One of the bright young girl student receiving her Scholarship from a parent of the area. Almost forty percent of the Scholars are girls, which is such an encouraging trend!

Giving a small Pep talk to the students and parents gathered for the occasion, on the importance
of education etc.

All the Proud scholars...40 of them...and the guests of the day..Naturalists from JLR and Parents, elders of the surrounding villages posing for a Group photo!! August 20th 2013

Vasantachar, the rock behind Kabini Foundation for the past 12 years! He is the Coordinator for the Foundation and was earlier working as a teacher at a local school. His dedication to work for the upliftment of the local community is commendable! Here he is seen giving away a scholarship to a local student from N.Belthur.

Kunal Sharma, the Resident Manager of Kabini River Lodge, an ardent supporter of local community and the Kabini Foundation, giving away the 'full scholarship' on behalf of the Foundation to Kumar to pursue his Engineering course in NIE, Mysore. Students like Kumar are eligible to get a full scholarship for their future studies provided they get a seat on merit and minimum scores.

Venkatappa, one such student who got a full scholarship from Kabini Foundation, has now finished his B.E course from J.C College of Engineering, Mysore. He will now act as a mentor to Kumar!

20th August 2013--Annual Scholarship Day 2013 at the Kabini Foundation! Picture shows the Oath-talking ceremony in which the Scholars are taking an Oath that they will use the scholarship money well, study hard, respect their teachers and elders etc.

English Language classes at Kabini Foundation!

Kabini Foundation is now having English language classes for the students of the area. These classes are held every Sunday...they are being held for the past 7 weeks..and on the day of the launch of the Library, the classes were being held as usual. Some pictures from that day...11th September 2011.

Prem Kumar is the teacher...we are so fortunate to have him come to Kabini Foundation and teach English to the eager students of Kabini. We have been in search of a teacher for many years now! About 45 students have been attending the classes...from the age group of 8 yrs to 18 yrs!

Prem Kumar is the principal of a private school in Sargur (about 35 kms away) and is passionate about teaching English...he has a experience of more then 20 years!

He uses modern teaching aids like AV lessons..and makes it very interactive for the students...we could see good participation and sincere efforts from the students...

In this exercise, the students were asked to form pairs and practise their English by introducing their partner to the rest of the class and the audience...two shy girls participating in the exercise...they did so well!!

Eager and enthusiastic students..improving their English language skills would contribute positively to their skills and also their confidence..which would in turn make them more employable...

The Guests who came for the inauguration of the Library witnessed some English language sessions in progress...and were very appreciative of this initiative. Hopefully we can continue to have the services of Prem Kumar...and see substantial improvement in the students of Kabini.

Some of the Resort managers now want the services of Prem Kumar for improving the English skills of their staff.

Library Launch Day !

It was a Big Day at Kabini Foundation on the 11th of September, 2011. A library was launched, which children of the local villages can use to improve their reading skills, in a fun way!

Here are some pictures of the modest function we had for which the children turned up in good numbers along with some elders and well wishers from all the Resorts in Kabini.

Girls decorating the entrance to the Foundation hall with 'rangoli' and flowers...

Marigold flowers make the occassion so festive and colourful!!

Cheerful children so keen to pose for a picture !

My cute little children of Kabini! Look at the bright faces of the girls and their best clothes for the important occassion! My dream is to empower them through education!

Some enthusiastic kids with the books strung in the background. These books have been developed by Hippocampus Reading Foundation and they have already installed 300 such libraries in Karnataka, which have contributed in a big way to improve reading skills of children of rural schools. Once the children enjoy books and pick up reading skills, it is a important step towards a good education!

More children posing for pictures in the backyard of the Kabini Foundation.

A view of the surroundings of the Foundation..with the Kabini backwaters and the Bandipur NP in view...such a beautiful backdrop!

Aniketan explaining how the library works to some of the village elders.

JLR Naturalists listening to me intently..and learning about how the children can benefit...many of their children would be the users of this Library...

Aniketan explaining to Joydeep, the GM and some staff members of Orange County.

Ashwin Pinto, GM of Serai and his team. It was heart-warming to get the support of all of them! Pritam..sitting in the right corner really helped to make the launch a success!

My boys from JLR..along with Povappa, the Manager and other well wishers!

I was really touched with the outpouring of goodwill of everyone who came!! It is such a significant Day for Kabini Foundation!