come from underprivileged backgrounds irrespective of religion, caste or creed.

In life when we take a moment to "Count" our blessings, the word "Count" is overtaken by the word "Showered". My siblings and I have been blessed abundantly and in gratitude for all the blessings my family and I have received this is just a small and sincere token to help educate one child and one generation at a time.

Thanks to Fr. Trevor and all the volunteers and supporters of We Care in making it possible for us to give back to our community.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Christmas 2009 - Pennies for Peace

Hi everyone,

That was a long hiatus. A little update - in the last year a lot of work was done in assessing the direction of the Karen Maryann Scholarship. I am happy to tell you that a Trust Fund is in the works to make the scholarship permanent and sustainable over the years.

I came upon this article by Greg Mortensen, the author of "Three Cups of tea", www.threecupsoftea.com, amazing book. I had not heard of this author before and his work with educating children in Afghanistan and Pakistan appealed to me so much, that I sent an e-mail out to friends to donate their spare pennies for his "Pennies for Peace" project. I was amazed at the response especially from children. Thanks to Simran Lasrado who parted with her whole Piggy bank and to Supriya Tyagi for her contribution.

It was something small in the spirit of Christmas, but will go a long way for some child in a war-torn country.

Thanks again to everyone who supported me in this last minute appeal.