This is a sample description for Disaster Relief. For the purpose of testing I will use the wordDisaster ReliefDisaster ReliefDisaster Relief.

Disaster Relief

This is a sample description for education. For the purpose of testing I will use the word EducationEducationEducationEducation.

Education

Vibha Tomar

The second wave of COVID-19 has resulted in unimaginable devastation in India. The “Moment of Truth” COVID-19 campaign was created by AITYS in order to raise funds for those most affected in areas of rural Uttarakhand, particularly in the districts Pauri and Tehri.Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, people in rural Uttarakhand have been more affected than those in cities. Primarily relying on tourism or remittances by relatives who migrated to work in cities, neither of these sources of income could be counted on. Heightening the pressure, migrant workers returned home and needed to be fed, and children who used to get mid-day meals in schools have had to eat at home.With the onslaught of the second wave of COVID-19 in 2021, they have had to deal with the combined hardship arising from the loss of employment since March 2020, as well as the reverse migration to villages. The dismal medical infrastructure and the grief of losing those near and dear have only aggravated the burden. Compounding this, unprecedented cloud bursts in the region in May 2021 as a result of climate change brought about further destruction. It seems nature's fury and man’s callousness have created a grim present for children in schools, families at home and the community at large. 
 In order to mitigate the strain of the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020, AITYS conducted the “COVID-19 ZERO HOUR” campaign to support the students and families of the 17 schools currently sponsored by AITYS in Uttarakhand. This campaign allowed us to provide 5k INR in assistance to each family to sustain their basic needs over a few months. Our NGO raised a total of 8.4M INR to help 1663 families.Our sustained relationship with the people of the area has meant that we are very aware of the ground reality of severe hardship brought about by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. With both tourism and migrant labor bringing in little income, prospects for the remainder of the year look bleak. Families are struggling for basic sustenance and have to grapple between the decision of keeping food on the plate or continuing their children’s education uninterrupted. They simply do not have the means to support themselves through this time.And so, we ask ourselves - How can a child study with an empty stomach? How can a person survive COVID along with the harshness of starvation? This is our “Moment of Truth”, a point of reckoning for us to reach within us to extend a hand and a light of hope to help each one of these families. The campaign aims once again to distribute 5k INR per family to keep them safe from starvation. We now have 2000 families to take care of in 2021, and We are determined to support them all.This project forms a small part of the larger work done by our NGO for these schools. Since 2012 we have provided school sponsorships, worked towards improving infrastructure, and provided items to students to achieve a much bigger goal that, “No child should be deprived of education because of poverty”. The results of our efforts are visible and confirmed by school authorities, as well as the multiple messages received by our NGO via social media and WhatsApp. 
 AITYS envisages the impact of this project to its beneficiaries in three main segments as that of the "family of the school going child", "the child itself as a student" and "the school as a larger entity". The families supported are those whose children are enrolled in 17 Government Inter College schools.With the help of this funding, these 2000 families will be able to sustain themselves financially with basics over next few months and tide over difficult times. This financial support will reduce pressure on the families to support their child’s educational expenses.AITYS has seen from their experience that each time there is a crisis, child's education in these regions bears the brunt before anything else. Children are forced into helping at home or on farm lands as easy labor. For the child immediate impact translates thus, into continued education. There are reduced chances of the child’s education not suffering due to the poor economic condition of the family. More importantly this step would safeguard the child from being pushed into child labor.For school staff it helps build empathetic staff-child relationships by making them a partner during times of crisis in a child’s life.In the long term, continued education for the child increases better higher education and employment opportunities, helping the family sustain themselves. For the child and school, it ensures continuous attendance in school and regularity of the child. Increased happiness and job satisfaction will certainly lead to better teaching output for the school staff.

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COVID 19 - Moment of Truth

This is a sample description for Children. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Childrenchildrenchildren.

Children

Defecating in the open, isn't it humiliating? In the remote villages of rural Uttarakhand, we have discovered that children regularly leave school in the middle of the day - for the trivial reason that they might need to use the toilet. For the girl child, during her period, two other girls often accompany her to home in order to ensure safety. Parents also feel uncomfortable about their teenage daughters being exposed to the risk, and frequently choose to keep their daughters home during their menstrual cycles. Indeed, lack of toilets is one of the top reasons for a girl child to drop out of school once she reaches her menstrual age. All this amounts to children loosing critical learning time in the most shaping stage of their lives. A lack of proper toilet facility is a point of neglect in school infrastructure in this area. As a consequence, most children currently relieve themselves in the open and without proper sanitation facilities, these children also face a range of dangers including encountering poisonous snakes and all other kinds of insects. This is the sad but reality for children in many of the schools in Pauri and Tehri districts of rural Uttarakhand. 
 Though the government of India has launched the Swachh Bharat Mission as a nation-wide campaign to eliminate open defecation in rural areas (launched in 2014), there is still a long way to go when it comes to the government schools in rural Uttarakhand. These schools rarely have sufficient funding to provide adequate and long-lasting sanitation facilities for the children.National School Sanitation Manual recommends one toilets per 40 girls and a female staff/ one urinal per 20 girls and one toilet plus urinal for 80 boys and one male staff/ one urinal per 20 boys.AITYS is committed to join hands and provide safe, clean and hygienic toilets in these schools so that no child has to ever miss precious learning time, which is so critical to shaping their future.Estimate for building a toilet is around 7.5 lakhs INR which will include following: <ul><li>3 wc with doors</li><li>2 wash basins</li><li>1 shower area with door</li><li>1 changing room with door</li><li>Place to install 1 incinerator</li><li>1 cupboard to store sanitary napkins and other necessary items</li><li>2 water tanks</li><li>Kota stone floor for easy wash and maintaining hygiene</li></ul>AITYS is targeting to build at least 1 toilet for girls in each of the 20 schools it is working with. 
 Building better sanitation and toilet facilities mean an increased attendance for children, especially girls, in school.We want to cultivate the sense of self respect in children, to learn the importance of hygiene and have an awareness about sanitation. Forming good hygiene practice from early childhood can have a positive effect on a child's growth and development. It will help them stay healthy, ward off illnesses, and build better self-awareness. It will also help inculcating the notion of respecting one’s surroundings and one’s sense of privacy.Childhood is the best time to cultivate a sense of self respect and a sense of respect and consideration for others. Encouraging individuals and communities to adopt good sanitation and hygiene practices is one of the key factors for the development, and this endeavor will also help accelerate the efforts of India's Swachh Bharat Mission.

ACCESS TO HYGIENE, RIGHT TO DIGNITY

This is a sample description for Women Empowerment. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Women EmpowermentWomen EmpowermentWomen Empowerment.

Women Empowerment

Period, menstruation...is still considered a taboo in parts of rural India.Girl, who is menstruating is shunned to a corner of her home for those 5-7 days every month - deprived and restricted from doing her everyday activities.As per a latest survey by P&amp;G (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/article/adoption-of-sanitary-napkins-is-less-than-20-in-india-whereas-adoption-of-cosmetics-like-lipstick-is-significantly-higher-at-65-chetna-soni-pg/articleshow/82219127.cms" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Business Insider, April 26, 2021</a>) adoption of pads in India is less than 20%. Unfortunately this figure has only dropped further during the pandemic as schools in the rural areas remained shut for a longer duration. Cost of pads is a big concern and one of the biggest causes of the lack of adoption as it is a cost center for a family when it is compared to basics of “getting food on the table”. Girls are forced to use and re-use old socks, rags, etc. in place of a pad which is not just unhygienic for her condition but can be lethal.  During their periods, girls in the rural area are immobile and handicapped from doing basic household work, chores, etc. attending school is farfetched. It’s probably difficult for urban dwellers to fathom, but lack of availability of pads affects their well-being, confidence and education as well. 
 AITYS is an all-volunteer charitable trust that operates in the Pauri Garhwal district and was founded by Mrs. Madhu Chowdhry in 2012 with a belief that “No child should be deprived of education because of poverty”.From supporting 3 schools to 20 schools till date, AITYS works across Education sponsorship, Health- medical camps, and providing Infrastructure support to facilitate quality education. While working closely with the schools and teachers, our volunteers found out how “period” was the main cause and affecting the girl students across the schools. With your support, we will be able to provide a year long supply of pads to 1300 girls across 20 schools. By doing so, we want to give them the basic gift of hygiene and safety. Having a continued supply of pads will lessen the pressure on their families to provide for the same amidst the hardships the rural dwellers face day in and out - the dilemma if they will have enough food on the plate for the family. Going forward, AITYS would also be building good toilets to ensure girl can have a safe, hygienic place to use during her menstruation and continue her education in a dignified manner. Your contribution would greatly assist in this effort. 
 Making “Period” taboo-free and a hygienic experience is our motto!We want them to embrace their bodies and fertility. Inculcating positive values and associations for menstruation early on will have a ripple effect and break the taboo.Girls will be able to walk equally on all days to school, attend classes, make her life happen on her period days and other days as well! More importantly we want girls to never be ashamed of periods.

Gift a pad - Gift her a smile

With much hesitation, a teacher informed an AITYS volunteer during one of our school visits about the need for underwear by the majority of the school children. Many girls do not even own one pair of underwear. The price of the underwear is high and it is considered a luxury they can do without. Now imagine the plight of these young girls during their periods?When we ran a campaign called GIFT A PAD, GIFT A SMILE to provide sanitary napkins to the girls in the villages, it was brought to our attention that more than half the girls do not own the undergarments, which makes the use of sanitary napkins impossible.Thus, due to the lack of basic hygiene needs, girls are left to feel embarrassed and rejected by their peers at school. It greatly impacts their self-esteem. They have no choice but to skip school on the days they are menstruating.Hygiene and physical comfort are fundamental human needs. Children living in poverty often get financial support for food and school supplies, but one basic need that often goes overlooked is undergarments. Without this basic need met, often too embarrassed to go to school, girls lose interest in their education. In many cases, they even drop out of school. 
 Underwear is the most under-donated yet most needed item of clothing for the young girls. AITYS’s mission for this undergarment project is to serve 27 rural schools where each girl will get a new pack of 6 underwear to begin with. We need around 15L INR to support these 2500 children. 
 Having access to a pair of underwear could bring the change which will build safe hygiene practices. It will help girls to use sanitary napkins and not miss school days. AITYS endeavor is to provide education on menstruation and hygiene practices and remove the stigma surrounding this issue amongst girls in the rural areas.

Donate for UNDERWEAR to ensure HYGIENIC PERIODS

What does 'Nutrition' mean to poor families in remote villages of Uttarakhand? Ever struggling with food security, these families are unable to provide even basic meals to their children twice a day. 'Nutrition' is a far-fetched concept here. These malnourished children in schools are lethargic and unable to focus or participate in learning activities. The school staff have reported that these children have weak immune, succumb to frequent illnesses and are often unable to attend school consistently. 
 A consultation with our doctor highlighted the fact that these children severely lack in proper dietary nutrition. In response, AITYS conducted a pilot project in two of our sponsored schools by distributing a 6-month supply of multi-vitamin syrups to each child. During and after the pilot project, school staff reported a drastic improvement in children's health, attention and activity levels in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities. Children's attendance also improved drastically. 
 Proper nutritional support via this multi-vitamin syrup would prevent malnutrition, assure appropriate physical growth and development, and help to maintain a strong immune system in these children. With positive results from Pilot, AITYS is determined to scale this initiative. We are seeking to provide a year-long supply of multivitamins to approximately 2,500 children across 27 schools in the Pauri and Tehri districts of rural Uttarakhand.

Vitamin a Day, Keeps Malnutrition Away

Most government schools across the regions of Pauri and Tehri Garhwal were provided with basic infrastructure and facilities when they were set up approximately 15 years ago. However, government funding for infrastructure maintenance has been inadequate (approx. INR 25000/ per year) and is primarily spent on rudimentary repairs such as taps and bolts, basic whitewash every two years of a few walls and keeping the area around school clear of overgrown grass to stay clear of snakes and other reptiles. As a result, classroom conditions have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance and heavy seepage to an extent that they are now deemed ‘unsafe for usage’. Recent heavy rains in the region have further compounded the problem. As per government procedure, these schools are awaiting demolition of their infrastructures.In March 2021, AITYS team also encountered Russell viper snakes taking shelter in the classrooms due to non-existent windows, posing danger for kids and teachers.This time on our visit to schools, Principals of various schools reported many problems, including inadequate roofing, broken foundations, sagging ceilings, missing windows, chipped paint, water leaking through walls, mold and mildew on walls, inadequate furniture or plumbing. They sought our help for improving the state of existing infrastructure. They are right in wanting to make a habitable school environment for their children.  
 At AITYS, we believe that at its most basic, a school facility must provide a comfortable environment for learning and teaching, including an adequately sized, safe, and dry building. As part of AITYS’s “Gift a classroom” campaign, we plan to enhance the current infrastructure of these schools; including, constructing new classrooms, repairing old rooms when possible, repairing and constructing playgrounds, repairing classroom furniture, providing computers and laptops, providing NCERT books, replenishing library with new books, providing audio-visual aid such as projectors for teachers, providing dhurries, yoga mats and bicycles to be utilized by students for commute aid. Estimate of building 2 classrooms of approximately 18 x 20 sqft catering to 30 students, costs us 24L INR whereas 2 classrooms of approximately 24 x 24 sqft catering to 40 students costs 30L INR.Cost consists of following:<ul><li>Construction cost of classroom structure</li><li>Tiled floor</li><li>Door(s)</li><li>Grilled windows with mesh</li><li>Student desks and chairs for each classroom</li><li>Whiteboard / Blackboard</li><li>Fan(s)</li><li>Tube lights</li><li>Teacher's table and chair</li></ul>The requirement could vary from school to school.Please donate generously towards building a classroom, one classroom at a time, one school at a time! 
 Children are multi-dimensional “whole” beings whose development is complex and rich. Beyond just teaching academic lessons in science, math or reading, our schools foster students’ development in their identity, emotional skills, relationships, and overall well-being. Research has shown that beyond aesthetics, school facility conditions impact students’ educational achievement, teacher performance and satisfaction, and the social and community environment. Poor housing conditions of these schools, lack of proper learning aid and neglect produce toxic stress that affects learning and behavior. These conditions also hinder teachers’ work and motivation.AITYS aims to impact school experience in these forgotten rural schools in various ways:<ul><li>Provide safe classrooms and proper furniture that directly impact learning; </li><li>Offer inviting spaces that enhance student self-belief and desire to be in school; </li><li>Provide technology that optimizes instruction and prepares students for 21st century workplace; </li><li>Communicate a message of the community’s responsibility and respect to students and teachers and show that the community values education; and</li><li>Provide reassurance to students that they are safe and secure in their learning environment</li></ul>

GIFT A CLASS - A ROOF TO LEARN

The students in many of the rural schools in Pauri Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal districts do not have access to clean and hygienic toilets. The condition of the toilets in these schools are beyond repair, and some schools don’t have access to toilets at all. As a result, kids go out relieving in the open, often in the bushes or on a roadside near a tree which leads to contamination of their food and water, causing sickness to them and families, resulting in spending money on buying expensive medicines rather than making their basic ends meet. Because of this menacing problem, many kids dropout of the school or often don’t attend school. It not only impacts their learning and growth but also affects their emotional and social development.Having a toilet not only increases the hygiene and safety for a man but it also cultivates the sense of privacy and self-respect amongst them. 
 The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is a nationwide campaign by Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi which is #toilet4all. It aims to close all the gaps and provide safe sanitation and sustainable development for everyone. There is a long way to go to strengthen the development in these schools as they do not have sufficient funding to provide safe and hygienic facilities to the children. This is having a huge impact on the safety and the education of the children of these villages. AITYS is committed to join hands and provide a safe, clean and hygienic place to go to the toilet so that no child has to ever miss the precious time of learning in school which is so critical in shaping their future. The National School Sanitation Manual recommends one toilet per 40 girls and a female staff/ one urinal per 20 girls and one toilet plus urinal for 80 boys and one male staff/ one urinal per 20 boys. 
 We want our future generations to be educated and to understand the importance of sanitation, hygiene and safety from early childhood. This will help them not only in their growth and development but also to get rid of all the illnesses and stay healthy. Building the toilet and sanitation unit will bring the desired change of increased participation and decreased absenteeism from school.“The future depends on our actions now.”- Mahatma GandhiTo build a change for our children we need to act now. We are excited to bring that change by investing in building a clean and safe environment and educating the importance of sanitation and hygiene.AITYS aims to raise awareness and educate about the importance of safety and hygiene and promote the usage of toilets for relieving in private units to learn and respect privacy.Estimate for building a toilet block for boys is around 6.5 lakhs INR which will include following:<ul><li>2 wc with doors</li><li>3 urinals</li><li>2 wash basins</li><li>1 shower area with door</li><li>1 cupboard to store cleaning equipment and other necessary items</li></ul>AITYS is targeting to build at least 1 toilet block for boys in each of the 20 schools it is working with.

Help cement hygiene, privacy and self-respect

An Initiative Touch Your Soul (AITYS) is an all-volunteer charitable trust founded by Mrs. Madhu Chowdhry in 2012, helping the underprivileged and working towards providing them with a better life. Our initiative may have begun in 2012 with helping a few people, but with each site visit and interaction in rural Uttarakhand, we have been able to better understand the 360-degree aspect of the challenges being faced by the people in the region. This has enabled us to strategically design the following specific solutions for our area of operations:✪School Infrastructure Support Initiatives - Pauri Garhwal in rural Uttarakhand has an existing network of primary and secondary Government schools, however the current infrastructure is largely outdated and needs a transformation. Most schools need functional classes, furniture, books, durries, computers, audio-visual aids, electrical equipment, sports equipment, and more, to function properly and create impactful learning. Many of these schools have yet to be equipped with any updated modern technology to support interactive teaching techniques. Infrastructure initiative builds in a component of updating current school infrastructure and adding new ones based on individual school’s requirements.Number of Schools given Infrastructure Support - 20✪Education Sponsorship Projects - Owing to the initiative by the Government of India and the State Government, elementary education in the region is free (till Class 8). However, maximum dropouts happen during the initial phase of secondary education (Classes 9 and 10) due to inability of the families to financially support their children. This is where AITYS steps in. Through the schools, AITYS reaches out to needy families and deprived sections of the society and sponsor their children so that they have the opportunity to complete their education. The education sponsorship projects includes a cheque that aids a child’s education for one year towards school fees, school uniform, books, etc. All school children are additionally given regular supply of Multi-vitamins and deworming tablets for healthy growth.Number of Students whose Education has been Sponsored - 3497✪Free Medical Camps for preventive healthcare - Region between Devprayag and Pauri in Uttarakhand has negligible or in some regions, no medical facilities. Villagers walk for miles to reach a road, wait for public transport and then travel for hours before they reach a medical facility for assistance. Additionally, poorly equipped local health centers, with insufficient staff makes right to basic health facility for a common villager a distant reality. AITYS team reaches in the proximity of these remote regions to give professional medical support. These facilities are made available from bus stands to government school compounds. They include free distribution of non-prescription medicines, health checkups for school children, their families and villagers in general.Number of People attended to in Medical Camps each Year - 15788AITYS received FCRA certification in September 2017 and complies with all requirements applicable under FCRA. It received its CSR certification in 2021 as per GOI requirements. Our website www.aitys.in contains more information about us and our work.Work Conducted so far in F.Y. 2020-21COVID-19 Relief Campaign: Financial Relief provided to more than 1600 families in Rural Uttarakhand, associated with 17 Government Schools. This was provided as many have lost means of livelihood in that region and families were finding it difficult to sustain and survive, a situation that would have worsened over the harsh winter.The expenditure by our NGO in this COVID-19 Relief project / campaign alone has been over ₹ 83,00,000/- (Eighty Three Lakhs Rupees Only) so far this year. Additionally, the families have been given masks and the schools have been given items towards their infrastructure. We are in the process of sending more sanitizers and masks for the health and safety of the villagers and students.

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An Initiative - Touch Your Soul (AITYS)

This nonprofit is registered as a charitable trust under section 12A of India's Income Tax Act, 1961.

This nonprofit is registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961. This means you can deduct 50% of the donation you made through your tax return.

This nonprofit is registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010. This means it can accept donations from foreign nationals.

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