Amidst the ever increasing hoopla of interdependence between world economies, ours is a slightly different story where the West met East at Pardada Pardadi!

Wendi is one of our volunteers from Iowa, USA who joined Pardada Pardadi in 2006 and worked extensively at the Anupshahr village for six months. Since then, Wendi has remained associated with PPES with literally everything.

It seems that she has committed her life to the cause she so passionately advocates. She closely observes every new initiative of PPES. She is currently the force for extending international volunteer support for Pardada Pardadi. She not only gets volunteers to work with the girls at the school but also offers support system to them as they commit themselves for a year or so.

Wendi got married to a German Alex in Hamburg, Germany. She is currently based in Munich, Germany now and pursuing her PhD in Pedagogy. However, she is technically with Pardada Pardadi almost every day through emails and Skype.


Arti is a young and vivacious girl from a small village in Anupshahr. She joined Pardada Pardadi in 2000 as one of the first among 45 other girls of the first ever class of the school. She passed her 10th grade in 2009. In 9 years, she has literally grown with the school and vice-versa.


In 2006, she was chosen for a trip to the US because of her excellent attendance and academic record. She was also made the leader of the vocation she trained in since class 6th.

After 10th Class, Arti decided to work with PPES in its ‘Rags to Pads’ manufacturing unit to support her home and family. She is the first woman financial supporter of her family. Her mother sells milk given by their 2 buffaloes to a local dairy. She also did a course in computers and is still pursuing higher studies.

Soon, talks started in the family on getting Arti married. Arti was however determined to marry only a boy who supported her decision of working after marriage and studying further.She found this boy in Sunil who is originally from Anupshahr and works between Delhi and the village. Arti is now happily married to him and has also rejoined work at school after marriage.

Wendi and Arti have known each other because of their common link-PPES. The big fan that Wendi is of an Indian wedding, she always dreamt of having one. The Indian wedding trousseau, the procession, Mehendi…. All fascinated her.

So November 22nd 2009 was decided and the venue was the school. The USP of the day was that both Wendi and Arti decided to get married on the same day and the same venue…


Guess what! Also the same time (the only thing different was that they were getting married to different boys)


So, the guests who blessed the couples were seen excitingly juggling between the two weddings, dancing and singing for both. The grooms took parallel chariot rides and Alex (Wendi’s groom) settling in to an Indian wedding was shying like an Indian bride (a role reversal for a refreshing change).

The day is one of PPES’ most memorable ones.

What a truly innovative meeting of the West and the East it was!!!!

PPES’ library has an all new face!

The Library Now!!

It can easily be awarded as one of the most famous sites with its students. Students throng at the library whenever they get a chance other than their designated library hrs (One class per week).

The library is a store house of about 735 English and 235 Hindi books, with a few that are bilingual. They stand neatly stacked in purple, yellow, green and blue book shelves. The books are on different genres from story books on favorite cartoon characters to encyclopedias. We’ll soon have books in Urdu as well for students who learn Urdu language at school. Students identify with it as a personal space that they get to explore each moment they spend there. They discover and read books on their own or choose one for our librarian to read aloud.

It is very rewarding to see the students rushing to the shelves to choose books they want. They are eager to read and read more!

However, the library wasn’t the same a few months ago. It has recently been expanded and renovated. Earlier it used to be a tiny room with just 30 books on one book shelf. Now, it is a large spacious hall. There is also a computer to keep track of catalogue and check out books taken by students to home. The library just got a conference table that is used for reading the newspapers and magazines. It has a colorful cabinet of board games that girls love to play during breaks.
The Library then!

Jacobi Wade, the volunteer from Florida, USA has been the face behind the new library. She joined PPES in 2008 and took up the task of organizing the then small library.. Since then we have been receiving several donations of books, DVDs and games which made our library grow bigger.

The Volunteer Jacobi!

Another volunteer Lindsay from Tennessee, USA has been associated with PPES since January 2009. Her ideas contributed amazingly to making the library a colorful and vibrant space with the students. She also teaches English to the girls. Every day, girls in groups of 8-10 surround her in the library and start their lessons.

When you go there, you’ll realize just how much energy is dispersed around the hall. You’ll see girls who are quietly reading a magazine (Yes! there are so many magazines on famous women too) or revising for a test. Little ones form a small group and play scrabbles, Pictionary and other board games. If you are someone who is strolling around the library, this group will always invite you to join them. That’s just how amazingly gregarious they are.

Our Girls enjoy reading so much. Isn't it!

The library also houses sessions of storytelling with the little ones. They listen to stories of the ‘Lion King’, ‘Nemo’ and other characters and then come up with names for their pets. On one of the storytelling sessions, they wanted to give their fish (from one of the stories) the name of their English teacher. Upon asking, they said that the teacher is one of their favorites and not the other way around. The library is a cauldron of activities that allow children to live their childhood like a child.

Soni, a PPES graduate is the in charge of the library. Not only does she takes care of the books and feeds data on the computer but also guides little girls as to which book to read and take home.

We are now studying a yearly budget to make the library grow bigger next year: more shelves for more books and a cozy reading area with cushions.

The PPES library is a little world of colors and adventure to our girls……….

Come share a lesson with them some day!

Aashish volunteered with PPES in October 2009. After two weeks, his eyes and gigantic smile were the proof that he enjoyed his time at the school! We asked him to write about his experience. Here is the e-mail he sent us:



<< Volunteering was something I had been thinking about for a while but somehow never got around to doing it – there were always excuses of long working hours, not finding enough time etc. However, I knew I unless I took a week or two off work I wouldn’t be able to start and get involved. I had been researching about the volunteering programmes for a while and heard about PPES in India through a friend of mine and about Sam Singh who had started this education program.

First port of call was to “google” Sam and PPES. Endless articles flooded the page and I got to read more about Sam and the wonderful project he had started for the girls in Bichola village. That was it – I had decided that this is what I wanted to do and meet this inspirational human being who was putting so much effort into the cause.



Having never seen village life in India, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect! I met Sam Renuka And Shanti ji in Bichola. We visited the school on Sunday when it was closed! Stepping into the school when it was packed with more than 900 school kids was a different experience altogether. The school was alive and kicking, it was full of life! I met with all the teachers who were very friendly and very accommodating with my questions and introductions! It was like being a part of the family. Some school kids giggled, some smiled, some shied away but all of them had one thing in common – they were all smiling, proud to be attending school with books in their hands! "Good morning Sir" or "Bhaiya" were only said the next day when they knew I had been around for a day!

I helped out with computer classes with Mehmood Bhaiya and spent time with all teachers. A few days at the school were not enough, however in the limited time I was there it was enough time to make friends with the students and teachers especially with Mehmood bhaiya and Neetu. I still remember them fondly and am in touch with them via email which we had set up together!

Watching kids brush their teeth in the morning (the tooth brush programme for primary kids school), I never thought could be so fascinating. Watching them from upstairs, while they all giggled as I took their photos whilst brushing used to bring a smile to my face!


The food at the school was amazing – to cook over 2000 chapattis daily is not for the faint hearted! But the kids all helped out and the “loki” cooked by them was spicy and delicious! All kids gathering in the auditorium and sitting in line for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks were truly Kodak moments!

At the school, I also met with Lindsay and Ron who had been volunteers at the school and had a long association with Sam. Seeing Lindsay help out with the classes and kids running up to her and Ron’s determination to increase the number of toilets in the villages made me think that Sam’s message was spreading. He had volunteers from abroad who had heard about this and were helping him make this difference.

It was sad saying goodbye to all the kids on my last day. I genuinely had the most amazing time there. The PPES is a wonderful cause. With the primary school initiative, they are laying down the basic foundation which is fundamental to their growth and prosperity. The girls want to learn, be more independent and it’s the education, the vocational skills that they are being taught is going to help them succeed in their life – a fine example is Asha’s story!



The team in the Delhi office – Nat, Preeti, Renuka, Eshant and Shrijna are all so committed to the cause and proudly say “our” school and “our” school kids. It is after all - their school, their efforts, their determination that is helping the school with its success but any help for the school no matter how small is a big stepping stone for the school’s future. I genuinely wish them all the very best and Sam with this mission. I would love to go back to the school and meet them all again and spend time with them.

This experience has left me with fond memories and made me realise that education is so important, something that we take for granted here but not every child in India has the privilege of!

The Pardada Pardadi school kids are fortunate to have this access to this and are determined to make their stories a success with PPES! >>

Thank you Aashish! It was great to have you and we hope to see you soon!!!