With a dual Master’s Degree in Chemistry and Biology, my father then continued towards receiving a PhD in Botany in London during the fifties and sixties.  Later on, when my father decided to settle during the early days of undeveloped Vallabh Vidhyanagar, many thought he was crazy and was making a major mistake in his life.  But, he was determined and decided to commit to our society.  Back in his days, salaries were not given for six months due to tight funding.  Many people came and left, but only a few survived and settled.  With determination and dedication, only a handful of teachers, including my father, stayed together and decided to continue their services with devotion, love, and enthusiasm.  They enjoyed every moment of their life while growing their families there.  They gave us the best gift they could give us as a parent -a solid foundation of unique moral and cultural values, the best education you can ever get in those days, and a lesson on how to survive in tough conditions.  Therefore, this project is dedicated to all such visionaries who came, settled in Vallabh Vidhyanagar in early days and dedicated their lives to build a solid foundation.  I am lucky enough, proud and honored, to be born, raised and educated from Vidhyanagar.  After working in ISRO for a while, I came to USA and spent 25 years cultivating the same fundamental of education to the next level, gaining valuable experience.  In this process, I always stayed in touch with my roots and Vidhyanagar.

Frequently,  I met my old friends and talked about our school days at casual gatherings.  Through our conservations, We remembered our good old days and talked about past memories.  However, when we visited the schools, we were shocked at the condition in which they were in presently.  To this sight, everyone wanted to do something in this area to give back to the communities with our moral obligations.

Because my friends and I had received so much from the community, we all wanted to give something back as a token of appreciation. However, we did not know what do or how to start.

So, it all started with some basic questions which bothered us all the time.

   - Recently, self- financed colleges have shown great improvement in infrastructure and academic staff.  This model is not possible
     in our primary and secondary schools.  Then what should work for those schools?
   - How can we bring such basic knowledge of computers and other technologies to younger generations in a simpler form?
   - How can we encourage teachers and school management to use a PC in daily school management tasks?
   - What are the limitations of big NGOs and other not for profit or non profit organizations, who are currently working with them but
     are not 100% successful?
   - How can we encourage our college students (India and abroad) to participate in such volunteer work, which brings both
     sides of the world closer to help each other?

My parents’ dedication for education always amazed me and I always wished I could do something in the same education area, where I can shape our younger generations.  Our parents did their part, and now it is our turn.

Couple of Years ago, we came up with a dream project which was so huge, that it required significant amounts of funding, a large group of dedicated volunteers, and a system to integrate all of these elements.  In fact, it looked impossible at first because giving a PC to schools wasn’t enough.  It must also have all of following elements, synched together.

   - PCs and Internet in schools regardless of their location
   - Create regular training programs for students, teachers, and clerks.
   - Create good training material and books in Gujarati.
   - Teachers and clerks need some tools to use a PC on a regular basis. Suggested to come up with Easy –to- Use software to
     integrate all activities of the school and train them how to use it.
   - Dedicate one person to each school for any difficulties or questions.
   - Monthly follow-ups with each school in-charge from our Vadodara office.
   - Create a Mentor program to encourage bright students and bring them close to their Alumni.
   - Various awards/incentives for schools, teachers, and students.
   - Regular information about various other NGOs available.

I discussed this program with my family and very few close friends for over three years and all of them agreed to support this wholeheartedly.

Finally, a Core team in India was created in the fall of 2007.  But first of all, we all wanted to learn what was going on before putting anything into action.  So, they visited more than 20 schools throughout rural Gujarat and spent hundreds of hours talking to teachers, students, management, trust members, and Government officials.  They even listed all of the issues, concerns, challenges, and methods, identifying key team members who were willing to dedicate their time for this work.  They compiled the list of potential difficulties, understood the Gujarat Government’s continuous effort in this area, and found a way for everyone to do their part.

Our goal was finally found.  Teams were created, work areas were assigned, and we began the foundational work in 2008 from my hometown in Vidhyanagar, where my parents live.  I spent over ten months in India during the year 2008 and the early part of 2009 so we could run pilot programs in 6 schools for over two years.  We learned a lot and have modified the softwares for all practical purposes.  Another team member worked with several qualified book writers and publishers to come up with series of books in gujarati.

Finally, this program has shaped up into reality.  With God's grace, blessings from my parents, encouragement from Sunita and Shiragi, and continuous hard work from volunteers, I am honored to announce the successful launch of the very unique and 'one of a kind' program - MySchoolInIndia, which is already working very well.  This website also reflects on very few selected success stories that spark the success of it.

We are currently implementing this program on an average of 50 primary and secondary schools of Gujarat every month.  Our goal for 2012 is to reach between 750 and 1,000 schools.  This can be achieved if we can do 80 schools per month.  Organization wise, we are prepared for that.  With support from all of you with only 100 USD/per school, we will able to achieve this goal.

This is truly a massive task and has just begun.  The foundation has been set but many more stories yet to build upon this foundation.

We need lots of help, support, and blessing from all our friends and well-wishers.  We need your participation by giving back your efficiencies for a noble cause.  Many tasks can be done remotely, and it can even be done by sparing just a few hours every month.

Looking forward to hear from you your feedback, suggestions, and comments.

- Santosh Patel.

• Email           : santosh@myschoolinindia.org
• Mobile.(USA): +1 (636)734-3600