NRI twins fund edn for underprivileged

The sisters lead a campaign to help Indian children receive an education

Massachusetts: For twin sisters Arya and Diya Anand, it’s simply a matter of recognising their good fortune and wanting others to have the same.

The 15-year-old twins, who are in high school in Andover, Massachusetts, USA, are leading a fundraising campaign to help children in India receive an education, something they said they’re fortunate to have given them.

That’s not the case in India, where millions of people every year leave their villages in search of seasonal jobs, taking their families with them for up to eight months at a time. As a result, children are pulled away from their schools, friends and communities — stripping them of the chance to learn.

“The kids have nowhere to stay and go to school,” Diya Anand said.In 2010, the sisters had the opportunity to witness the harsh realities and living conditions in India when they visited the country on a vacation.

“People are all over the streets begging for food and money,” Arya Anand said. “It’s shocking to see that what they have, basically nothing compared to what we have.”

The sisters hope to change that through their work with the American India Foundation Light a LAMP (Learning And Migration Programme). The initiative aims to give children in India affected by migration the resources they need to attend local schools and provide them with stable home and educational environments as well as safe and structured care within residential hostels or boarding schools.

Since LAMP began in 2003, more than 2.8 lakh children in India have been educated — at a cost of just US$ 50 annually per student.

A few months ago, the Anand sisters joined a fundraising campaign organised through the local chapter of the American India Foundation. They led the charge, collecting US$ 3,500 apiece, nearly one-third of the $ 22,000-plus raised by the group.