HOW DO WE SPEND YOUR DONATIONS?

FY 20-21 Total Expenditures: $50,474.26

Family Assistance: $27,356.03

This new COVID related line item accounted for 54.2% of our budget. Every three weeks we sent food money to each family allocated at one dollar per day per family member for the entire fiscal year. We also pay rent for one of the families. 

Medical Expenses: $3849.00

Includes doctor visits, medicine, x-rays and transportation to hospitals and clinics. This year’s expenses also included eye exams and glasses for two mothers and two of our female students and an annual supply of bottled water for two children with kidney stones. 

Much like we incentivized family mask wearing at the beginning of the pandemic, we incentivized COVID vaccinations by paying family members to get them and send a photo of their vaccine card. It was the only way we could overcome their fears and the rampant misinformation in India. To date, 28 family members have received their first vaccine shot.

Technology: $860.41

We purchased an additional cellphone for one large Varanasi family so their children could access online classes and tutoring when schools were closed. We also purchased a school required laptop and data for the two oldest students, 11th grade Sakshi and 12th grade Sam.

So far laptops seem to be a requirement in grade 11. Next year Milli will be entering grade 11 and the following year four more students will become 11th graders.

School Supplies: $2654.31

This category covers all classroom supplies needed by the students including required school uniforms. When the students enter high school, this cost increases as they need specialized materials for classes and participate in extra-curricular activities.

As an example, Sam Hanote, our only 12th grader, needed books, solution books, notebooks, pens and pencils, a geometry box, a school bag, lunch box, paper, biology dissection kit, files, hand sanitizer and masks.

Tutoring: $5420.81

TIG employs eight tutors in the four communities where our children attend school. The younger children receive group tutoring. As they enter high school, they often need specialized tutoring in subjects where they struggle. Sakshi, Milli and Sam all have tutors for their upper- level courses and Milli also attends a 6:30AM computer tutoring session. During this past fiscal year, we decided to not pay tuition for students grades 5 and below because we didn’t feel online learning would be effective, but we continued to pay for tutoring.

Additionally, TIG supported a Saturday jobs/mentoring class for our Varanasi students to explore career aptitudes and interests.

Tuition: $7895.84

Our children attend a total of eight schools in the four communities and, as with tutoring and school supply costs, the cost of tuition increases in high school. This year Ajay, who entered the TIG program five years ago as a thirteen year-old elementary school dropout, has progressed enough that he will be able to attend a vocational high school and hopefully fulfill his dream of becoming an electrician.