A recent survey we conducted in Pune was very revealing. We estimate that almost 16,000 children of construction laborers remain out of school. These children, who otherwise must sacrifice their childhood begging at traffic lights or doing odd jobs to supplement their families' meager incomes, need to be enrolled in our programs. To that end we need more teachers to run our classes. As always we train our teachers so that they can effectively follow the methodologies that we have devised for non-formal education.

Our ability to expand our programs to reach more children is critically dependent on our ability to raise adequate funds, most importantly so that we may compensate our teachers appropriately. Teachers are generally woefully underpaid. Today when a domestic help easily makes Rs.1500 for three hours of work, don't you think our teachers should get the same -- if not more? Please help us take care of our teachers! They work not only as teachers, but many a time they are also friends, confidantes and in many cases the guardians of their students. We turn to you to make this possible. And with just $1/day or a yearly pledge of $365 (Rs. 16,000) you can.

Please sponsor any one of these Doorstep School teachers for a year and make a difference in the life of an individual who is trying to turn around the lives of several underprivileged children! Your commitment to contribute to a teacher's salary will go a long way in making sure that Doorstep School continues to run and expand its programs.