News: ATF is supporting 3 university students and one secondary school student, all high-achieving and from low-income families, by covering the portion of tuition fees and transportation costs that their families cannot afford on their own or through student loans.
Here are our heroes:
Jeevan, who achieved good results in Grade 12 (402/600), has enrolled in Biomedical Engineering. ATF is supporting him with 3,000 rupees, plus transportation costs.
Premavathi had dropped out of university because of her family’s difficult financial situation (her father works as a daily wage labourer, while her mother collects waste for a very small income). She has now re-enrolled to study Tamil Literature, and we want to reward both her determination and her family’s decision to support her. As Wilson, our local coordinator, points out, there is always a need for Tamil language teachers, so she is likely to find a job easily. She will receive 3,000 rupees, plus transportation costs.
Dharshini, a second-year university student: for now, we are helping her with transportation costs, and later we will see whether she needs any additional support.
Kaviya is in Grade 11 (she scored 359/500 in Grade 10, a good result). She lost her father, and her mother earns a modest salary as a school cleaner. We were already helping with her bus expenses, and we are now adding 2,000 rupees towards her school costs.
ATF spends 25,000 rupees per year (about €230) to cover all these expenses.
In addition, ATF covers transportation costs for 4 other students, amounting to 9,000 rupees per year (about €80).
As always, ATF has also provided the textbooks required by students preparing for their exams, as well as notebooks, pens, and snacks for the after-school programme, which continues to grow: 14 students attend regularly, and more are joining.
We also managed to give a small gift to the after-school programme in a tribal village near Thandarai. Wilson, who taught there years ago, asked whether he could use €4 of ATF funds to donate notebooks and pens… of course!
Finally, food assistance: since June, ATF has donated 25 kg of rice, together with other food supplies, to 5 families.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP US?
ONE-TIME OR MONTHLY DONATION: help us continue supporting the after-school programme, scholarships, and food assistance.
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