Deepalaya Foundation

My experience interning with Deepalaya's gender equity and microfinancing program redefined my views on development aid in India. Although I had very limited Hindi language ability, simply being in the presence of the Deepalaya workers as they communicated with the women in the program was more than enough to understand the impact of what they were doing. I was impressed at the patience that the Deepalaya workers exhibited and the fact that they had gained such a huge amount of trust from the women. Indeed, it was because of this trust that the women were even willing to try the program. And more than anything, seeing firsthand that Deepalaya was trying to help these women help themselves was incredible, because I could understand that the impact of their work would go beyond the present moment and influence the future lives of these women and their families.

I was astounded at the breadth of the work that Deepalaya does and very impressed with the quality. They are a bright dedicated group very motivated in up-lifting the down-trodden of Delhi. We were delighted to provide interested staff and teachers with free training in the Transcendental Meditation technique of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They experienced the great value this would have for themselves and for the children and others they are helping. We hope to be able to offer this program more broadly in their organisation so that their efforts will meet with even greater success.

It is a privelege to endorse and celebrate the work of Deepalaya. As the Past President of the International Forum for Child Welfare, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of programs that are operated by this outstanding organization. Serving the needs of some of Dehli's most needy children and youth is something that Deepalaya excels at. Their educational and school based programs have given these individuals an opporunity to break the cycle of disadvantage by acquiring new skills and experience. Deepalaya has provided social, recreational and creative outlets for children and youth who have been deprived of these opportunities within the community. With their residential programs they have provided the essentials of daily living and life skills support for those children who have no family connections. On the prevention and advocacy front, Deepalaya has not only addressed the needs of children within India, but they have worked in close partnership with other global NGO's and they have also successfully addressed the plight of disadvantaged children worldwide through their affiliation with the United Nations. Their staff are highly skilled and committed and their Chief Executive, T.K. Mathew, is highly regarded internationally. In relation to other organizations that do similar work with children and youth in other parts of the world, Deepaplay has established itself as a global leader and innovator.

My experience with Deepalaya has been as an Academic researching and teaching in the area of Human Rights Academician. Of the many NGO’s that I’ve interacted with, Deepalaya’s focus- girl child, street child and disabled child is in itself remarkable and unique. The Disabled or the differently abled child is the niche area of Deepalaya and has been dealt with understanding and compassion towards capacity building and empowerment. The latter is the constructive sustainable dimension of the work as it’s subtext says “Enabling Self Reliance” and needs to be endorsed by the larger community in any which way possible.

The dedication of Mr Mathew and the entire staff is so heartening and encouraging. Outstanding. there is a need for many more such organisations that will uplift the society in a sustainable manner.

I have known DEEPALAYA from close quarters since the bigining. It had an humble start with few slum children at Kalkaji. The sincere hardword and dedication of its members and staff and the vision of its leaders have paved the way towards an organisation which it is today. It has done yeomen service in the field of child development. The magnitude of the task undertaken by it is really great and it has brought the fulfilment of several dreams of many downtrodden children who otherwise would never have seen the corridors of education. They really deserve awards and recognition which I am sure will propel them to do greater task in the future.

Deepalaya as an organization is very daring to go into places less explored and its a great platform for newcomers to maximize their potential as well as for any professional to work in a way that they never had the liberty for. Ramditti J.R. Narang Deepalaya School, that is run for underprivileged children, gave me the opportunity to be a school counsellor trainee to fulfil my field internship as a part of my curriculum in Masters of Psychology (DU). The staff was very eager to improve in their ways of teaching as well as behavior management in class. The principal, Miss Gitanjali Krishnan, was very encouraging to all the school and staff incl. me to try out methods that could work in the betterment for the school as a whole as well as paying individual attention to its residents. Where a well funded private or public school shudders from providing any kind of Adolescent Education Program, Deepalaya allowed me to deliver important and alarming messages to the students in terms of their safety and self esteem. And what I have personally most liked was that an individual's potential and not just achievements are applauded and encouraged, raising their own expectations from life as well as the will to work hard towards it. The children or the students of the school were the best part of the experience. I connected so well with them and that too, at their level which i found it to be very important. I felt that we shared a genuine relationship and i wasn't just with them because it was a part of my job or they, in their turn, weren't simply just being nice to a school visitor. All in all, a very good learning experience filled with challenges that I think I met with satisfaction and doubts that I overcame with the help and guidance of the school. My understanding of culture and the environment of the 'have nots' had not simply increased but evolved to more accuracy, empathy and belief.

Deepalaya is very dear to me through Rtn. T. K. Mathew Sir (i fondly call him as Tambachen) He is not just a member of my Parish, but a rolemodel and inspiration to us. His disciplined, honest and vibrant lifestyle is what attracts me the most. That reflects verymuch in the functioning of Deepalaya and its activities. The level to which it has grown is due to the hard willed committment and Faith in Lord Jesus in bringing out its vision through a great team work spirit among the Deepalaya family. May the Lord bless your more in the furtherance of His Kingdom. Rev. Saji Joseph Vicar, St. Thomas MTC, Karol Bagh.

Deepalaya is contributing to various underprivileged sections of the societ under the visionary leadership of Mr Mathew. the organisation is professionally managed and is poised to make greater impact in the years ahead.

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I got a chance to interact with Deepalaya when my daughter volunteered. I am amazed with their work, especially in education. They have set up quality schools to provide education to slum/underpriviliged children. waslso impressed with their home (and School) for homless kids at Guspethi. The children seemed to thrive in a clean, loving, nourishing and nurturing envioronment. Even the various employees that I interacted with appeared personally committed to mission of Deepalaya.

I have known the organisation for over 10 years as they work extensively in my home town - Delhi. I got to know about their activities first as a journalist reporting on them and later as a sponsor. I continue to support them and feel privileged that I am in a small way contributing to their work. The people that work with the organisation are committed and inspire me to get involved in many different ways. They have made a huge impact in educating a large number of children from the lowest class on Delhi's society. Their contribution has been lifechanging for the children and their families and significant for us as a community. I urge all who get to know Deepalaya to get involved and make a difference.

I am employed as TGT in the Kalkaji Extension branch of Deepalaya School. Although my major experience had been with a convent school, working with Deepalaya has given me a new insight into contributing towards the development of the under-privileged in particular and the society in general. Also, the extra-curricular activities in Deepalaya deserves special mention. The impetus which this organisation has provided towards nurturing the dormant talents of her sudents must be commended

We are very much pleased with the working of this organisation.we are in touch with DEEPALAYA for the last seven years. We are glad to assist the children who are very much in need of help and affection. Once in a year we are proud to be a part of the joy of the inmates of DEEPALAYA. We are aware of each and every function through mails/phone calls and we try our best to participate. We are very happy to see these children performing their ability in their respective fields and we see them enjoying their tasks. This gives us much pleasure. Recently we have sponsored one girl child for education. We would further like to extend this help year after year. DEEPALAYA is giving full satisfaction for the efforts made by us. The courtesy shown by the volunteers of the DEEPALAYA is very much appreciable. We wish them all the very best in their future plans and we assure our full co-operation and participation in all the developmental activities. We once again wish to congratulate all the volunteers and staff of DEEPALAYA on their dedicated work.

I came to know about Deepalaya during one of my seniors' presentation when I was pursuing Masters degree in Social Work in 2004 - 2006. The passion & desire compelled me to know more about this organization and its work. I went through its web site along with the site of other NGOs but the thing that striked me and which sets Deepalaya ahead its counterparts were its huge coverage area of educating nearly 50,000 children out of school children in different parts of Delhi. The then moment I decided to become a part of Deepalaya. And the lucky day comes when they called and offered me the post of "Programme Officer" in July 07 under Deepalaya Axis Bank Foundation Programme - one of the biggest education project of Deepalaya where I was given a task to mainstream 4200 out of school childern with the help of 10 local level NGOs during the period of 30 months. Working with these NGOs were not easy as this project was also the first hand experience for most of them as they lack basic infrastructure facilities, good documentation procedures, sound project implementation skills and the worse, good manpower. Teachers for educating children in Learning Centers by these local NGOs were hired at a very nominal amount of Rs 1500 pm. In the initial months, retaining teachers and staff at NGO level was very difficult but the project team turned up a with some postive results under the great supervision of Mr MO Peter wherein efforts were laid to conduct workshops on different topics viz Subject Teaching, Community Mobilization, Principle of Lesson Designing, Class management, Making of TLMs, Documentation etc for the staff so that they may feel competent and motivated. Our efforts paid off and by the mid of the project, we were able to mainstream more than 3500 children in formal schools and which becomes possible only because of local NGOs who finally realizes their worth of becoming self reliant and this is something which Deepalaya motto also says i.e. "Enabling Self Reliance". Now when I have left Deepalaya and join an international agency, I can only say that Deepalaya prpvides a strong medium to all those who aspires for new challenges and new heights built upon transparency, accountability and credibility towards work - it may be the children, it may be NGOs and it may be the staff like me also. The local NGOs with whom I am still in touch praised our efforts of building their capacities and establishing them as an individual identity is a perfect example of what Deepalayans as a team taught them. The NGOs who were not having a single project then, today are working on 1-2 projects each is also an example of strengthening Deepalayas role as mother NGO.

My mother is a teacher in Deepalaya and it is through her that I have come to know about the organization. My experience of the school is that it is sincerely devoted to its goal of educating slum children, especially the girl child. The school takes special interest in encouraging parents to send their children to school and also provides them with vocational training to help them find a job. My mother thoroughly enjoys the experience of teaching these children and she feels that she is contributing substantially to the needs of our country by virtue of her job at Deepalaya.

I was exposed to Deepalaya about six years ago, when my elder sister got an opportunity to join one of the schools as a teacher. She has been my role model since my childhood. She is a wonderful person and I knew she would make a big difference to the Deepalaya family. But little did I know six years ago, what Deepalaya would do to her and to us! It has changed our very outlook towards life, towards children and about India! We live abroad and visit India for holidays and get to see only festivities, the lights and the smiling faces all around. But, one day I and my own child (who knows only America as his own country and gets very perplexed to see little begging kids on the streets!) went to visit my sisters school and in an instant we realized what a different world is Deepalaya. It is one job to teach in "just any" school and it's something else to teach at Deepalaya. The structure of the school is so obviously different than the Indian schools I have attended, the challenges are so strong and difficult to resolve! I strongly believe that my sister and her colleagues are doing a very difficult task to teach kids who attend Deepalaya schools. With tears in her eyes, my sister narrates her experiences in her school and when she visits the kids and the slums some of them live in. The children are coming from very different backgrounds than us, their needs are so different. Institutions such as Deepalaya are doing a very responsible job of helping these kids to come out of their not so good, and sometimes miserable situations by imparting education and encouragement and letting the kids know that they can turn around their lives! I can go on and on, but in a nut shell, the work that Deepalaya family is doing is incredible, the difference they are making in the life of the children will ultimately make a humongous difference in the composition of India and it's socio-economic performance in the World. I sincerely wish I could be a teacher in a Deppalaya school and help Deepalaya to achieve it's goals. To that end I and my family at present only donate money and hope that it helps in some way. I absolutely positively recommend Deepalaya for the award. It will encourage it's members and even donors like us to work towards meeting it's goals. Deepalaya deserves the award and this is the least that can be done for such an institute committed to make a difference in the world of these precious children who would otherwise go onto oblivion and fall prey to their unfortunate situations in life!

We are corporate and had the good fortune to interact and work with Deepalaya on different fronts. 1. We have been a donor in their sponsorship programmes providing education to kids from the slums studying in their school. We found that they were always responsive and up to date on their information about the sponsor kids and their improvement or not in the school. 2. When we started to train and employ people with disabilities in our factory, Deepalaya referred people who could be trained according their abilities and provided us full support in doing so. Also they regularly counselled the disabled people during the training ensuring success. Post placement also they visited the placed people to offer whatever support they needed, since they had joined a place of work for the first time overcoming the physical and mental barriers. 3. Deepalaya has always been one of our core group NGOs which has retained its proactiveness even after increasing in the number of work areas and outreach. It has also managed to both expand its scope of work and keep all its friends and supporters informed of the progress.

I am a part of Deepalaya, as a volunteer and supporter. I am carrying forward the legacy of my respected late father-in-law Rear Admiral R. C Bhalla, who has been an integral part and supporter of Deepalaya. He was a highly esteemed and respected pioneer of the Indian Navy. After retirement he examined many ngos almost for a year, before deciding to volunteer with Deepalaya. He was looking for an organisation which was honest, dedicated and believed in transparency, which were also his own strongly held principles. What appealed to him was the honesty, commitment, sincerity and sheer passion of the staff and management of Deepalaya.He spent a lot of time gathering funds, support and volunteers for Deepalaya and successfully so,as people knew well, that he would not be a part of anything which was not honest or sound. It was a project close to his heart and the victorious smiles of the Deepalaya children kept him going. Now I am volunteering for deepalaya, and being a professional in this field of social service (Project Coordinator for Save the Children-UK project on Child Domestic Work for NGO 'Right Track' in Kolkata for 2 years).I am proud to be associated with an organisation that is genuine, focussed and committed to the cause of children specially the Girl Child. Their success speaks for itself,for they have gone into hostile territory where educaton for a girl child was considred a waste of time, and have established such firm roots,with their advocacy, that parents of that same focus group i.e girl child are waiting for their turn to get their daughters admitted, due to lesser space and greater demand. This is a huge victory for Deepalaya providing them impetus to go on. Now they have schools in various locations and Deepalaya High School Kalkaji has recently recieved government recognition. Deepalaya seeks to create sustainability in the community, by encouraging their students to return to serve their community.They are creating first generation learners who are participating in mainstream competitions and winning them in many fields like education, sports, art and craft. Their childrens street theatre group is very inspiring and confident.The Deepalaya Choir Group is very beautiful and had kept Chief minister Shiela Dixit enthralled when she had innagaurated their first performance. Organisations like Deepalaya working steadfastly and passionately ensure that children who come from underprivileged backgrounds will not lack for oppurtunity or support in realising their life goals.The success of Deepalaya is easily reflected in the children of Deepalaya who are happy, confident, goal oriented and are working towards realising their dreams.They are in essence fulfilling the responsibility which actually belongs to our Government of ensuring safety,equal oppurtunity and necessary infrastructure like schools buildings and dedicated staff , for our children.I wish it every success and am proud to be a small part of the Deepalaya family. They can do even better with as much help as they can get and it would be my appeal for citizens to work and contribute to such organisations as much as they can.

Good - the organization is quite receptive to vulnerable of all sorts. They make their best effort and customise their service as per the need of the prospective beneficiary.

I am a MA BEd & teacher by profession & had left my job long time ago due to my childs illness. Joined Deepalaya after a gap of more than 10 years. Initially I could not believe myself that there exist such a big school named Deepalaya in Kalkaji extension. It was amazing as I could easily settled myself due to the beautiful around me. This school mainly made a big difference in the lives of underprivileged mainly through Education and several other areas of intervention like health care, vocational training, gender equity and women empowerment etc. I grew in strength & participated in various door to door campaign in the jhuggis( delapidated structures ) with the people unaware of the large materialistic society around them. They were told about the impact of eductaion & slowly they started sending their children to us. I was in this branch for an year after which I moved out to Ramditi branch in Sheikh sarai. The atmosphere was very different as school was a single structure comprise of three floors & each class having an area half that of kalkaji extension. I could not imagine that a school can exist. The prayer meetings were conducted at a place hardly 12x 20 feet comprising of 150 children & 12-15 teachers including staffs. But the atmosphere is great as the children are very enthusiastic. The children are so talented that the teachers are also paying the meagre tutuion fees for many a child. I would like to specially mentioned about a child named " Rajni" in class IV who have shared the dias as a comperor. Can Y imagine this girl comepring in English in front of important dignitories including Arch bishop of Delhi, secretary to president of India etc. This girl was moulded by me along with another teacher called Nivedita for the big occasion. Many other notable features are mentioned below A) Our classroom board has been appreciated by many dignitories around the world who keeps coming at regular intervals to watch these children grow. B) The most positive aspect is that the children have started arguing with their parents for coming to school. C) The children have participated in choir competion & have won prizes D) The children are always bubbling inspite of the fact that many of them do their household chores before coming to school where parents are off early to work. E) The children have such high sense of belonging to the school. F) The love & affection can be seen from the beautiful cards at the time of teachers birthdays G) Inspite of the fact that they are optimizing on the needs as per the circumstances, many of them possess exceptional talent but the need of the hour is approptiate fund. Though I joined Deepalaya with a carefree attitude believing that this will be a good pastime. But now having worked with Deepalaya for more than 2 years , I feel that every single prayer along with some seriousness on the part of teacher can certainly help the cause of this poor illfed children & we are fortunate to have a platform called "Deepalaya". My life has turned by 180degrees when I see myself in the mirror. Life is short but I don't repent as I strongly believe that I have done something in the last 2 years compared to my earlier years. I do wish that my association with Deepalaya should never come to an end till the last day of my life. There are so many golden memories that I feel very much honoured to be working with such a great place of work.

DEEPALAYA'S work in the field of promoting education of the poor and underpriviledged children and women empowerment is highly commendable.

As a newcomer to India, Deepalaya has impressed me with its really impressive and sustainable approach of handling their diversified programmes. Deepalayas success, however, becomes probably most visible through the smiles of the children, living their hostels and who are considering themselves lucky to be in the Deepalaya family.

Deepalaya,among all the NGO's ,stands very tall in terms of its commitment to the sectors it functions in.I have been a witness to the unique honest approach pursued by Deepalaya to bring honest reform in its core area of activities. The right path is not always the easy path and Deepalaya has to face enough challenges.Albeit all this what i see is an organization with sound roots,right credentials and a strong will to make impact. Deepalaya has one more disctinct differentiator besides the above mentioned, which is high quality manpower.The human resource at Deepalaya is among the best in the industry. Considering the processes established and refined over the time in Deepalaya,I think the are the most transparent ones in the industry.

It is a wonderful experience. Making myself attatch with such an organisation give so much satisfaction in life. It's a wonderful organization as it work for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society.

my one year of experience in working with this organisation has brought lot of learnings for me personally and professionally. i salute the organisation to have mindset of social equality and eagerness to do something for the betterment of us.

This NGO is the best NGO in India.Deepalaya is a HOPE for helpless children.It is good for our society.I always with Deepalaya.

If you are looking for a reliable, effective and transparent partner in Delhi, Deepalaya is your choice. They have proven to be a wonderful ally to my efforts and those of the Father and Daughter Alliance (FADA) which I preside, to bring girls from the slums to school in Delhi.

What you see at Deepalaya is the result of a dedicated, selfless team committed to a noble cause. The vibrant faces of the children at the school is a reflection of hope, probably what you see in 'Slumdog Millionaire'. In an era of 'anything can be bought', the team at Deepalaya demonstrates Giving is nobler than receiveing. The integrity and honesty of the team is praise worthy. I am sure that the last penny of my small contribution reaches the target group.

There will be lots of people to talk about Deepalaya's core competencies but I want to choose a different angle. I happened to be in Deepalaya twice, my first assignemnt was as an internal auditor for good six and half years and to tell the truth, I did not know ABC of auditing before joining Deepalaya but the amount of scope as a fresher, the accessibility to reach and share my viewes with CE and Board, freedom of working, the belongingness and very healthy work culture helped me to become a real audit personnel and I got my recognition from in and outside Deepalaya. Deepalaya welcomed me once again when I joined as Manager-Accounts & Finance. It shows Deepalaya's openness and approachablity to everyone. Although I did not relish my 2nd assignment like 1st one, I can proudly say that I am DEEPALAYAN,I will remain DEEPALAYAN it doesn't matter whether I am in Deepalaya or not, DEEPALAYA WAS/IS/WILL BE IN ME.

To be part of Deepalaya is to be part of a fulfiling experience. Just the joy in reading about the dreams of the child makes every cent donated worth it. It is not an investment to the insitution my family made rather it was an investment to see atleast 1 child make a difference to the society in perticular and humanity in general. We feel humbled by the dedication of the Deepalaya team who have taken the cause of educating the future of these children. May this initiative from Mr Mathew and his team grow from strength to strength. You have my complete support in this noble cause.

i feel great to be a part of this institution and thankful for giving me a platfarm to work for really poor children.

I learnt about Deepalya and its activities when I was persuing my undergraduate degree but never got a chance to visit the organisation to see its activities at ground level. Recently I got a chance to visit their services for disabled in southern part of Delhi. I was really amazed to see the kind of educational services and other supportive services such as vocational training, medical certificates, benefits of pension schemes etc being provided to their beneficiaries. Beside the services, staff of the organisation was also very open to my official visit, which was primarily to know about services to children with disabilities. I got a chance to speak with few parents and found that they were satisfied with there children progress at the centre and the information and services provided to them.

From my own experience in working as Mandager Finance of Deepaya, I very confidently can rate Deepalaya as the best organization I ever worked with in my 30 years of experience.

I served society for 10 years as staff of Deepalaya Plan Project owned by Deepalaya since 1988 to 1998. After completion of project my association with Deepalaya got discontinued then again in 1996, I got re associated with Deepalaya as Regional Coordinator(North) of Credibility Alliance which is going on. Deepalaya deserves Credibility It is a matter of honour that Deepalaya is a member of Credibility Alliance, a consortium of voluntary organisations and networks, which has come together to enhance good governance in the voluntary sector. What norms does the Credibility Alliance use to determine whether an NGO is credible or not? They include the following elements: Identity, Vision, Aims, Objectives and Achievements, Governance, Operations, Accountability and Transparency. It is mandatory for all members of the Alliance to comply with the Minimum Norms or give an undertaking that they will comply with all the Norms within a year. Deepalaya currently holds the certificate from the Allianace which reads in part as: Deepalaya adheres to the norms prescribed for good governance of voluntary organisations and is admitted to the membership of Credibility Alliance. Having earlier a decade experience and addition to that last three more year of recent experience, I can say that Deepalaya started with good work and still they are continuing their great efforts for society selflessly. They have created an atmosphere where society started thinking positively towards social work. I strongly feel Deepalaya knows the field realities and they actually work on principle of planning cum micro realization (PCMR).

Deepalaya.. i don't have words to say about Deepalaya. that was my second home. MY ASSOCIATION WITH DEEPALAYA as a project Manager of one of the partner NGOs in which Deepalaya focused on empowering the small NGOs workig in the community. Literally, it was empowering.We have been given trainings, encouragement, guidance and support.Atlast after 2YEARS of partnership, i was able to work as a program officer of deepalaya's Education and Institutional Care sector for another two years. I have experienced the accountability and transperancy of the working system. Now i am in australia, still having contacts with the children and staff , . Here also, I feel, still as part of deepalaya and just trying to register Deepalaya Australia Foundation. The smile in the children's face at Deepalaya gram and Deepalaya Schools always give the spirit to be with the organisation.

My expience with Deepalaya is excellent.They are providing education to underpreviledged children.Their aim is to find out the Latent talent of the students and make them useful for the society.There are some students who are intelligent,knowledgable but this thing has to be developed and here is the importance of Deepalaya. Deepalaya is nurturing these students and giving them a platform to shine.

i have been associated with deepalaya for the last 4 years.i am extremely happy to be able to write about my experiences.deepalaya is a great organization which teaches underprivileged kids and conducts various extra curricular activities to empower slum kids so that they acquire professional skills which enable them to improve their standard of living.i sincerely appreciate their efforts and wish them all the best for the future.

I am associated with Deepalya since June 09, One of the NGOs working for the upliftment of poor and needy children’s of the slums/economic ally weekr group. The School run under the Deepalya Umbrella are one of the best examples of good management and we care attitude towards students and society at large. Students passing from the school are excelling in the field they have chosen further in education. The Teachers are paid according to the norms set by the government.

I have associated with Deepalaya for last Five years, during our association its activities among children and destitutes, and women empowerment, rural empowerment, children education and also in the fied of microfinancing for rural population.

It's been a great to be here as a teacher. it's a good platform for poor/slum children. As i know that it is a number one Rank holder NGO.

i was impressed by the efforts taken by Deepalaya for the orphans. the infrastructure and the environment was more impressing than expected.

My experience with Deepalaya has been very fruitful and positive. I have witnessed myself a few of the several initiatives that this organisation is taking for the betterment of the lives of the underprivileged specially children. I have been quite impressed with the honesty of purpose and sincerity of action shown by them in utilising the donations meaningfully so that the benefits percolate to the lowest strata of society. I wish them all the very best in their future endeavours.

I have a very good experience with Deepalaya. As many times I attended the program of Deepalaya and i have visited the schools also. In my openion Deepalaya is the best.

I got involved with Deepalaya through my acquaintance with Ms. Sudha Parthasarathy. Initially, we invited a group of Deepalaya students to perform a social awareness play at our annual celebration at AIIMS, New Delhi. During the subsequent months, I was deeply inspired by Deepalaya's commitment to change and development of our society. Deepalaya workers and volunteers work with homeless children not just to impart education and social awareness but also help shape their individual characters. This process I feel is vital to their stand in the society. I was impressed by the professionalism exhibited by the workers in the organisation and have been fortunate to participate in some of their events as time allowed me. I am glad to keep my contact with Deepalaya through my friendship with Ms. Parthasarathy and hope be actively involved in the future. Sincere regards, N Govindarajan

I had the good fortune of working with Deepalaya in its Silver Jubilee year viz. 2004-05. Well,the first letter of Deepalaya is 'D' AND IT IS NOT MERE COINCIDENCE i AM SURE THAT THE 'D' is also the first letter of words like 'Determination'. 'Dedication'. 'Dynamism!'My belief is truly predicated on my close association and incisive understanding of what the organisationstands for-indeed the 'why' the 'What' and the 'How' of Deepalaya. The able stewardship of the remarkable visionary that Mr.Mathew is,has taken the organisation to scale great heights and it continues to do so under his benign mentorship as he is poised to pass the baton on... what particularly inspired and impressed me about the organisation is the palpably passionate commitment of the Human Capital that Deepalaya has-the wonderful men and women who tirelessly work towards actualising the organisation's vision of reaching out to and transforming the lives of the less fortunate amongst us.This almost evangelical zeal is evident in every initiative of Deepalaya -=whether it is Community mobilisation ,Teaching,Vocational Training,Social Entrepreneurship,HRM,Communications or any other.No wonder the outreach of Deepalaya is growing day after day!I think of it as an Upward Spiral...a spiral ever widening ...to take within its embrace larger and larger numbers of children and adults most in need of our care and the need to awaken our sometimes dormant social conscience.

Deepalaya is a great organization and Mr. T.K Mathews , who heads the organization is totally devoted and has done great wonders with children in general and the public at large.Being indirectly associated with Rotary, I have been reading a lot about the good work Mr. Mathews is initiating via Deepalaya. I regularly get Deepalayas newsletter and am very impressed with all the work the organization is doing, at the level and scale that it is doing and how it is impacting so many lives by bringing about a turn around in life styles due to their guidance , training and exposure. Given a chance someday I would like to work as a volunteer with this great organization. Their contrbution towards training of children with special needs is commendable.

I had the opportunity to volunteer at Deepalaya during the winter of 2007/2008. I was highly impressed by the structure and outreach of this organization and the way it has genuinely been able to change the lives of so many underprivileged children. I had the opportunity to visit a few of Deepalaya's schools and interact with the teachers and students there, and I witnessed firsthand that the education these children were obtaining through Deepalaya was of high quality, in many cases of higher standards than what is available to poor children in government schools. My positive experience with Deepalaya motivated me to focus on the role of NGOs in providing education in India as the topic for my Master's thesis, and I returned to Deepalaya in July 2009 in order to interview its staff for my research. Through these interviews, I was once again impressed by the sincere passion the people of Deepalaya share for making a difference in the lives of the most destitute people in society and their committment to taking on projects in many different areas of socioeconimc development outside of the area of education as well. Overall, I think Deepalaya is a great organization, and it is doing a commendable job in addressing many of the challenges that are faced by underprivileged people, especially children.

Deepalaya, as the name suggests is really a beacon of hope for the differently abled and disadvantaged children of Delhi.The school with its majestic building is aesthetically designed and meets the standard set for differently abled children inasmuch as it has various facilities to cater to the needs of the children.It is a testimony of the good work that this NGO is doing that many organisations both in public and private domain have come forward to provide support to the organisation to remain uptodate in terms of equipments needed for this disadvantaged children. Many of the PSU's have also donated generously and have given transport facilities equipped with latest equipments to cater to the requirement of differently abled children. The campus is beatifully designed and so is the staff. With dedication and missionary zeal the organisers are moving ahead to serve the cause of these children in making it a joyous experience and to bring sunshine in to the lives of many a disadvantaged children. May the institution continue to flourish and become a pathbreaker in this segment in the mission to serve humanity through the cause of these children. I wish the team many more successes during this festive season. Shibu Mammen

Deepalaya is an Organisation or rather a Vision and Mission at work. My experience in the Organisation was deeply satisfying for I knew that each one in Deepalaya is deeply committed to the Cause and works dligently to make life better for the underprivileged. In my present role, serving the Hope Project, India as its Executive Director, I continue to be inspired by Deepalaya and its Leadership and strong work in the field.

By chance came across Deepalaya in the year2000 Got involved in teaching class X th students ---- Saw the credentials and spotless tranperent work going on in all Deepalaya locations. Specialy helping educate poor underprivileged children. Till date have not looked back------- The more work I do the less it seems. Every staff member is committed to service to society. Some thing which is commendable.

Have been a sponsor for many years now. It has been a pleasure to be associated with Deepalaya and receive regular communication on the child that I sponsor and about the various activities of the organisation. The people make this organisation a very special one. There is a sincere commitment to serve those who are less privileged and it is great to see them associated with not just educating children in the slums, but also providing vocational training, institutional care, health, etc. I have had the opportunity to visit the formal schools, listen to the choir, present during a sports day, etc during my visits to India. To see children in an environment where capabilities are tapped into and developed is awesome.

Deepalaya has been a nuturing ground us like young Indians. It opened my eyes to see, know and experience the other side of the "world". I being an ex staff member working in the documentation depptt got to knew projects of Deepalaya espp. the Education on wheels and differently abled Projects. This two Projects of Deepalaya is "wow" as the children coming to learn where very different from the children coming from slums..

I have known Deepalaya for quite some time. It is appreciable that this organisation has ethics of highest order, meeting all standards. In one of the experience with Deepalaya, I found total transparency and no-compromise on quality issues. I wish all the success for Deepalaya and will like to join them in their future programmes.

Deepalaya's contribution to the society is commendable,as there none for the helpless,except God.. Deepalya has come forward to help such segment in education ,Nutrition & Health and also contributing to Rural job upliftment viz.adoption of Fruit crop plantations for better return to farming community.

I've had a wonderful experience with the children of Deepalaya. I would further like to bring out the best in them so that they would be in a position to achieve the various aspects of life.

Deepalaya was the best organization i worked with in my stay in India. They are extremely organized and helpful. They were so willing to drive me hours to get to a village so that I could do my project, and they went out of their way to organize things like that. The school that I visited was full of loving and well-behaved children who were clearly loved by their care-takers, who work for Deepalaya. Deepalaya is full of compassionate and inspiring people who are dedicating their lives to stopping injustices that happen all around us. I have nothing but good feelings towards this organization and would love to come back and volunteer with them again.

I started my association with Deepalaya by sponsoring a child on perpetual sponsorship. I sponsored two more children after that .I feel Deepalaya is the most sincere nonprofit organization. I get reports of all the children sponsored by me every six months.I feel very proud to be a part of Deepalaya family.

I have been a contributor and supporter of deepalaya for close to 8 years now. I think they do a wonderful job with the kids and are one of the genuine NGOs working in India today. I wish them all the very best.

I have known Deepalaya since it's inception in early eighties, and the Founder Secretary cum CEO since late seventies as a fellow professional, donor, representative of donors and as a fellow Rotarian. Deepalaya's professional approach to development, accountability and transparancy is what attracts me to Deepalaya all the time. Mr. Mathew is my role model. "Vijay K. Sardana, Former, Regional Director, Region of South Asia, Plan International; CEO, Aga Khan Foundation,India; Past President, Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan."

I am in continuous contact with deepalya for last ten year and one of the children brought up by the Deepalya from a slum. I got primary education from Deepalya Sanjay Colony School, and was supported by Deepalya in my Education and now working as an engineer. The honesty and dedication of this organisation can not be wrapped in the words.

Our relationship with Deepalaya and in particular with Mr. Mathew has been emotionally rewarding. Giving through Deepalaya has been a gratifying experience. One is assured of correct usage of funds and is able to witness the work being done by Deepalaya physically. I would like to congratulate Mr. Mathew and the entire team at Deepalaya for the work they have done in the past and hope that this service to humanity and especially towards the needy children of our country continues to expand in years to come. Tanuj Berry MD Namtech Business School

I know Deepalaya since my entry into Delhi in the year 1988. Deepalaya is doing extremly wonderful work to those underprivilaged children living in the slums. The true fruit of freedom can only be experienced through education, where Deepalaya stands to score. The children living in the slums have reached to the mainstream only through Deepalaya's directions. It was exactly a dream come true for many a children, where their families could not afford for education, uniform and even for food to their children. But Deepalaya through their Social Workers helped such children to participate in Deepalay's differennt projects and earn knowledge through education. Truely Deepalay deserve recognition.

I did realise the cause which Deepalaya is working for when I myself got into it on 2nd December, 1996 and work upto 18th January, 2006 in the capacity of a sponsorship officer. What I found was that they are really working for the children from slum to enable them make their own image in the society. Also their contribution to work for orphens, differently abled and the old aged ease upto the mark and what i liked the most ease Deepalaya's attitude towords transperency and accountablity. I had the privilege to be present there at the time of celebrating Deepalaya's Silver Jubliee. What more should I say, the deepest empathey of Mr. T.K. Mathew for a child who was unable to cross the road in 1979, mode him make so many children cross the road and achieved their goals. I Salute, Mr. T.K. Mathew, Deepalaya, one of the largest operation in Delhi and its entire dedicated team who strive and march forward to enable the child 'look beyond the slum'.

Whether its volunteering for employees of Citi or Hindustan Unilever Ltd or foreign volunteers or whether its an interview someone from media wants to take in Delhi, IndianNGOs.com has always been working with Deepalaya. And everytime everyone is satisfied.

Deepalaya is a important partner in development by education. Together we try to improve education for the poor and together we try to beat poverty by educating. Deepalaya organizes for us international exchanges. They are excellent in doing this for more than 12 years (since 1997)

I was reccommended to visit hostle in Ghusbeti in Haryana. What i found and experienced was far my expectations. I was so delighted by the way they were running the place i did not want to leave this loving, caring and homely environment.Depalaya's vison is far reaching.The staff is so dedicated and committed to the children and love and care the children receive in unfathomable.Here is a chance for the deprived, abandoned children to show to the world that they lack nothing and prove themselves as good and intelligent human beings and move ahead with their lives and be part of the society. Kudos to Deepalaya for the wonderful work they are doing with intergrtiy and sincerity. I wish them all the best in the years to come

I have been associated with Deepalaya since the last 6 years. My organisation Naz India has interacted closely with Deepalaya and we have been partnering with Deepalaya on a Women's Empowerment Programme called- Goal: Reaching New Heights. Deepalaya is very committed to the cause of the development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. They provide high quality services and encourage children to aspire and achieve.

As far as I know, Deepalaya is a non-government organization striving towards empowerment of poor and downtrodden children, families, community and finally the whole society. They take up several issues affecting the urban and rural poor. There area of operation is mainly slums of Delhi and adjoining areas. The infrastructure that they have created in those backward and unattended areas is a testimony to their continued efforts towards upliftment of the poor and neglected classes of the society. I have been associated with Deepalaya for the last 7 years and I always extend all my support in achieving their aims and objectives. My best wishes to the dedicated team of Deepalaya.

I have known Deepalaya from its very beginning and seen the growth that it has experienced. There's nothing that beats the expression of talent shown by the Deepalaya children - expression of talent in dancing, singing, drama etc. Kudos to Deepalaya for offering the kids the opportunity to experience life more richly

I have been associated with Deepalaya for close to 2 yrs now. Deepalaya has always been open to new ideas & extending hand to serve the society by involving volunteers in whichever way possible.

I am running an NGO at Azadpur, North West District Delhi-110033. I first come in contact with Deepalaya in Aug-2007 but we know about Deepalaya since 10 years. We got the opportunity to be a partner NGO of Deepalaya for running Learning Centers for Non Starter/Drop out children under Deepalya AXIS Bank Foundation Programme. Deepalaya not only provided us the Grant they also built our Capacity by providing training on different issues. We have learnt how to maintain good accountability towards community development. We have learnt how to deal with the community and how we can motivate the community for their own development. So we think Deepalaya is a Great Non Profitable organization. With in touch with Deepalaya we have built our capacity and it is a very good experience for us working with Deepalaya. Dr. B. Sagar President Janhit Society for Social Welfare 9868730997

Deepalaya is a plaform helping the children most in need. I salute the entire Deepalaya team and to their effort.

Deepalya is doing excellent work among the under previlaged children,among the girl child and other downtrodden.The instructions while designing the buildings is for human beings and not to to be thought or considered for the underprevilaged and what a difference that made in me as an architect.

I am very much impressed in the working of Deepalaya for the upliftment of the poor, neglected peoples in the society. They are trying thier best to help the needy peoples. I wish them to get more strength to continue their efforts.

No need to write much about deepalaya.it is a home of lights for many.an organization believes in some principles and adheres to follow the same.the most i liked in deepalay is its transparency and committment.my only request is to spread the deepalay's light into the remote villages of the country. all the best

I am Chairman and Founder of Levy Center for Healing Arts-a prominent mind-body medicine center in Washington, DC. We feature Deepalaya on our website powertohealit.com as a group we admire and seek to support. We are starting to bring mind-body methods to students and faculty. These people are truly inspired and represent the best hope for the future. Everyone who sees what Deepalaya is doing will want to support them.

I know the NGO Deepalaya and its people for 8 years now. We started with sponsoring 30 children for education and now we are building a health clinic in cooperation with them. My experience with this organization is great. They are all open and honest and do a wonderful job to enlighten the lifes of so many children. It is a great pleasure to work with Deepalaya.

Having grown up in the diverse and ever-changing suburbs of New Delhi, I have been fortunate to see more than one aspects of the city. Amongst the madness of city life, Deepalaya has emerged to provide meaning to the lives of thousands of children. In most cases it has been a life-changing experience for them. And since it is the same youth that shall shape the future of our cities and towns, Deepalaya is contributing definitively to ensuring that we move towards a knowledge society. My relationship with Deepalaya is six years old. I started as a curious onlooker, interested in understanding the goals and workings of the NGO. Deepalaya came across a practical organization, clear about the reality surrounding itself, convinced of its abilities and devoid of any accolades that charitable organizations tend to heap on themselves. Its members integrated their work with the lives of the citizens of Delhi, often shaking them up from the indifference that has come to characterise most modern cities. I chipped in by selling greeting cards and calendars made by children studying in Deepalaya schools, and also ran for the NGO in city marathons. Visiting the Deepalaya schools was a rather stimulating experience. I came across honest and enthusiastic students willing to listen, wanting to learn and working towards a great future. Being a student mysef, nothing gives me more joy that knowing an institution that empowers children and young people to chalk out their own careers. This is so much better than creating a class of people totally dependant on donations and charity. Deepalaya has expanded to reach out to other states near New Delhi and also plays an active role in reaching out to NGOs outside India. It has also managed to stay grounded about its goals and accomplishments, a trait becoming rarer with each day. Most importantly Deepalaya schools and homes have stayed as products of the Deepalaya line of thought, instead of being mere brands of a distant organization. I strongly urge the committee judging for this competition to consider Deepalaya seriously for its effectiveness in making a positive difference to thousands of children and youth.

i have been involved with this charity for pas t 8 years. I sponsor one child for his education. They keep posting me his progress with his handwritten m essages and his pictures. They are doing great work. I feel that iif they were not there, who could do what i intend to do remotely. Kudos to all involved in the project for upliftment of the needy and keep them away from child labour, since their parents would otherwise resort to emplyin their kids somewhere. We do not wantr that to happen.

I have known Deepalaya and the work they have been doing for many years now, They have grown because of the dedication of their staff. As a photographer I have been to quite a few of their projects and seen the results of their work especially in the schools in Kalkaji and the slums in Okhla Industrial Area. It is heartwarming to see the slum children do well, develop confidence and even give excellents performances at their Annual Functions> I wish them well in their efforts to expand their work and do much more for Society

I came to India to spend time with my wife who was volunteering for 3 months at Deepalaya. I went with her to Guispeti Hostel where I spent almost a week with the children there. I found this experience to be one of the most rewarding times of my life. The children were very welcoming and friendly and very eager to learn whatever they could from me, especially English. The staff were also amazing. With very little money or resources they provided a loving and warm place for the children and went above and beyond in the performing of their duties for low pay and little recognition, out of a pure love and desire for the betterment of these children. In the end I am sure I learned more from the children than they learned from me. I felt very comfortable in making a donation to Deepalaya, that it was going to a very worthy cause and that a very small % of the money that I donated would be spent on administration verses the children, because the organization is very efficient with no wasted resources and a highly professional and dedicated staff. The children would definately benefit from additional staff and money so that even more of them could continue on in school beyond 10 th grade. I was impressed by the way the children, both boys and girls, studied on their own with minimal supervision and exhibited such a desire to learn and progress in school.

Myself Dr. Thankam Mathew is having experience with Deepalaya organization for many years more or less it was started by 5 members through Mr. T. K Mathew, Grace Kochamma and Mr Y Chakochen. Then I was selectedas a board member. Then Again I told when I immigrated to USA I want to resigne as board member. Then Again Mr. T. K Mathew informed that you can help Deepalayua from USA. and so I could get a few people to sponsor children of Deepalaya. So that way I could help. When ever we go to India and Delhi we meet Mr. T. K Mathew , Mr Chakochen and visit the school and meet our sponsred chidrenand staff of Deepalaya. I am happy to get the sponsered child report and greeting card every year. I folow up the peolple who all sponsered chidren from USA through me. When ever Mr. T. K mathew or other excutive staff come to USa I used to meet them and discuss the work going on in Deepalaya. Our complete family Myself and My husband and 3 daughters sponsered chidren. Also we used to send sone donation to give sweets to the children of the school on our birth day and pray for us.

Hi, I'm Manish, a normal boy with abnormal problems solved and given the freedom,reson and purpose of life through the collective support and co-operation of Deepalaya and it's people.I thank all of them who saved me,helped me and blessed me with love,care,support,so that I can live independently,confidently,intelligently. Deepalya's desire and mission is to help every single person and make them feel deserving of their own life,and let live life on their own will with dignity,integrity and interestingly. Thank you Deepalaya for helping and being there to light and give warmth to the lives of those who desire to live and make them deserving to let them live. With love and Regards. Manish Thakur.

I have been associated with Deepalaya since its inception in 1979. I have seen Deepalaya growing from strength to strength in the past three decades due to its selfless, sincre work amongst the deprived people of the society. Deepalaya is not only imparting education to the poor childrens of slum dwellers but also uplifting their esteem in all walks of their life by conducting regular activities, seminars etc. Its accountability and transparency is commentable and in confirmation of it, they have been conferred with number of awards - latest being "Indian NGO award for North India Region", "Member of credibility award" to name a few. Deepalaya is also running community health, home for run away and street childrens and imparting talent education to disabled childrens of the deprived society. I wish all the best to Deepalaya and its dedicated staff. Joy Kutty

I was working with Deepalya in Delhi, Kalkaji Extensions and I was overwhelmed by the hard work they are doing. And what most surprised me was the feedback teachers get from staff. There was a big party for Teacher's Day for all Deepalaya teachers. They do everything to motivate their staff. So I, as a volunteer was shown all their various projects. Thus I got the chance to also spend some time in the children's home in Gusbethi and go around the villages in the mobile clinic. I think they are working very close with people who need support.

My wife and I have been closely associated with Deepalaya in the last several years. Every year we make it a point to visit one of their projects and interact with Deepalaya staff working at these projects. We have seen the work done by Deepalaya, whether it is the Gusbeti project in Haryana or the slum schools in Delhi. It was a great pleasure to hear the choir of Depalaya children performing last Christmas to an audience that included Delhi's Chief Minister. It is quite apparent that the Depalaya has a staff that is dedicated and have a great sense of commitment to their work. Under the leadership of Mr. Mathew the staff are a set of motivated and committed group. Their love for the poor is genuine. Every year we enquire about our sponsor child and are impressed about the sense of detail that Depalaya school has about the child. The level of care and detail displayed by the teachers at the school is comparable to the very best in Delhi. As said ealier we visited the Gusbeti project several times in the last few years. The hostel for young boys and girls was of a very good standard. The boys and girls were well taken care of and our coverstations with them revealed their high level of confidence and education. Senior management is very enthusiastic in its effort in raising funds, managing the organisation with high standards and ensuring that the objectives of charity and love are adhered to.

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PLEASURE TO GO THE DEEPALAYA AND MEET PEOPLE WORKING FOR DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN OF NEGLECTED CLASS. tHE WORK THEY ARE DOING IS PHENOMINAL AND NEEDS SUPPORT AND IS PRAISEWOTHY.

I was greatly moved by my experience with Deepalaya. They have developed many programs primarily focussed on the betterment of children through providing education and assistance to their families. They provide programs that are accessible and meet the most pressing needs of the children and families. All of their staff are dedicated to the cause, and put in extra effort in order to ensure that the programs operate effectively. I have been very impressed with the caliber of programming by Deepalaya, and have taken back several ideas to my work with children in Canada.

How effusively you can describe an organization that gives the children a chance to succeed, where there were almost none ? How can you make justice in words to the organization that promotes education for girls who other wise would not have entered the halls of education? Deepalya is an organization close to my heart because it gives the children to dream of becoming some body just by returning their childhood the way it was meant to be. Deepalaya is a noble organization which gives a family or an individual a chance to be a proud part of a successful experiment to up lift the community through their own children. Imagine a girl whom you have supported since childhood reach matriculation and dreaming of nursing education. Deepalaya gives every one a chance to lead a purpose driven life in addition to the purpose of looking after your own family.People at Deepalaya are kind and courteous. Every occassion I had a need to communicate with them, they were simply superb. I wish and dream of a day when Deepalaya spreads through out India. Deepalaya truely deserves the award. Chandrakant Rao.

The staff and especially the children at Deepalaya have been a constant inspiration for me ever since I first visited the program. It was only a few weeks after the tsunami and one of the first things I noticed was how Deepalaya helped to collect and distribute resources to the devastated areas. That was 5 years ago when Deepalaya was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and we learned how the program developed respect and trust, an incredible track record of strategic development from a program of only 7 children into a comprehensive high quality education and habilitation program serving all sectors of society, but especially outreaching to the marginalized, differently abled and girl. I visited as an exchange delegate from USA on an India-US exchange for child welfare providers to share common issues and advocacy strategies. It was funded by the US Dept of State through Child Welfare League of America; it was the second exchange. The Americans were immediately impressed with the size and scope of the needs in India, that less than 50% of children have accessible public education, that many families became homeless or children orphaned when a parent became ill or injured on the job, that families typically will chose to educate their boys but especially when funds or their own education is limited either cannot or will not chose to educate their girls. During our visit the newspapers were discussing a recent dowry death in Delhi. Deepalaya practices "positive discrimination" to balance their classrooms with girls based on their belief "to educate a girl child you educate the whole family." There are many surprises for a first time American visitor to India. Since we all know so many well educated Indian physicians and other professionals living in US, inaccessibility to free and high quality education in India took us by surprise, as did child labor and current dowry deaths, villages without electricity or running water, in fact, some had no water at all. Of course we as Americans have dirty secrets, such as the victims of rampant child abuse that our programs seek to treat. The enormity of obstacles to safe, healthy childhood with the possibility of developing to each child's potential overwhelmed us as Americans when we compared access to resources for our US programs with those we visited in India. As we spent more time we realized the success of Deepalaya is due to an incredible work ethic, practice of transparency and accountability unlike anything we had observed in the US, despite all of us having years of experience in the most altruistic, philanthropic, humanitarian programs. Due to several huge traffic jams, we arrived for an unannounced visit to Deepalaya's administrative offices at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening. All were present and welcoming. The childcare staff and teachers are incredibly dedicated. There are no discipline problems, difficult for the US participants to comprehend. When the exchange came to the US we were able to see how Mr. Mathew not only leads Deepalaya, but he nurtures other programs and focuses on sustainability. Much later I observed the same relationships he has with other executive members of International Forum for Child Welfare when they met in New York. Deepalaya taught us an Indian saying that the whole world is one big family, and it is clear that Deepalaya while working well at the microcosm with individual children and their families, has made huge social changes in families, their communities and has touched the way the world deals with the rights of the child.

My admiration lies in the fact that 15 years ago Deeplaya took the bold decision to develop their own identity and seriously start fundraising in India, knowing that one of their major international funders was likely to withdraw support. Support was withdrawn, but Deepalaya has more than survived. It has expanded its' work, reaching out to a much wider group of people and institutions in India and internationally, than previously; and is now much more widely respected for its services.

I was really moved by the way in the which they take care of the children and teach them to move ahead in life despite all the odds that they face in their day to day life. Children are the future of our country and by educating them this organization is helping make them responsible citizens of our country. Kudos to Deepalaya!

Happy that a bunch of selfless devoted people are doing so great work!Will continue to support the organiztion in my own little way. God Bless!

I have been involved with the organisation for almost a decade and feel that the work they are doing is commendable. They genuinely care.

I have worked with Deepalaya over some years to help develop teamwork and leadership in the organisation. In my view Deepalaya is very unusual if not unique in its commitment to transparency, integrity and outstanding leadership. Deepalaya's leaders are committed to working 'on' the organisation and its development, not just working 'in' it - and in any walk of life this is an unusual and courageous stance. The results it achieves and the difference it makes to so many people's lives is testament to this commitment. I wish them every success and commend them as a role model to others in their field.

My experience with Deepalaya has been very insightful. Working with Deepalaya in various capacities, as volunteer, as staff and as independent consultant, I have seen Deepalaya breaking boundaries, mindblocks, ageold mentalities just in order to get every individual their due. This organization truly believes in the potentials of people. As an insider i have seen opportunities being given to each and every individual to grow and learn and perform to the best of capacity. I find myself the best example for this. I owe my professional growth completely to Deepalaya. When i joined the organization i was fresh out of college and wasnt sure of my future path. Joining Deepalaya as a volunteer turned out to be one of the best decisions I had taken. Deepalaya not only offered me the work they showed me the path to take. After completing my post graduation when again was on lookout for a suitable opportunity, Deepalaya once again gave me an opportunity to prove my strengths and also helped me further my growth in the field by providing me a mentor who taught me the nitty gritties of work. Deepalaya believed in me all the time. It truly stands up to it ideology of 'Helping people help themselves' Even when I was involved at grass root and when i was in direct contact with client of the organization, i could see easily, how the methods used by organization made it easier for clients to connect to the organization. Each and every individual who works for the organization has the client's interests in mind. THe three values of the organization, accountability, credibility and transperancy and ingrained in the core of the functioning of the organizaiton. I believe in the organization and also do believe that this organization will leave no stone unturned to achieve its final goal of equality for all. I wish the organization and its members all the very best for all future endeavours.

Dedicated, professionally managed, focussed organisation. It has been a proud privelege knowing and interacting with DEEPALAYA for over a decade. Have seen them growing from a one room + students to a school which is multi-storey covers basics as well vocational training (I am talking about the DEEPALAYA at Panchsheel Vihar). How I wish that there are many more TK Mathews/Gitanjali Krishnan's - and thro' them many more DEEPALAYA's.

I had the opportunity to visit several of the Deepalaya programs as part of the US funded international exchange program of child welfare professionals from India and the US in 2005. I was the leader of the US delegation. We visited 6 child serving agencies in India. My wife joined me on the exchange. We are both professionals in the child serving profession. She and I were very impressed with the excellent work and commitment shown by all the professionals involved with all the agencies but were most impressed by the Deepalaya leadership and quality of the programs. We were amazed how effective and efficient they were with their resources and how open they were in helping other NGOs grow and develop. We went back to India in 2008 to join in Deepalaya's 30th anniversary celebration and again see the remarkable work being done by the agency.

i have been connected off and on wiht Deepalaya for quite a few years now. that they are doing excellent work is common knowledge but what is amazing to me is the quality of the work as well. whether its the infrastructure or the software within the organisation, everything strives to be top of class and acheives it. The other positive experience i have had with Deepalaya is the platform they provide for various other not-for-profit organisations. that's an amazing thrust to peers in the community which will ensure an across teh board development.

I heard abount this organisation from a business client. After few visits of Deepalaya's schools I decided to sponsor education of 100 girl students. I visit Deepalaya School in Mewat District twice a year and fully satisfied with the work they are doing.

I have been involved with Deepalaya since 1994, when I visited with my late husband, Professor Peter Townsend. We were always impressed with the underlying philosophy of the organisation: self reliance, community, individual attainment and excellence. We have sponsored several children, and have delighted in seeing them go out into the wider world with an excellent education and professional skills. And they have never discriminated between girl and boy children.

i was with deepalaya in my internship days, it was a great opportunity for me work for a non-profit org. I really found that some people really doing good work for human kind. small childrens who need education for developing them selves, need a helping hand and project like "education on wheels" provide a candid effort to complete this task. more and more hands can be join together and make a beutiful world.

It was a great experience to see on 11 Oct 2009 a group of about 200 children taught by Deepalaya institutions on the stage perform with smiles on their angelic faces. Moreover, the programme was compered also by a small girl of less than ten.

My experience at Deepalaya has been very much enlightening.Seeing various stratas of society at such a close view really shaked my soul.Deepalaya is an organisation which works with the people from rags to the riches with equal commitment.It encompasses all activities, all experiences, all joys, all exposure with a three dimensional view. I remember Deepalaya taking all its volunteers to various sites approx a 15 .Each of this unit had a different functionality, different hierarchy, different administration but all of them were on pinncales of efficiency. The atmosphere at Deepalaya was so calma and happy that you could work there for hours and hours with so much enthusiasm. the staff was very helpful and educated. Deepalaya truly works with its soul to help other souls smile. kudos!!!

I know, there are many organization in our country which are good at office work and can impress anybody to get sympathy and other materialistic things. But during my stay in DEEPALAYA, I got a chance to see their ground work and so surprised to see the commitment form a level-1 worker to senior employee of organization. They are making the life of so many deprived children not only by sitting in their offices but by going in the streets, slum areas. One of the best example of this initiative is one of their projects "EDUCATION ON WHEELS". In future I would also like to contribute in this organization.

Deepalaya does a great job in bringing children from lower socio economic strat in life to schools and helps to keep them there, in face of any economic turmoil in their parents and gurdians lives. In India typically the girl child is the first casualty to such changes in economic status, and it is so nice to see these girls get an opporunity to have a regular life of a child and enjoy small pleasures of going to school and getting an exposure to education. Deepalay brings a ray of hope in these childrens lives and a reason for them to smile. These girls when they grow up will understand the importance of education and will be instrumental in ensuring that their own children also get educated and thus will influnce the future of the society. By giving me an opportunity to sponsor three of these beautiful and innocent girls, and keeping me posted with their yearly progress I feel I am involved in their lives (even though in an indirect way) and I get an opportunity to give back to the cause I really care about. My best wishes to Deeplaya and hope you keep up the good work and spread the light of knowledge to the darkest corners of the world till the whole world is filled with the light of education.

The sincere efforts of the team at Deepalaya in taking education to the underprivileged children of India is greatly appreciated. As a donor it is very easy for us to write a cheque and forget the whole issue because we think our responsibility ends there. But with an organization like Deepalaya, and with the logistics involved in proper management of the funds as well as running the schools, it boggles the mind to think that our contribution is just a drop in the vast ocean in comparison to the work that the entire Deepalaya team are doing. I extend my sincere appreciation and thanks for the wonderful work Deepalaya is doing and we are sure that the under privileged children will definitely get an opportunity to increase their knowledge and look towards a bright future and a better life.

My wife and I have been sponsoring under privileged children with Deepalaya since 2001. In 2005 we visited the Deepalaya organisation in New Delhi and our sponsor children and saw first hand the wonderful work they do, which is always done from the heart and with a smile

Deepalaya is doing a great job. I was touched with the tremendous work they are doing for the not so fortunate people.