Inspired by trips to India with their families, Fieldston students Ishaan Akileswar (VI) and Dhruv Kapoor (VI) are working to raise money to build a school in a small village, Satara. This project will grant educational opportunities to seven villages of children who would otherwise not go to high school.
In India alone, 12.97 million children ages 6-17 do not receive a formal education. Kapoor and Akileswar created the Sher Organization to combat this; the Sher Organization is a nonprofit that aims to provide more educational opportunities to children in India. In partnership with the Akhil Maharashtra Education Society, they are raising money to build a school in Satara, India.
There is a lower and middle school in the village of Satara, but no high school. The main goal of this project is to raise $400,000 for the construction of Satara’s first high school. Sher works so that every child, regardless of their background, has access to a good education. Education is key to creating an environment where everyone can succeed and accomplish their dreams.
Kapoor and Akileswar plan to grow their organization further. They aim to help more schools gain accessibility to resources like musical instruments and cafeterias, which many schools in rural India do not currently have. Another goal for the organization is to connect the larger Indian American community in the United States. According to the Sher Organization’s website, the organization has “a broad mission and [they] want to have many more partnerships in the future.”
The Sher organization has held numerous fundraising events over the past few years. They partnered with an organization in Jersey City to raise money at a Holi festival. Holi is the Hindu festival of colors, love and spring. They brought a dunk tank to raise money there as well. The Sher organization has run smaller events more frequently, such as pickleball and basketball tournaments.
Any major large-scale project working to make a difference miles away will come with roadblocks. Kapoor and Akileswar did not begin with action or raising money. They planned and communicated months in advance about what they wanted and what the goals of the organization were going to be. Kapoor and Akileswar’s first stage of ideas became too over their heads and unrealistic. With an open mind, the two altered their goals and plans to create big change, but also be realistic about what could be accomplished.
Another difficulty the seventeen-year-olds encountered was the legal aspect, such as figuring out how to file a 501(c)(3) form, as well as the frustrating amount of time it took to get it back. Kapoor and Akileswar had a false idea of how easy the project was going to be, especially when it related to raising money.
Many Fieldston students volunteer with Sher, and the organization is “always looking for more people.” If you are looking to become involved with the Sher organization, you can either talk to Kapoor or Akileswar in person or email them with their school emails (25isakileswar@ecfs.org and 25dkapoor@ecfs.org). Through the website, there is also a form if you want to get involved, volunteer, learn or talk. The other Fieldston students that are involved (who are listed on the website) can also answer any questions, or help you get involved.
When asked about what advice they would give to other teens who are interested in starting a large project like this, Kapoor and Akileswar responded, “Planning is the most important thing and making sure that you are able to at least do one goal that you want.” Another important aspect to Kapoor and Akileswar is to be okay with failing. “We failed a lot with what we wanted to do, but just keep going and honestly, it doesn’t get better, but you start achieving more the more you work on it.”
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