The Great Mongol Rally rules are that we raise £1000 for charity. But we overestimated your love and excitement for us and this adventure, and set ourselves a stretch goal of $50,000! Please help!

Here is the worthy cause:

Isha Vidhya

Schools in rural India. With majority of India’s rural population surviving on a income of less than $2/day, rural children end up accompanying their parents to work. Government schools provide very basic education in local languages graduating children insufficiently skilled to be gainfully employed.

Isha Vidhya provides a scalable approach to providing quality education within the limitations present in underdeveloped, rural communities. Isha Vidhya functions on a grass-roots level, relying on community involvement and the support of innumerable volunteers and donors. The schools are designed to build confident, English-speaking and computer-adept youth, opening the door for them to participate in, and benefit from, India’s economic growth.

With 7158 kids in 9 schools (and growing!) there are opportunities to donate for scholarships and subsidies, including tuition,books & uniform, noon meal, nutritional health supplement (in addition to noon meal), and transport on school bus.

Full Educational Support – $480

Scholarship – $240

Transport Subsidy – $130

Noon-Meal Subsidy – $72

(Above amounts are per student for 1year. Feel free to donate any amount you wish to – every dollar makes a difference)

For every $240 donated you would be matched with a rural kid. You would receive a Thank you Letter , Photo Graph and Annual grades for the kid. For people who travel to India , opportunity to meet the donor kid will be arranged.

(By clicking the link above, you’re donating directly to Isha Vidhya. Donations are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) in the US. We created our own “crowdfunding” page because we didn’t want to pay the 5-6% “fees” that all crowdfunding sites charge, even for charitable donations. So please excuse the clunkiness and the manual updates on the Isha Vidhya donation page. Rest assured, your money is going to Isha Vidhya directly and you will get your tax deduction email within 30 days, or you can hold us hostage. Thanks for understanding!)

(Donations are tax-exempt under section 80G in India)