Keezhakundalapadi School Project
Total budget: Rs. 17 lakh
A project that began with chance encounter
In 2005, when Chidambaram was ravaged by flash floods, our volunteers went to distribute relief material amongst flood victims. As they were working, they happened to come across a school which had been destroyed by the floods, leaving local children with no place to learn. When villagers in the area saw that we were there to help, they asked us to rebuild the school for them - a request that we were able to fulfill with the financial support of Accenture.
The school, before the floods
The Keezhakundalapadi School is an ‘aided’ school where the government only pays the teachers’ salaries; the maintenance of the school is left to the local residence. Before the 2005 floods, the 200 children attending the school had to make do with 2 rooms, a portico, and a single toilet.
The school after reconstruction
The new school building consists of
- 5 classrooms
- A computer room, and
- 4 toilets
Rs. 2 lakh worth of equipment is now available, as per the needs of the latest Activity Based Learning (ABL) education techniques. They include:
- Computers
- Blackboards
- Cupboards
- Racks
- Trays
- Educational aids
- Sports equipment
In addition there is now a wall around the school, enclosing a compound which is used both as a playground and a place for students to assemble.
The reconstruction process
When we received the appeal from the villagers and the Panchayat president, we did not know how we would coordinate and finance such a large project. In time, however, we managed to get funding from Accenture. We immediately arranged for a contractor and the reconstruction began.
In order to ensure that work went as per schedule and was of good quality, our volunteers visited the site frequently - an activity which continued till the reconstruction was complete.
Maintaining the school
One of the conditions under which Accenture funded this project was that the villagers must maintain the school after construction. To ensure this, our engineer’s contact from Chidambaram now sits on the school committee. Also, a cousin of one of our trustees lives in the area, so he periodically checks on the school’s maintenance.
Our biggest project to date
Building the Keezhakundalapadi School has been our biggest project to date. It was inaugurated in January 2007 by a state minister – the first to visit the district. Incidentally, because of the minister’s visit, a water tank was built and the main road was paved, which benefitted the community as a whole.