"The gift of food is great indeed, but the gift of knowledge is paramount. While satisfaction gained from food is only temporary, knowledge can bring a lifetime of satisfaction".

अन्न दानं महा दानं विद्या दानं महत्तरम् |
अन्नेन क्षणिक तृप्तिः यावज्जीवनन्तु विद्यया ||

The age-old Sanskrit sholaka touches on a subtle fact most of us have experienced and connect with easily. Giving the gift of basic education to the children who have not had the opportunity so far was the sole goal of EYL – Ekal Youth Leaders group project ‘Save for Change’.

To get traction on the project, Ekal Vidyalaya New England volunteers teamed up with volunteers from Oracle’s offices in Burlington, MA. Together they launched ‘Save for Change’ on Aug 12, 2015. For past one month, everyone has been collecting change. The motivation was to use it towards starting more Ekal schools in remote villages in India, bringing a hope of opportunities.

What started as a simple idea of collecting change to make a difference for the education of children in rural India, only turned out to be an amazing experience with a promising outcome! The two teams met on Sep 12, 2015 at Tufts University, Medford, MA, to sort and count our collection. We realized that we had collected several pounds of coins, more than the weight allowed in a checked-in bag for international travel! If we made a tower of our coins, it would be over 25 meters tall! Interestingly, the kids took this exercise as a mathematical challenge and enjoyed working on it!

It was a fun filled event, more like 'party with coins'! Kids and grownups participated in using coin-machines, manual counting, and tracking Ekal's $1/day for education. Ayush Upneja ran through a quiz on coins, which was enjoyed by all participants, irrespective of age! Amanda, our numismatic expert from Oracle, explored coins from around the world with the kids. The session on Data Analysis and solving Retail problems with algorithms and science by Su-Ming was very popular (we’ll think twice before paying full price for fashion clothing!).

The change collection exercise highlighted the enthusiasm and energy of the EYL group. The children who participated in the event ranged from 5 year olds to PhD students. Their stories were simply incredible. Soham, who is just seven, donated his personal collection which he was saving for a Safari trip. Sriganesh took a booth at Billerica Farmer’s market to spread the word. Nishi and Ronit asked all visitors in their home to contribute to their Ekal-jar. Young Aanya proudly shared her blue-piggy bank. Disha, a student at Tufts, collected coins from her department. Nikita, a freshman at BU, went out in her neighborhood to talk about Ekal & Save for Change. Another friend collected change from ‘bhajans’ gathering at Janamashtami. Janani, Nandini, Navya, Dhyan, Ayush, and Samara brought in their coin collection. It made for a ‘tall’ achievement.

The participants got to know more about Ekal, its powerful model to provide education & Gramothan (village upliftment). Dr. Subra Dravida, Ekal NE President talked about how education brings a new vision and endless opportunities in our lives. Ekal Exec Director, Ranjani Saigal shared the launch of mobile van ‘Ekal Computer Lab’ for imparting Computer training in villages, definitely a new beginning! Mahesh Kelkar from NewEngland Cricket League shared their fun experience with NECL cricket camp and support for Ekal.

The event wouldn’t have been a success but for the perseverance and effort of Ekal volunteers – Anu Upneja, Pushpa Baskaran, Ruchi Chauhan, Srilakshmi Srinivasan, Anil Saigal, Parvathi Kumar, Anil Minocha, Arun Upneja, Uma Ganesh, Janani Baskaran, Nidhi Jain, Niti Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Neeraj ji, Sudhakaran Prabhakaran, Gayatri Chauhan, Neeharika Munjal, Preeti Munjal, Nitin Shukla, Sheetal Kelkar. Many thanks to the Oracle leads, Amanda, Vijai, Su-Ming, Sajith, Meera, Gaurav for their participation and support.

Our sincere thanks to the community, people in our neighborhoods, farmer's market, bhajan gatherings, and offices, whoever listened to us, felt connected and contributed! With this collection, Ekal can bring education to over 300 children.

This was just the start of the journey… EYL remains committed to the cause. Congratulations to the team! This reminds me of the quote by Dale Carnegie -

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves."

About Ekal

Ekal Vidyalaya is a non-profit organization working towards education and village upliftment in rural India. Visit www.ekal.org for more information.

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