Amu's Master Program (Currently fundraising)
Amu comes from a very impoverished environment and has been dependent on the kindness of others to complete her studies.
Amu was awarded a scholarship to Rajagiri College of Social Science in Kerala, India. Because she graduated 4th in the State she is only responsible for the room and board during the 2 year program. The cost is Rs 6500 ($82.00) per month.
India is extremely competitive and it's very important to have a post-graduate degree to obtain a job in Kerala. Amu is the eldest child and is responsible to look after her parents. Amu comes from a very impoverished environment and has been dependent on the kindness of others to complete her studies.
Here are some words from Amu:
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Haripriya Venugopal…(quite a mouthful, I know). My family and friends affectionately call me Amu instead. I am 21 years old, live in the mountainous area of Kerala, India, and I have a big dream – to pursue a Master’s degree in Geo-Informatics.
Unusually, my mother did not burden her only daughter with household duties, and instead encouraged me to concentrate entirely on my studies. So many girls are not so lucky. Eventually I came to the attention of a kind-hearted foreign sponsor who helped to support my education financially. In gratitude for the many sacrifices my parents have made, the high hopes my sponsor has had for me, and my own ambitions, I’ve devoted myself to my studies, and blocked out all other distractions, including the grinding poverty that my family have to deal with on a daily basis.
This has resulted in me consistently being the top of my class, and in the district. This year I have completed my BSc. in Geology and have maintained an 8.92 grade point average. I am therefore a Kerala state rank holder, and hold 4th position out of the many thousands of students who sat for their exams. Unfortunately Bachelor degrees are ‘a dime a dozen’ in this populous and economically depressed southern state. Unemployment is high, and there is fierce competition for jobs of any kind. A Bachelor degree does not count for much in the most literate state of India.
To stand a fighting chance to secure a good position in the future in my homeland, and to pull my parents out of the vicious cycle of poverty, I must aim higher – for this a Master’s degree is essential.
The alternative to my going for higher education and securing a good job, is marriage. It is what my father and other members of my extended family, are pressuring me to agree to. In their mind I have studied enough to make me most eligible for a suitable match that they will arrange for me. After all, they reason, if I can’t study further, what else is there for me to do except to make someone a good wife, and to have children? I’ve seen this happen to my classmates, one by one, until they capitulate under the immense pressure to do what is expected of them.
But it is not my dream, not what I have planned all these years for myself. I want to continue to excel in my field, and then get a well-paying and satisfying position. Marriage may take place in the distant future to a man of my choice, or it may not. Either way, my aim is to be financially independent, to care for my parents in their old age, to possibly be an inspiration to my own younger brothers, and to other young women here in these remote mountains. Please, please help me achieve my goals if you possibly can.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for considering my request, your help can make all the difference to me and to my family. Your contribution can change my world, and radically improve my future. I beg you to help me.
