COMMUNITIES RISING ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Letter from the President

Our Impact

After School Program

Service Adventours: Volunteers and Interns

College Scholarships

Differently Abled Students

Summer Camp

ATOM | Art to Many Program

Our Partners

Support Communities Rising

Financials

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CONTENTS

2010-2011 Annual Report

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Betsy and Kavita

Dear Friends,

Our first two years have been filled with interesting challenges, rapid growth, inspiring

partnerships, and exciting opportunities. Our student population has expanded from 45 to 800

students and our staff has grown from 5 to 17 teachers. Over 100 volunteers have worked in our

program. We now have 3 computer centers, and a waiting list of villages interested in our after

school program.

There have been many “firsts.” We started the first Lego robotics program in the state, set up the

area’s first primary school libraries, and organized the area’s first reading day for 4000 students.

Last summer, 130 4th and 5th grade students left home for the first time to attend the area’s first

residential summer camp for primary school students. Our students are the first in the district to

take swimming lessons, write and film their own stories, build robots, and take music lessons.

We know we are doing something right when our students tell us that they are “bored during

vacations and can’t wait to come back to afterschool”; our parents tell us that they “believe in CR

because everyone is treated equally and kindly, and for the first time, our children love going to

school”; and our teachers tell us that they love CR’s system of “joyful learning.”

2012 will begin with the introduction of an exciting new program : ATOM | Art To Many – a

program designed to teach art without art teachers. Under the direction of Fulbright Scholar

Kathleen Fritz and in partnership with the Srishti College of Art Design and Technology in

Bangalore, we have designed a curriculum that will bring regular art classes to all 800 of our

students. On January 3-4, our staff will be trained in the program’s curriculum and teaching

methods. Student volunteers from Camp Hill High School, wll leave for India on December 27th

to help with the training.

Our programs depends for success on the support of our donors, without whom we would not

exist. You have our gratitude and sincere thanks.

Elizabeth McCoy

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Back to school at Sithani

Our first two years

01 / OUR IMPACT

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Intern Noel Shadowen meeting with members of

“12 Stars” girl’s group

Villanova students paint faces at Periathachoor

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HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO:

OUR IMPACT VISUALIZED01 / OUR IMPACT

CR works on a daily basis to meet the

challenges posed by rural India’s severe poverty,

low literacy rates and high drop out rates by

providing quality educational opportunities

for its students. In 2009, the government

recognized CR for its contribution to the

quality of education in the Villupuram District.

Now in our third year of operation, we are

working to improve education in seven villages

for over 800 children. CR has become a leader

in after school programs for the Villupuram

District.

Benefited from the efforts of over 100 short-term volunteers and long term interns

Conducted first annual residential summer camp for 130 4th and 5th grade students

Providing tuition assistance to 8 Indian college students

Expanded from one center for 45 students to 7 centers with 800 students

STUDENTS IN COMMUNITIES RISING PROGRAMS

2009 2011

800

600

400

200

0

PARTICIPATING LEARNING CENTERS

2009 2011

= 1 LEARNING CENTER

100 INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS

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Provided a double amputee with prosthetic legs and helped her to continue her primary and secondary education. Partnering with Endolite Corp. in Chennai to provide additional prostheses for other students

Providing weekly English instruction for staff members

Provided training and workshops in teaching skills and first aid for CR staff

noun noun

New Training Opportunities for StaffBeyond Education

Initiated ATOM | Art TO Many project under the direction of Fullbright Professor Kathleen Fritz in partnership with Sristi College of Art and Design in Bangalore to develop curriculum and materials for teaching art without art teachers

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Partnering with Kalvi Kendra, a Villupurum nonprofit, to teach swimming as part of Kalvi Kendra’s disaster preparedness program

Partnering with Scholastic India for Read Across the Nation Day and organized the participation of 19 schools and 4000 students in the Villupuram District

Initiated Tamil Nadu’s first Lego robotics program

Partnering with the Hyderbad non-profit The Modern Story, to teach digital storytelling to our students and staff

New Program Offerings

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Students demonstrating their English skills on Parents Day

Quality learning for India’s students

02 / AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

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Mr. Chinnappan teaches music class Using desktop banner to learn computer skills outdoors

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02 / AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

We now have seven learning centers where

we teach over 800 students in the Villupuram

District of Tamil Nadu. Each center focuses

on the core subjects of English and math. In

addition, we provide programs in art, music

and leadership. In each new center that we

open, we start by offering classes for fourth and

fifth graders. In each subsequent year, we keep

our previous group and add a new fourth grade

class.

Three centers have computer labs. The

curriculum begins with an introduction to the

desktop, keyboard and mouse, and progresses

to Paint, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint,

and Photoshop.

Fifteen part-time and two full-time staff teach

at CR’s after school centers. We strongly believe

that our teachers are our most important

resource. During the past two years, we have

conducted teacher training programs regarding

positive teaching and disciplinary techniques,

first aid, Lego robotics, and digital story telling.

Weekly English classes are provided for staff

with limited English skills. All teachers can

contribute to a provident fund that is made

available to staff members for small loans.

There are numerous villages currently on a

waiting list to host CR after school centers.

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Volunteer Calli Zimmerman (Savannah College of Art

and Design) teaches finger weaving

Volunteers and Interns

03 / SERVICE ADVENTOURS

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Intern Cory Scozzari (Savannah College of Art and

Design) teaching textual rubbing techniques

Volunteer Kaitlyn Murphy (Villanova) makes some

new friends

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03 / SERVICE ADVENTOURS

Volunteers and interns are a vital part of CR’s

program. During the past two years, over 100

volunteers and interns, from both India and the

US, have worked with our students.

Short-term volunteer trips are usually

two weeks long, and take place during the

Christmas holidays and the summer months.

Most participants travel together as part of a

high school or college group and are sometimes

joined by individual volunteers. Each trip is

unique and designed to meet the interests and

experience of the volunteers. All participants

have the opportunity to teach at CR educational

centers, learn about rural south Indian culture

and Indian social justice issues, and visit local

attractions. This past year, students from

American University joined a group of Indian

college and high school students to work as

counselors at CR’s summer camp. AU students

will be returning to work at the camp again in

May 2012.

Interns spend two to six months working

with us in India. They teach English in our

after school programs and work with our

partner educational institutions. Interns are

encouraged to teach subjects in their areas of

expertise such as art, computers and music.

Over the course of the past two years, CR intern

projects have included starting a village mural

project, setting up a school library, organizing

03 / SERVICE ADVENTOURS

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girl’s and boy’s clubs, teaching Lego robotics

and conducting a teacher training program.

Intern Sarah Fisher (Brooklyn College) works on a mural

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Agni and Sathish, CR’s first scholarship recipients,

packing for Loyola College in Chennai

Enabling higher education

04 / COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

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Rohul, a scholarship student, studying English at Loyola

College worked as a counselor at CR’s summer camp

Scholarship student Nelson, studies engineering at

DMI college in Chennai

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04 / COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

Less than 1% of Indian students have the

opportunity to attend college. Although there

are no statistics on the percentage of Dalit

students attending college, their opportunities

are severely limited by lack of finances, limited

English skills and inadequate primary and

secondary education. With the help of some

generous donors, CR has been able to establish

a college scholarship program. We currently

have 3 students on full scholarship and another

5 students who receive partial assistance. Very

recently, a new scholarship fund was set up

specifically to provide opportunities for young

women.

All CR scholarship recipients work throughout

the year as interns for CR. They are counselors

at our summer camp and work at our centers

during school vacations. They are wonderful

examples for CR’s younger students.

LESS THAN 1% OF INDIAN STUDENTS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND COLLEGE

3 FULL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

5 PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

COMMUNITIES RISING STUDENTS HAVE A HIGHER THAN AVERAGE CHANCE AT PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION

COMMUNITIES RISING HAS HELPED 8 FORMER STUDENTS ATTEND COLLEGE

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS WORK AS INTERNS, COUNSELORS, AND SERVE AS ROLE MODELS FOR YOUNGER CR STUDENTS

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Students at the St. Peter Paul Home for Disabled Children

Enabling education in rural India for the differently-abled

05 / DIFFERENTLY-ABLED STUDENTS

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In November 2011, Govind walked for the first time with

prostheses donated by the Endolite Corporation

Govind Raj, age 11, lost a leg and a foot when he

was hit by a truck as a toddler

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05 / DIFFERENTLY ABLED STUDENTS

Kavita (pictured above) introduced CR to the

challenges faced by differently-abled students

in rural Indian villages. Before becoming a

CR student, Kavita, a bilateral amputee, spent

her days crawling through her village instead

of going to school. Two years ago, Kavita had

only a 3rd grade education and hadn’t been to

school in 10 years. Today, she is the top student

in the 9th grade at St. Peter Paul School for

Disabled Students. Anxious to learn as much

as possible, Kavita asked to attend CR’s three-

week computer camp last summer. She also

worked as a counselor at CR’s summer camp

where she thoroughly enjoyed being with other

students her own age. Through the help of a

generous donor, Kavita is learning to walk with

new prostheses and talking about becoming a

teacher.

Peter Paul School is the only school in the

Villupuram District for disabled students. All

of our short-term volunteers and long-term

interns work at the school. We hope to establish

a full-time after school program there within

the next year.

We purchased Kavita’s prostheses from

Endolite, a British prosthetic manufacturing

company and the largest supplier of prostheses

in India. Impressed with Kavita’s determination,

Endolite proposed a partnership to provide

additional CR students with prosthetics and

rehabiliation. In November 2011, Govind an

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Kavite with her new prostheses

11 year old boy studying at the Peter Paul School

received his new prosthetics. Govind lost one

leg and another foot when he was run over by a

truck as a toddler. His parents are both indentured

laborers in a brick quarry and never dreamed

their son would be able to walk. A few weeks ago,

the impossible became a reality when Govind

took his first steps at Endolite’s facility in Chennai.

After only a week of rehabilitation, he is walking

with only one cane.

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The staff joins the boys for photos at summer camp

Extra curriculum opportunities

06 / SUMMER CAMP

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Measuring for the right sizeFor many campers, these flip flops were their first

pair of shoes

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06 / SUMMER CAMP

In May 2011, when 130 4th and 5th graders

got off the bus for camp it was hard to say who

was more nervous: the children leaving home

for the first time, or CR staff running its first

residential camp.

The boys and girls spent five days learning to

swim, playing sports and games, learning arts

and crafts, participating in drama class and

learning to build robots with Legos. This was

the first camp of its kind in the area. When they

arrived at camp, each child received a uniform,

sleeping mat, swim towel, flip flops and

personal care items. The international staff of 35

counselors included students from American

University, several Indian universities and

high schools, and adult volunteers from both

India and the US. Three additional charitable

organizations donated the use of their facilities

and school buses to help us accommodate the

campers. On the last day of camp, we bused

parents from their villages to the camp so

that they could follow their children through

their day. By the end of the week, there was no

doubt in anyone’s mind that the camp was an

unqualified success.

As a result of the goodwill generated by

the camp, we have witnessed a significant

beneficial impact on our programs. The parents

now strongly support all of our educational

programs. After school program registrations

have increased substantially and student

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Lunch is served

First time campers pose with their camp gear

Sathish and Sophie Grumelard (American University) teach a beginning swim class.

attendance has improved. We had almost 100%

attendance at our 2011 Back to School meetings

this year. Every center has asked us to set up a

computer center in their village.

Our second camp is scheduled for May 2012.

American University students are returning

to work as counselors and most of our Indian

counselors will also be back. We anticipate that

this year’s camp will be an even greater success

than last year.

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Teaching art without art teachers

Mask-making projet

07 / ATOM: ART TO MANY

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Recycled mobiles on displayKite making project

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07 / ATOM: ART TO MANY PROGRAM

In January 2012, CR will introduce a new

program designed to bring art into schools

where there are no art teachers or art classes.

For the past six months, CR has been working

with Fulbright Professor Kathleen Fritz and her

students at the Srishti College of Art Design

and Technology in Bangalore to develop an art

curriculum that can be taught by teachers and

volunteers with no experience teaching art.

The program incorporates the use of recycled

materials and encourages children to think

creatively. Instructional materials are printed

on weather-proof paper and utilize symbols and

pictures. No reading is required, so there is no

language barrier. The Srishti students designed

art bags for the teachers and the children. The

bags are made from recycled materials by a

local tailoring school for impoverished young

women in our area.

Srishti students spent a week working with

CR students to help develop the curriculum.

Teacher training will take place on Jan. 3 and

4 and then the program will be introduced to

our after school programs. The program is

designed for use any place in the world where

there are no art classes.

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ATOM guide to making tie-die fabric

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Perambakkam students participating in Scholastic

India’s One Nation Reading Together Day

Engaging with local organizations

08 / OUR PARTNERS

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Srishti College of Art and Design and Technology

students setting up a project display unit

Villanova volunteers Emily Perra (left) and Amy

Choudari teaching water-safety skills at the Kalvi

Kendra Emergency Preparedness Center

New Delhi

Puducherry

Villupuram

TAMIL NADU

Hyderabad

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08 / OUR PARTNERS

In addition to Srishti College of Art Design

and Technology and Endolite, CR partners

with organizations throughout India to bring

interesting programs and ideas to our students.

New Delhi

Puducherry

Villupuram

TAMIL NADU

Hyderabad

November 2011 was the 3rd year that CR has partnered with book publisher Scholastic India for “Read Across the Nation Day” to promote literacy. CR is coordinating the participation of 18 schools and 4000 students in our area. Each school invites special guests to read to the students. Unlike the U.S., such events are very unusual in India. Because the schools in our area all serve students from low-income families, Scholastic sends each participating school 100 books. CR is working with participants to help set up libraries in their school.

As part of its disaster management program, Kalvi Kendra teaches swimming to help reduce the number of drownings in the Villupuram District. Our area is subject to serious annual flooding: last year 17 people drowned during monsoon season. Swimming is a daily activity in our camp and most US volunteers spend some of their visits teaching swimming.

During the past 2 years, TMS fellows have traveled to our area and spent 2 weeks teaching digital storytelling to our students. The children learn how to write their own stories, create a storyboard, film the story and edit the story on the computers. This year TMS fellows also trained CR staff as part of the program. TMS and CR have agreed to make this an annual program.

SCHOLASTIC INDIA (DELHI)

THE MODERN STORY “TMS” (HYDERABAD)

KALVI KENDRA (VILLUPURAM)

COMMUNITIES RISING (TAMIL NADU)

Communities Rising operates primarily in the Villapuram District of Tamil Nadu

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Ways you can help our organization

Summer campers spell out “LOVE” in drama class

09 / SUPPORT COMMUNITIES RISING

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Learning to play the tablaBest summer camp friends

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09 / SUPPORT COMMUNITIES RISING

Join the Communities Rising online global

family at communities-rising.org, Facebook,

Twitter, and Flickr. For regular updates on our

work, sign up for the CR Newsletter.

Because of your continued support, in only

two years, CR has grown from a single-location

after school program for 45 students to an after

school program for over 800 students in seven

different villages. With your continued support,

we can continue to provide our students with

quality educational opportunities and exciting

new experiences. Give online by visiting our

website at communities-rising.org/donate or

make a tax-deductable contribution by mail to:

Communities Rising, Inc.,

2908 Rathton Rd.

Camp Hill, PA 17011.

The Communities Rising volunteer program is

a vital part of our organization. Our volunteers

serve as teachers, mentors and role models for

CR students. Whether you are interested in a

two-week introduction to the work of a grass-

roots NGO or would like to make a long term

contribution to the global community – CR can

provide you with exciting challenges. To learn

more about our volunteer program visit our

website at:

communities-rising.org/volunteer

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Cash- UnrestricedTotal Current Assets

2010 2009

EquipmentTotal Non-Current Assets

9,2089,208

3,2193,219

5,0015,001

5,5005,500

Total Assets 14,209 8,720

Total Liab. & Net 14,209 8,720

OUR FINANCIALS

Assets

Communities Rising, INC. Balance Sheet December 31, 2010, 2009

LiabilitiesTotal Liabilities

0–

0–

Liabilities

OperationsEquipmentTotal Net Assets

9,2085,00114,209

Net Assets

Unrestricted, designed for:3,2195,5008,720

DonationProgram FeesInterest

2010 2009

46,51931,60430

TOTAL Revenue 78,153 19,712

Revenues

Communities Rising, INC. Statement of Revenues and Expenses

11,9147,7953

Program ExpenseFundraising ExpenseMarketing ExpenseDeprecationStarup Fees

(69,784)(2,049)(331)(500)—

TOTAL Expenses (72,664) (10,992)

Expenses

(8,656)—(1,075)(500)762

Change in Net Assets 5,489 8,702

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Communities Rising Annual report summarizes

the organization’s accomplishments and growth

for 2010-2011.

For more information visit

communities-rising.org

COMMUNITIES RISING ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011