We are truly thrilled that 5 of our scholars have achieved the milestone that they have been working hard for many years - they have secured jobs!. Two just started working (L&T, Infosys) and three have been placed (Tech Mahindra, Nokia Siemens, Qwest) and are anxious to join the workforce as soon as they graduate in a few months. Congratulations to these scholars for achieving financial self-reliance through sheer hard work and talent. We, at Pragati, are truly gratified to see two little boys and three girls with potential that we met many years ago, transform into productive, earning members of society!. We hope that they will now join the ranks of givers and perpetuate the support that they received. Congratulations once again to the five scholars. We are proud of them!.

If there's one thing that is as sure as the sun and the moon in the annals of Pragati, it is the annual fun-filled & educational field trip to IIM Bangalore that happens early in the year. Generous volunteers of IIM-B Vikasana organized bus transportation, picking up Pragati scholars and volunteers from all over Bangalore. The beautiful IIM campus is reason enough to be excited about the trip. But there's more!. Vikasana volunteers made the day truly meaningful by talking to the Pragati scholars about Management studies and about career options for Management students. They organized a variety of games. They topped off the day with a sumptuous lunch. No wonder the buses are always full!.

Vishal, the ever-present Pragati photographer, captured the spirit of the day in his pictures. You can find them in the Media Center (http://pragati-edu.org/media) and the Picture Gallery (http://pragati-edu.org/gallery).

On the cool morning of 15 November, about 150 smiling faces descended onto cubbon park to celebrate the Pragati Annual day 2009. The sky was grey and threatening to pour rain on our outdoor fun, but good luck prevailed and the entire event passed off without the need to run for cover.

The scholars played games for about 2 hours, followed by a catered lunch.

We were delighted to have some guests join our celebrations - Mr Alexius Collette (head of Philips Innovation Campus), Dr Sudha Kidao (Chair, FFE India Management Committee), and Mrs Malhotra (CARE).

One of the highlights of the day was the giving away of 3 laptops to the FFE scholars among us. These laptops were generously donated by Dell.

Vishal captured the spirit of the day in his pictures which you can find in the Media Center (http://pragati-edu.org/media) and the Picture Gallery (http://pragati-edu.org/gallery).

Some students at Hoodi school had the opportunity to improve their english for 2 months over the summer. This was made possible by a Volunteer Opportunity Grant from Lawrence Unviersity awarded to JB Sivanich. The students were observed to be speaking english with much greater confidence than before.

Here is what JB says about the experience - "As a recipient of Summer Volunteer Opportunity Grant from my university, Lawrence University, in the United States, I was fortunate enough to receive funding to spend my summer working with the Pragati Foundation here in Bangalore. Every morning, I taught for two and a half hours at the Hoodi school teaching two classes of fifteen students before they began their normal school day. Over the course of the two months, we worked on basic grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening comprehension as well as reading aloud and pronunciation skills. The students were enthusiastic and fast learners as well as a lot of fun to work with. They made a lot of progress over our time together and were happy to share things with me about Indian culture as they were to learn about American culture. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience".

Thank you JB from all of us at Pragati. We wish you the best!.

HPCL has offered to provide each of the Pragati scholars an educational kit consisting of a school bag, raincoat, note books, pens, pencils lunch box, water bottle etc. Thank you HPCL!!

IIM-B Vikasana continues its legacy of financial and other support for the Pragati Scholars. They hosted a field trip on 18 Jan, which included transportation, inspirational talks, games and lunch on the IIM campus. The Pragati students had a truly fun and educational experience. Thanks to IIM-B students for their generosity!