LIVES TAKE WING

Welcome

SIRAGU Montessori School is a unit of Suyam started in June 2003. It was started especially for children of the scheduled tribes (pavement dwellers and mendicants). Traditionally carrying on the practice of begging, this community never had any real opportunities for breaking out of their situation. Siragu was started with the objective of providing quality education to first-generation learners. SIRAGU started not only for street children but also for children from brick chambers and from various parts of the society.

The initial efforts of the team were met with antagonism and suspicion but sustained efforts caused a few parents to allow their children to attend school.

The success of these students at school helped other parents also to gather courage to send their children. Eventually the rush from this community as well as others became so much that it was felt the right time to start a school.

A school was begun in locally rented premises. The condition of the building was quite poor (eighty years old, poor upkeep, no roof, vermin infested) but volunteer assistance garnered by Suyam helped them make it habitable.

At present in out own land constructed 10 temporary class rooms and 200 children were studying in SIRAGU (out of which more than 50 children are from Brick Chambers). The school has adopted the Montessori method of education and other innovative and practical oriented methods with an aim to provide World Class Education at local costs. The school has 13 teaching staff and 9 non-teaching staff.

How You Can Support

	All our activities are funded mainly by donations. These can be even Rs. 10 or less. We still need much more contributions-in kind and currency-to sustain our activities. Any amount, however, small will help. Sustained contributions are especially useful, since we can then stop searching for sources of monetary support especially for our recurring expenses. - More

Wings: A movie on Siragu