Sunil Fotedar
November 12, 2020

The refugee camps in Jammu and Kashmir housed thousands of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) soon after getting displaced from their homes as a direct result of the Islamic militancy in the valley in early 1990s. This tragedy resulted in children being denied the opportunities that we take for granted. Since 1997, the Kashmiri Overseas Association, USA (KOA) has implemented the Sponsor-A-Child Program (SAC), sometimes referred to as Support-A-Child, to provide educational opportunities to the children directly affected by the tragedy. Program Details are provided at the following location:

http://koausa.org/site/programs/sponsor-a-child-sac/

History

During 1995 KOA Annual Camp at Moodus, Connecticut, Sh. (late) Piaralal Qusba (Connecticut) circulated a list of KP children living in refugee camps at Jammu who were under 18 years and needed financial support. He requested camp attendees to sponsor one or more children and send money to the selected children directly.  KOA suggested to have this effort coordinated by a person so that all the children were financially supported.

Piaralal ji provided a list of needy kids to me in 1996 to scan their pictures for the KOA website that I have placed at the following web location:

http://koausa.org/Sponsor/sponsor_pictures.html

It was in 1996 that Mr. Pran Kaul (California) on an individual basis volunteered to coordinate this effort and was able to raise money to support 36 children from the list. At the time KOA also had a program for a few years of providing milk to children in the Jammu refugee camps through Panun Kashmir Foundation.  In 1996, milk support program discontinued after the PK split. KOA wanted to redirect milk program and in 1997, during Sh.  Lalit Wanchoo’s (Maryland) tenure as KOA President, KOA contacted Pran ji with the suggestion of running this program as a KOA program so that we could sponsor as many as children possible. Pran ji agreed and KOA established the Sponsor A Child (SAC) program with the guidelines for the beneficiaries and sponsors. KOA President requested all the Board members to seek sponsorship of a minimum of 10 children from each zone and thus KOA was successful in sponsoring close to 200 children in 1998, from Kindergarten to 12th grade. In 1999, KOA created Save A Smile program that included Sponsor a Child and Educational Assistance Program (EAP) under this program.

Pran ji served as the program director of the SAC program until 2017 for more than two decades – a very caring and dedicated volunteer for the program. Swapna Raina (Maryland) and Gopal Kaul (North Carolina) took over as program directors in 2017 during Dr. Shakun Munshi Malik’s tenure (Maryland) as KOA president. Praveen Raina (Illinois) and I (Texas) became program directors of this program in 2018.



(L to R: Dr. Shakun Munshi Malik, Swapna Raina, Gopal Kaul, Praveen Raina)

The program directors maintain a list of children in need of support, with the help of a local liaison, which is furnished to prospective sponsors on request. Pran ji used Sh. B.L. Bhat’s (Jammu) services as liaison. KOA is now using the services of Sharika Foundation Charitable Trust (SFCT) in Jammu.

Process and Payment Details

Community members and friends of the community are approached to take part in this program by becoming sponsors. Some community members have set up foundations in the name of their loved ones and are encouraged to sponsor through their foundations. There are some employers who match funds for such non-profit, charitable causes. Sponsors are requested to explore such a possibility with their employers. Payments are typically made by sponsors once every year. Sponsors can mail their checks to the KOA treasurer’s address, or pay online through PayPal, by visiting KOA website on a personal computer or a smart device, such as a tablet or a smartphone. The cost of sponsoring a child was originally pegged down at about $16 per month, and now it is around $275 per year. These contributions to the children are tax deductible, if routed through KOA. A check for $250 (out of $275) is distributed to the selected children through SFCT. All the KOA personnel managing and coordinating these programs are volunteers, and the difference of $25 from each donation is kept for maintenance of the program, such as paying SFCT for their services, and updates to the KOA Program Portal. Sponsors select the child they want to support from the list(s) furnished to them by the program coordinator on request.

With a view to fostering rapport between the sponsors and the children supported by them, the children are encouraged to write to their sponsors and vice versa. It not only helps the child feel a sense of belonging, but it also provides a unique opportunity to a sponsor to be a mentor to a hapless child who is otherwise adrift in a sea of misery, and without any sense of purpose or direction. Sponsors are encouraged to evince interest in a child’s education by keeping track of his or her progress at school by asking for progress reports or marks cards and other similar documents issued by a school periodically. For this, and to add transparency to the program, sponsors are given access to the beneficiary’s information through a Programs Portal developed by KOA.

Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria

Every candidate is required to provide contact information and demonstrate the need for financial need with supporting documentation, and each candidate’s information is entered in KOA database through a portal. The evaluation criteria are:

  • One or both parents deceased
  • Combined household income (includes all sources of income/scholarships received)
  • Currently enrolled in School/College
  • Maintaining passing grades
  • Not a relative of any KOA officer or Sponsor

Preference is given to past beneficiaries with supporting documentation.

Supporting Documents

The supporting documentation we require at the time of enrollment is:

  • Recent color picture
  • Proof of admission in School
  • Migrant Certificate
  • Income Certificate(s)
  • Marks Certificate(s)
  • ID Proof and address proof of the student
  • Indemnity bond

KOA Programs Portal

Under Shakun ji Malik’s tenure as KOA president, KOA launched a Programs Portal in 2018 to provide transparency of the program to the sponsors of the program, based on the feedback received from them. Sponsors are provided credentials to log into KOA SAC portal to access each beneficiary’s information that they support. Once they log in, they will see a list of beneficiaries on their dashboard. With the click of a button, they will be able to view profile of each beneficiary that they support. They will have access to contact information of each beneficiary, such as phone number and e-mail id, and be able to download such documents as marks sheet in order to keep track of the beneficiary’s progress.


 

Number of Beneficiaries Sponsored since 2007

Since 2007:

  • Minimum beneficiaries sponsored = 130 (2013)
  • Maximum beneficiaries supported = 429 (2019), out of which:
    • Number of boys sponsored = 198, girls = 231
    • 10 to 11-year age group = 46 is maximum, followed by age groups 9 to 10-year age group = 44.
    • 10th graders = 48 is maximum, followed by 6th graders = 42.

Note: Due to insufficient records, the number of beneficiaries supported over the years are computed by dividing expenditure in a particular year by 250. This is the amount usually given to each beneficiary, a few of them have been paid more on a case by case basis. Those beneficiaries who got paid in rupees, generally less than 10 in a single year, are not used in this analysis.


 

Revenue vs. Expenditure

Since 2007:

  • Minimum revenue raised = $33,100 (2013), maximum revenue raised = $123,518 (2019) – second time in successive years revenue raised crossed $100K
  • Minimum spent = $32,410 (2013), maximum spent = $107,250 (2019) – first time ever to spend over $100K
  • Year 2019 has beaten all the previous records in revenue and expenditure.

Top-ranked SAC kids in 10th and 12th in 2019-20

 

Appeal

KOA appeals to all the community members and friends to rise to the occasion, as the need of providing financial help, counsel and guidance to the children is acute and real. Their parents are invariably either illiterate or lack the wherewithal to be of any help to their children. Our responsibility and commitment to these children is not just limited to mailing checks to them, but we have to play a much broader role in shaping their future, otherwise a whole generation will be lost for good. It is our duty to help a fellow KP in need; we owe this to ourselves and to our community. The time to make a difference is now, not tomorrow or a year from now. Needless to say, this is the best way to help our less fortunate brethren back home who have fallen through the cracks. KOA thanks all the sponsors who have supported the children over the past several years and take active interest in the welfare of the children.

We would like to utilize this opportunity to appeal to others, especially who have largely preferred to remain on the sidelines, to step on the plate and bring much-needed succor to a fellow KP in need and in a state of abject penury. As our community has always valued “Education” as a ticket to our freedom and guaranteed success, I humbly request India-based KP organizations to come forward and match in action and deeds to what KOA has done over the years for fund-raising efforts in own their backyard instead of looking to West. Charity begins at home. India has a larger population of well-to-do KPs, who are as much passionate about helping their own brethren in need as the US-based KPs. Those of us living in the West do not have dollar trees growing in our backyards. Instead of spending lavishly on weddings, hawans and bhawans, please spare a thought for those who need our financial support. KMECT is one such shining example for which donations are raised locally for medical emergencies, and if additional funds are required, KOA helps out. If it can be done for Medical emergencies, it can be done for meeting Educational needs as well. I hope that this comment is viewed in a positive light.

If you are not a sponsor yet, please become one today.


 

Online Links

Acknowledgments

The author is indebted to the following individuals:

  1. Lalit ji Wanchoo for providing proper historical background to this program,
  2. (late) Piaralal ji Qusba for educating the rest of us about the need to get sponsorship of the needy children initiated,
  3. Program directors for running this program, especially Sh. Pran ji Kaul for his selfless and dedicated service raising funds year after year to keep this program running for more than 2 decades
  4. Liaisons, such as Sh. BL Bhat and now SFCT to be collecting information and verification thereof for each and every beneficiary
  5. KOA officials, such as ex-presidents, their treasurers and respective board members for supporting the program,
  6. Last but not the least, Dr. Asha ji Qusba (CT) for providing Piaralal ji Qusba’s picture for this writeup.

About the Author


Sunil Fotedar, TX

Sunil Fotedar has been interacting with several India-based KP associations and community activists in Jammu, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata over the last two decades and more. He has created a variety of community websites for various organizations such as Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA) and Panun Kashmir (PK) – the first Kashmiri Pandit to create what has been referred to as Virtual Sharda Peeth – an online Repository of a Kashmiri Pandit’s culture, heritage, religious practices, language, music, history and political literature.

To recognize for his previous community efforts, Sunil was presented with the following awards:

  • KOA Plaque for Internet Activities (1997), first of its kind given to any volunteer,
  • Special Zaan Award by the Kashmiri Pandit Association, Mumbai
  • Featured as an Indomitable Personality in The Sharada Tarangini, Vol. 1, No. 3, March/April-June 2004 issue, the Official Newsletter of Kashmiri Sewak Samaj, Faridabad
  • Maa Sharika Samaan (2015) by Kashmiri Sewak Samaj, Faridabad
  • Advancement of Hindu Human Rights (June 24, 2019) by Hindu American Foundation (HAF)
  • All Time Award of an Outstanding KOA Volunteer (July, 2020) by KOA

 

Sunil’s association with KOA has been since 1990-1991 when the Kashmiri Pandits back in Kashmir were driven out of their homes due to turmoil. Sunil was Houston chapter president for KOA in 1991 and served twice as KOA National President in 2007-2008 and 2015-2016. As KOA webmaster in 1996-2001, he developed and maintained web servers for KOA, and contributed to the development of several community fora, and incorporated KPnet as KOA’s official communication platform to allow KOA members to communicate and discuss topics of mutual interest with each other. He is currently Program Director for KOA’s Sponsor a Child (SAC) program that supported about 372 KP children in 2018 and 429 KP children in 2019 living at several refugee camps in India, primarily Jammu area, for their K-12 education.

 

During Sunil’s first tenure as KOA president (2007-2008), KOA was bestowed with Sharda Samman by Panun Kashmir at the 3rd World Kashmiri Conference (delivered in 2009). During his second tenure as KOA president (2015-2016), Sunil created several Facebook and Linkedin groups for US-based community to cater to the needs of youth and entrepreneurs; published second edition of Poozai Posh – a prayer and hymn booklet, Festivals of Kashmiri Pandits written by Sh. Omanand Koul, KOA Calendars for each year (distributed Vijyeshwar jantri), KOA Directory comprising US-, Canada- and Europe-based membership information; organized art and talent competition for youth; and signed up exactly 100 life members (out of 265 total at the time). He was instrumental in creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the organization; and soon to be launched membership-based KOA website. He has helped the 2017 KOA administration with setting up Quickbooks to manage finances, and with defining the process for the entire lifecycle of KOA-sponsored education programs and developing requirements for an online application for the same.

Sunil holds a B.E. degree in Electrical Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Srinagar (India), an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rice University, Houston, and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics with emphasis on Probability and Statistics from University of Houston at Clear Lake. He was a recipient of two gold-medals in Srinagar for standing first in the 10th and 11th state board examinations. He has worked in several industries – in space industry working as contractor for NASA on Space Shuttle and Space Station programs, as well as an IT professional in Telecom, SSA, CMS, e-commerce and banking. He is currently working as a Reliability engineer for Oil and Gas industry in Houston. His full details are at http://sunilfotedar.com

Source: http://koausa.org/site/programs/sponsor-a-child-sac/

 

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Reminiscence