06sangamagmreport

FRIENDS OF SANGAM FOUNDATION

ANNUAL REPORT

For the FOSF it has been a relatively quiet year, though not for Sangam School, as the year was marked by the illness and death, in December, of Kamla Sawhney, the school’s founder and principal.

Kamlaji was a brilliant, published mathematics educationist whose vision was to provide quality education for disadvantaged children who risked greater marginalisation in a period of rapid social change. She moved from teaching in London, and subsequently in elite schools in India, and set up Sangam School in Indri village. It opened in 1987.

Earlier in the year, as a result of Kamla’s declining health, Sangam Foundation (in Delhi) appointed one of the serving teachers, Deepak Jindal, as head. In making this appointment Sri Gauri Nandan Singhal (General Secretary) and Dr K.P.Khurana (General Treasurer) demonstrated that Sangam Foundation was capable of decisive action.

Sangam Foundation continued to be unable to raise funds, which meant that almost all their income was what we sent. They struggled each month to find money to pay their staff. It is likely that money which we sent for that purpose was also used for general purposes, including the running costs of the bus. Within Sangam Foundation a view has been expressed that the bus is an extravagance, but Kamla always insisted that it was essential. We now very gratefully acknowledge the commitment of one donor, Ruth Sherred, to funding its running costs.

Last year’s AGM gave the committee permission to advertise for more donors, but while we were uncertain about the future of Sangam Foundation and the school we did not feel confident to seek more contributors.

In November Stephen Petter, our Administrator, was able to visit Delhi and Sohna. He held a meeting with Sangam Foundation and then with Kamla. As a result our confidence in the new setup increased. However we are troubled by Sangam Foundation not having produced accounts for their year ending 31 March 2005.

During the year we very gratefully received an anonymous donation of £1000, with directions that it should be used for a tangible improvement, and not for general expenses. We asked Deepak Jindal for his wish list and on that basis we decided that the gift should be used for two projects – improvements to the school’s fresh water supply and refurbishment of the school buildings.

Our AGM in March was well attended and was addressed by Mrs Kusumika Chatterjee who told us about her recent visit to the school. She emphasised the enthusiasm of staff and pupils for the teaching methods that she demonstrated, and much of what she said appears in the latest FOSF Newsletter.

During the year David Fish took over as Treasurer. We are most grateful to him, and to Stephen Petter for his continuing dedicated input, and to William Waddilove who produces a quality Newsletter virtually single-handed.

Eleanor Nesbitt

8 March 2006