2022 Mid-year Update

 

We’re proud to bring you this mid-year report on the impactful programs BE Change and our donors are supporting.

The first half of 2022 has been difficult in rural Bihar. Schools were forced to close in January due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and again in June due to a heat wave that has seen temperatures as high as 111°F (44°C). Despite these setbacks, students and staff at our partner schools have remained resilient, and the learning continues.

With help from BE Change, our partner schools Prema Metta and Bhavishya Me have been able to support their students for the first six months of the year in multiple ways.

Prema Metta: Meal Program

At Prema Metta, the school continued to feed over 60 young students with our support. Students have been happy to eat lunch with friends each school day in a newly finished lunch room on the third floor of the school building. Lunches typically consist of rice, lentils and a vegetable curry. On special occasions, like the Holi festival, students enjoyed a flavorful egg curry.

This impactful program was started in 2015 by one our co-founders, Michelle Bos-Lun. BE Change now fully funds the costs of operating this meal program, including cooking materials, ingredients and the salary for the school’s cook.

Bhavishya Me: Meal Program

Bhavishya Me’s new meal program, fully funded by BE Change, began earlier this year. It has now been feeding over 100 children for 3 months. Started in April, students at Bhavishya Me are now able to eat nutritious meals of rice, lentils and vegetables each school day. The program also allows students to stay at school longer each day, giving them more time to learn with their teachers and classmates.

While supporting a new food program will increase our annual funding needs, we are grateful for the support that made this important expansion possible and we are ready to work hard to meet our increased fundraising needs to provide meals to over 100 more children.

This program would not be possible without the support of BE Change donors, who fully funded the construction of Bhavishya Me’s kitchen, which was completed in March. We now support the school by covering all of the costs to run its important meal program and pay its two cooks.

Bhavishya Me: Teachers

BE Change funds are also supporting the salaries of Bhavishya Me’s four teachers, ensuring the school’s students have access to an education and teachers can count on regular income. In the first six months of 2022, BE Change funds supported salaries for the following teachers:

  • Dipu Kumar, who teaches Math (pictured at top left)

  • Basant Kumar, who teaches Science (pictured at top right)

  • Rupa Kumari, who teaches Hindi, General Knowledge and Math (pictured at bottom left)

  • Gautam Kumar, who teaches all subjects (pictured at bottom right)

Bhavishya Me: Festivals

BE Change funding has also helped Bhavishya Me celebrate important Indian holidays with its students, building a sense of community and belonging among over 100 children. In January, students were able to celebrate Republic Day together as the COVID-19 situation improved and schools reopened. In February, students celebrated Saraswati Puja, honoring the Hindu goddess of art and learning.

Thanks to our donors, BE Change is able to provide our partner schools with the means to bring their students together for these important moments.

These programs would not have been possible without the support of each of our donors. As always, we sincerely thank our donors for supporting childhood education in rural Bihar. Your donations allow us to continue supporting necessary and impactful projects at our partner schools, like these.

We look forward to continuing to bring you updates about the powerful impact your donations have on the lives of children in rural Bihar!

Michelle, Alex and Elaine

 
BE Change Team