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Tamilnadu Village Outreach and R.A. (TVO) is a Registered
Charitable Trust located in Kancheepuram District, Tamilnadu,
India. TVO sponsors, funds, implements, directs and maintains various
community development projects and schemes in rural villages populated
primarily by poor, socially disadvantaged families. Our schemes focus mainly on the problems and needs of women, children and youth. TVO's area of
operations is in Tirupporuur Block, south of the ancient
temple town of the same name, and approximately 50 Kilometers
south of Chennai, capital of Tamilnadu State, and the fourth
largest city in India.
Tiruporuur Block, a rural rice growing region, is unusual in
that a significant majority of its inhabitants are Dalits
Scheduled Castes, commonly known in the Western world as
untouchables: members of India's lowest Caste grouping,
socially oppressed, profoundly stigmatized from birth, and
economically impoverished. While still largely landless,
their majority status in this locality has given them
significant political power and they are socially unimpeded
in their goal towards social and economic betterment and the
enjoyment of full civil rights.
TVO was formed in February 2005 by S.V. Saravanan and C. John
Degler to provide an opportunity for the poor rural landless
and oppressed peoples of this region to advance their lives
and opportunities in the only way possible: through
Education.
In furtherance of that goal TVO has, as of November 2010, set
up 23 free evening study centers in 22 different villages for
children between the ages of 4 and 15, and staffed them with
nearly 30 paid part-time teachers and volunteers.
These centers, locally called Tuition Schools, are a
commonplace in middle-class India but usually are run for a
profit and charge fees making them unaffordable for many of
the people we serve. TVO's Tuition Schools operate 6 days
a week for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the early evening during the
11 month Indian school year and draw on the average over 600
students every evening.
They are located within the villages that we serve, in a
variety of locations, from public school rooms, private homes
(after remodeling), Village Temples, and pre-existing
community centers, but especially in the ten free-standing
Community Buildings (two buildings are additionally under
construction at present, one nearlyu complete) specifically
constructed to date by TVO to shelter the Tuition Schools and
other projects undertaken by TVO. These ten Community
Buildings, ranging in size from 300 to 1000 sq. ft., are
well-constructed permanent buildings of brick, reinforced
concrete foundations and pillars on public land and are
treated as a donation to the recipient Village but maintained
and used by TVO.
Funds for their construction have come from a variety of
sources but primarily from the A-S-B in Kiel Germany, a small
Dutch Consortium, and South Asian Village Empowerment
Intl(SAVE-Intl), a US Tax Exempt Non-Profit Corporation set
up by C. John Degler in California.
In addition to the Tuition Schools, TVO has created and
supports eleven free Women's Vocational Centers staffed
by eleven paid part-time teachers and supplied with about 40
sewing machines. Here we provide training in handicrafts,
sewing, embroidery, tailoring and garment construction with
materials as diverse as silks and leathers. Two Women's
Vocational Centers are working hard to develop their own
small coop-businesses in silk garment manufacture and leather
bag production.
Funding for TVO's monthly outlay for Tuition and
Vocational School Salaries, Utilities, Maintenance, school
supplies, etc. comes from donations received by TVO from a
variety of sources but its primary supporter is SAVE-Intl in
the United States. Monthly recurring expenses average $1500 a
month and additional sources of funding will need to be
established if we are to reach more poor rural villages
TVO's Future projects include the (currently ongoing)
construction and development of a free/low cost Computer and
Technology Training Center in a purpose-built Village
Community Center in Amuur. Here we will bring free or very
low cost modern computing equipment and training to
impoverished rural India children and youth and also Computer
based learning for English and other subjects.
Also in Amuur Village is a two room Medical Clinic and
Dispensary which was completed in the year of 2007 by the
A-S-B and is presently staffed by a registered graduate nurse
4 hours a day, 6 days a week. Treatment, examination and
medicines and medical supplies are entirely free to needy
patients. Emphasis is placed on first aid, wound dressing,
routine infectious diseases, and chronic problems like
arthritis and also the identification and treatment of high
blood pressure and diabetes. A special focus is providing
health, family planning and nutritional counseling to women
who will be or are pregnant and monitoring of the devlopment
of their babies.
Donations in the form of Bank Check deposits or wire
transfers can be accepted from Resident Indian Citizens and
Permanent Residents and Businesses and will be Tax-Exempt and
Tax deductible under the Provisions of Tax code 80G. Please
make your donation in favor of:
Donations in the form of Foreign-Origin Wire Transfers or
Bank Checks CANNOT legally be deposited to our Indian Bank
Account. Therefore, foreign supports of TVO, visitors, and
tourists to India please make your donations in cash(you will
receive a voucher) or as a deposit to out USA based sponsor,
South Asian Village Empowerment International(SAVE-INTL)
which is a Tax-Exempt 501(c)(3) Non-profit Corporation based
in Livermore, California. More information about SAVE-INTL
can be found at http://www.save-intl.org.
TVO can be contacted by:
Email: S.V. Sonny Saravanan at info@tamilnaduvillageoutreach.org
Phone: (91)94-44466571 or (91)94-44215415
World Wide Web: Http://www.tamilnaduvillageoutreach.org
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