Note from the Managing Trustee
The Pudumai Penn Foundation continues to be inspired by the great poet Shri Bharathiyar and his vision for women’s freedom, equality and education. We believe that a woman can attain self-actualisation only through fine knowledge and an unfailing mental strength. Therefore, we are committed to supporting the cause of women education that enable them to be leaders who can make a significant difference in their world.
Holistic learning is our mantra. We provide our scholars with a well-blended learning platform covering technology, language/communication skills, behavioral and soft skills and other need-based learning program.
Our Alumni network is expanding with young women reaching great heights as Lawyers, IT professionals, Chartered Accountants, Sports women, Bankers, etc. We are so proud of our scholars, and we hope to create a strong community of young leaders who will in turn create their own winning team.
பெண்மை வாழ்கென்று கூத்திடு வோமடா!
பெண்மை வெல்கென்று கூத்திடு வோமடா!
Let’s us celebrate women’s life
Let’s us celebrate women winning
Volunteers contributions by way of conducting the skills development workshops helped to contain the cost and that tribe of experienced Facilitators and Professionals is growing. The following volunteers, whose contribution was exceptional during the year were recognized during our Annual event.
- Annadurai V – Annadurai is a very passionate teacher who would spend most of his weekends teaching our Commerce and Accountancy students their core subjects. This helped them do well in college as well as prepare more effectively for competitive exams. Hundred percentage attendance for his programs speaks about the value it adds to help the scholars in their academics.
- Deepti Srivatsan – We ran our first crowd -funding campaign in early 2019 successfully and were able to raise close to the targeted amount. Deepti took complete ownership for the campaign and helped us raise funds which are critical for us to help empower our scholars.
- Rajini Sriram – Rajini is a leading HR & Training professional who not only conducts regular workshop for Pudumai Penn but has also been driving the annual event related workshop for parents and the scholars flawlessly.
Some of our scholars also volunteer for Foundation related work and we appreciate their contribution and commitment to “Give Back”. One such scholar who has gone the extra mile of helping the foundation is Aparnasri, who is addition to her regular college work and a part time job to support her family, came in over weekends to help us with coordinating for interviews, filing and other administrative work.
The Foundation’s key objective is to provide higher education to girls from under privileged sections of the society to enable them to gain confidence, learn life skills and achieve financial empowerment while aiming to reach the top in their chosen area. They not only need to excel in their studies but enrich themselves with key skills which is provided by capable volunteers in the form of English language communication, digital skills and life skills workshops.
During our Annual event in August 2019 we awarded those who has achieved very high attendance as well as excellent scores in academics. The 3 scholars who received the awards for the Year were Karpagambal P L, Priyanka K and Ruvanthika P A.
The need for our scholars to meet role models from whom they can draw inspiration is very important so that they can learn that with the right attitude and effort anything is possible. We had invited Mrs. G. Sri devi, a Grade 1 Woman Police Constable with the Tamil Nadu Police force to be a Special guest in our Annual Event.
Sri devi is part of the millennial generation of Indian women proud of their womanhood, professionally growing and will be pride to the nation. In other words she is a Pudumaipenn of Tamil nadu and India. She was brought up to be independent and fearless and also learnt Silambam , traditional martial art of Tamil nadu. Apart from doing well professionally she is also giving back to society by conducting free Silambam classes over the weekend to anyone who wants to learn. She is a true role model for our scholars, independent, fearless and giving back to society.
Over the years we have realised the importance of building a strong corpus to provide stable predictable income to the Foundation and also widen its reach within Chennai. With this in mind, this year we are applying for Foreign currency permission to widen our donor base. As we have completed 5 years of service, we are also eligible for CSR funds and we are in the process of applying for such funds. We hope to build a strong Corpus to continue to support 30-40 girls every year. Widening our donor base with help us to increase our services and contribute more to strengthen women empowerment.
In 2019-20 another 35 students will join us to start their financial empowerment path. The Foundation sincerely hopes that we can continue to depend on all of you for your support to ensure its continuity and growth.
Scholars unite their voices in the Pudumaipenn Invocation Song
Listen to what our scholars have to say.
“After completing school I didn’t have any financial support for further studies but Pudumai Penn is funding my degree and helping me with English and computer skills…”
– Aruna K, a Pudumai Penn scholar. Kamala is working towards a career in commerce.
“Before coming to Pudumai Penn classes, I was embarrassed to talk in English in front of others but after this class I can speak in English and work on a computer. I feel so good…”
– Anandhi M, a Pudumai Penn scholar.
“My teachers supported me to stay in school when my family could not afford it. Now Pudumai Penn is helping me by funding my degree. But they are helping me beyond that…before coming here I used to study by rote. Now, I understand what I am learning.”
– Vijayalakshmi S, a Pudumai Penn scholar pursuing a commerce degree while working part-time.
“After 12th I didn’t have money for higher studies and thanks to the scholarship I am able to pursue a degree…”
– Theresa S, a Pudumai Penn scholar pursuing a computer science degree. She dreams of the day she can in turn help poor students who don’t have money for their studies.
“I studied in a corporation school where we had no idea how to survive in a corporate world. This is exactly what we are doing here. We have mentors and a computer centre. This fund is very useful thing for us as we are just normal people…”
– Sridevi G S, a Pudumai Penn scholar studying electronics and communications engineering whose school nominated her for the scholarship. She thinks Pudumai Penn sessions are helping her develop new skills.
“I want to be a state and national level pole vaulter. My coach and Pudumai Penn are enabling me develop both sports and education, my knowledge of English and other studies…”
– Preethika A, a Pudumai Penn sports scholar and rising star in the Tamil Nadu athletics firmament. She is determined to achieve more in her life through sports.