One Candle project

The One Candle Project
(It is better to Light One Candle than to curse the darkness)

The One Candle Fund was set up in 2004 during a visit to K.V. Kuppam by some of the Link supporters. The name was suggested by Sally Whittingham who was in India developing the Nursery School project at the time.
Education is highly valued in India but for financial reasons some of the families in poorer villages found it difficult to support their children at school beyond Standard 7. We knew we could not help all the children but with the help of the wonderful Mr. Immanuel from RUHSA and the Rural Community Officer, Govinderaj, we were able to set up a system to offer educational bursaries of between £20 and £25 per year for the children of a few of the poorer families.

The women of the village self help group helped with setting up the One Candle Project.

Govinderaj knew the village well and helped administer the One Candle Fund for the first 4 years.

The aim of this fund is simply to enable children from lower income families to complete their education. It was decided to support children from the weaving community in the areas of Seetharamanpet and Kamatchiammanpet, K.V.Kuppam Block, initially, with a view to extending this to other areas in the future if possible.

The One Candle Project has a simple but successful format. Cheques are made out to the individual children each year when they begin the new school term. The cheques are issued to the children by RUHSA with the support of a small committee, who also advise us which families need the support. We know the village well, have met most the children on the scheme at present and have email contact with one or two young people from the village who now work in Chennai.

Most of the village turned out for the distribution of the first cheques.

The One Candle Project's first group of children.

Vijayalakshmi (left) who is studying engineering and Vijayakumari (right) who has just qualified as a nurse were the inspiration for the fund.

We raise funds in the UK through events and some schools have raised money for us. Some loyal supporters have set up standing orders to help us and we have also received donations from the Bishopston Trading Company's charity, the South Indian Rural Development Trust. When a child is selected for a bursary we promise to support them until they complete their education so we are always grateful for any donations to the fund.

If you would like to learn more about this friendship link, plan a fund raiser event or make a donation to one of our projects, please click HERE