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Education gives us an understanding of the world around us and offers us an opportunity to use that knowledge wisely. Irrespective of race, creed, and gender, education makes it possible for people to stand out as equal with all the other persons from different walks of life.

Naga Lakshmi, an enthusiastic young student who is born blind and poor, but proved her mettle by securing Government Job as Secondary Grade Teacher (SGT) – Telugu. She belongs to Backward Caste (washer men community) and certified as totally blind by the Handicapped Medical Board, Government General Hospital, Guntur.  Naga Lakshmi mother was expired when she was a four year child, despite her disability she is intelligent and always had strong desire to continue education. Their annual family income is too low i.e. INR 20,000 which is not sufficient to meet their both ends. Facing all these hardships, Naga Lakshmi never disappointed nor turned back rather tried more focused to prove herself in every stage of her education.

In the year 1997, Social Action and Value Education Trust (SAVE) started its journey for social development in our native district (Guntur) to bring sustainable smile on the faces of deprived people. Ever since the days of inception, SAVE Trust has been engaged in activities meant for societal change and we have been concentrating our efforts on bringing out profound and constitutive changes in developmental approach of the society. At SAVE Trust, our Board of Trustees and Staff works closely with the local communities to identify problems and co-create solutions utilizing available resources. We have been carrying out various programs designed meticulously after careful analysis of various socio-economic problems for sustainable development of the community.

SAVE Trust is working in rural and tribal areas of Guntur District. Its initial work focused on child sponsorship programme, vocational training, adult education and providing free health services to the poor by organizing health camps that focused on diagnostic services and distribution of medicines in slums and villages of Guntur District. Subsequently, upon its expansion, SAVE Trust has been actively undertaking various programmes viz. Social Education & Animation, Disabled Children Sponsorship, Women Empowerment, Child Labour Education, Community Development, Natural Calamities, Skills/Vocational Training and to new a few. The prime concern is to address the issue of the acute poverty, illiteracy, resource degradation, ill health, lack of awareness on various aspects of development among the rural communities. The focus is to rehabilitate working children through education, vocational and organize poor women under self-help concept development.

Specially, Disabled Children Sponsorship is taken up an instrument towards all-round development of most vulnerable children; this sponsorship programme is meant for supporting marginalized special children from the communities so that they can sustain their endeavor for education, maintain good health and in the process become self-reliant and self-dependent. In general, Children with special needs suffer from different kinds of disabilities. Most of the children belonging to this category suffer from various types of socio-cultural deprivation and when they enter schools, they face the risk of further marginalization in schools if their deficiencies are not adequately compensated and are not provided suitably during their schooling.

This programme helps to break the cycle of poverty, despair and hopelessness by nurturing the most vulnerable child within a developing community. This programme helps us to arrange the payment of school fees, purchase of textbooks, notebooks, school uniforms, clothes, footwear, school stationery etc. and all such essential materials to avail education. SAVE Trust arranges for medical check-ups.

Despite several challenges, we continued to provide quality services for 28 Disabled Children over these 23 years of societal service. Naga Lakshmi is one such student who came to our notice during visits to communities around Guntur District. We admitted her in our Sponsorship Programme in the year 2008 when she was studying her 6th standard and SAVE Trust supported her 12 continuous years with all the necessities of education, nutrition food and travelling with kind donations from all our donor agencies and partner organizations.

Right from Naga Lakshmi’s admission into SAVE Trust sponsorship programme, she never experienced failure in her promotion of academic standards. Naga Lakshmi completed and cleared all her subjects within the academic year on a merit note; she also secured Government Prathibha Awards in the year 2015 for her excellence in Intermediate Examinations. Honorable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri. Nara Chandra Babu Naidu and Minister for Human Resource Development Shri. Ganta Srinivasa Rao presented this award and a special appreciation medal to Naga Lakshmi.

All the donor agencies/ partner organizations are a ray of hope and infuse in them the confidence and dignity, they are giving them an opportunity to fulfill their dreams. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the generous support extended by many invaluable donor agencies/partner organizations and special thanks to our SAVE Trust family (Board of Trustees and staff) who’s commitment and hard work has enabled programmes to be successful and helped a lot of people to be as successful as Naga Lakshmi.

Overall, Naga Lakshmi made the statement loud and clear that education is the only platform that can defeat all barriers. The impact of Naga Lakshmi’s achievement provides inspiration for all those who are committed to scale new heights despite the challenges they face. We SAVE Trust congratulate Naga Lakshmi for her achievement; it’s been both exciting and inspirational for us to watch how you’ve steadily advanced on your career path—onward and upward!

We are so proud of you for setting your sights high and making every effort to achieve that goal. Your hard work and determination have brought fantastic results. You worked hard and proved to yourself and everyone what you are capable of.

Best wishes for your continued success.

Sincerely yours,

Mr.P. Anvesh
Managing Trustee
Social Action and Value Education Trust (SAVE)