AVI USA and IDRF
Building Partnerships to Support Auroville
Several months ago, AVI USA Director of Development, Binah Thillairajah, reached out to a sister nonprofit, IDRF, the India Development and Relief Fund, to jumpstart an AVI USA- IDRF collaboration in support of our Auroville partners. Learn about our first collaboration involving the support of Udavi School, the Ashram School Trip and Deepam School for Special Needs Children.
Since its inception in the early 1970s, AVI USA has partnered with international foundations and educational institutions to increase awareness and support for Auroville. One of our newest partners is The India Development and Relief Fund, IDRF. In December we invited them to join our second annual matching campaign and give grants with a 4x impact. For those who donated to Deepam and Udavi School, AVI USA doubled those donations, and then we sent them on to IDRF who doubled them again.
IDRF has a long history of supporting Udavi School. Since 2002 Udavi Village Outreach School in Edayanchavadi village next to Auroville, has benefited from their funding and general support.. The founder of IDRF, Dr Vinod. Prakash, a retired World Bank economist, has a personal connection with Udavi. His late sister lived in the Sri Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry and volunteered at Udavi for many years. It was only natural that in 2002, when Dr. Prakash focused on supporting local projects, Udavi became a beneficiary of their support. Through the years, IDRF supported multiple Udavi projects, such as the construction of compound wall, relocation of the library building, staff residences, dorm room furnishing, upgrading computer rooms, and a math laboratory.
Given its warm relationship with Udavi school, IDRF doubled this year’s AVI USA sourced donations for Udavi to build a proper kitchen for its students. Recognizing the convergent goals of other bioregion village outreach school helmed by Aurovilians, IDRF expanded its scope of support to other outreach programs by matching donations not only for Udavi, but also for Aikiyam and Isai Ambalam Schools for the senior student Ashram Trip, the yearly school trip to the Delhi, Nainital and Van Nivas Sri Aurobindo Ashrams and Centers.
The yearly Ashram School trip is a once in a lifetime experience for senior students of the Auroville bioregion village schools. They experience the beauty of the Himalayan foothills in a deeply spiritual setting, connecting both with nature and the spiritual roots of Auroville. Rock climbing, trekking and day trips to local temples or nature sites are paired with afternoons or evenings of spiritual study. Included in the Ashram trip are also visits to the Taj Mahal in Agra, and Vrinadavan.
In addition, IDRF has also matched funds raised during the same 2023 AVI USA Matching Campaign for Deepam School for Special Needs Children. Deepam is aiming to increase nutritional support to their vulnerable disabled students, all of which are scholarship beneficiaries. The work of Deepam School resonated with IDRF’s own mission, “by empowering marginalized people with skills, services and infrastructure grounded in sustainable development.” Deepam’s programs specifically support mentally and physically disabled youth and their families with life skills and health needs which is typically an overlooked population in the areas around Auroville.
AVI USA is grateful and inspired by our blossoming partnership with IDRF, and we are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration for many years to come!