Letter from Rana Nanjappa

June 2008

My first visit to the Mathru School was in the summer of 2004. I was seeking eligible and deserving projects for Asha for Education. This is what I saw, then. The school was just three years old. It was situated in a two-story house with a small yard. The lower floor was where Ms. Muktha, the founder and administrator, lived and the second floor housed two classrooms. In the yard were three temporary cement structures: one was the dormitory for the thirty students and five staff members, the other was the kitchen and basic dining hall, and the last consisted of two classes, an office, and a store. A small shed served as a meeting place. The furniture was minimal but functional – all of which were donated.

The thirty blind students – girls and boys of all ages – came from underprivileged families living in the rural areas of Karnataka. They had been recruited by Ms. Muktha and a social worker who had gone around the villages locating blind children and convincing the parents to send their child to the Mathru School. Most children, before coming to the Mathru School, lived a miserable and neglected life as their parents were either day laborers or poor agriculturists. The students I met at the Mathru School in 2004 had undergone significant changes in their lives. They were now a cheerful and confident bunch of kids who were well groomed and self sufficient to a large extent.

All of the equipment and Braille textbooks in the school had to be shared since there were not enough to go around. Besides studying, the students had learned mobility and life skills and learned how to play musical instruments, sing, act, and play games. They participated in public functions, competitions with other blind and non-blind schools, and gave street and stage performances. The teachers were either fully or partially blind and were qualified to teach the blind. Ms. Muktha and the staff were visibly caring and were loved by the children. What I saw and reported about the Mathru School was impressive enough for Asha to grant them funds to build a 10 classroom school.

With the grant, Mathru hired an environmental architect and construction began in 2005. Other donors were solicited and many volunteers – individual and institutional – came forward to donate services, equipment, supplies and money. Thanks to Ms. Muktha’s untiring efforts, the school was completed in less than two years and at a third of the normal cost. Anyone who is familiar with the approval process, procedures, construction problems and delays in India will realize this is almost miraculous!

That was then. Now, words cannot describe the beautiful and functional design of the multi level school building. Besides the 10 classrooms, the school has a fully equipped computer lab, conference hall, vocational training room, modern kitchen, dining hall, security and more! The school has been operating well and attracting attention, thanks to the publicity and interest shown by the media. There is no longer a need to recruit as the Mathru School is now well known all over Karnataka and in neighboring states. The number of students has more than doubled and the school is well on its way to becoming a ten-standard school by 2010 with the capacity to house, feed, and school 100 blind children.

The future of Mathru is assured with the evidence of their consistent achievement of their goals. They have successfully designed and implemented traditional and new programs to offer the blind quality education, teach them to become independent, and allow them to discover their talents. The Mathru School’s strength is their perseverance as well as the support of their donors and well wishers. As the scope and scale of their endeavors for the blind increases, their needs – both financially and otherwise – will increase and those needs deserve to be met. I am certain that Mathru will become a model institution for the blind and I am proud and honored to be a part of the Mathru School for the Blind.

Rana Nanjappa