The ‘Friends of Padhar Schools’ Story

In 2008, I travelled with a team from Germany, accompanying them on a medical mission. At the time I was working as a pastor in an international church in Hamburg, Germany and Dr. Thomas and Evelyn Kreusch were part of my congregation. They founded an organization called Friends of Padhar, Germany. Each year, a group of German doctors, dentists, nurses, and students travel to central India to partner with the staff of Padhar Hospital. In 2018, Friends of Padhar, Germany celebrated its 30 year anniversary of the partnership.

In 2008,I was invited to join the team, to work with the children of the German team and to help paint a mural at one of the village schools. Through conversations with the teachers and administrators, I learned about the needs of the 4 schools in the village. After the trip I began a modest scholarship program that raised $1000 to support 10 students at the Padhar Mission Higher Secondary School. Each year thereafter, we raised more and more and it became a dream to establish an American non-profit organization, to support the schools of the village. In 2015, those informal efforts became formalized and we formed our Board of Directors, developed our programs, gained our 501(c)3 tax exemption and we became Friends of Padhar Schools. 

• In 2016, we sent $3,300 to one school in Padhar

• In 2017, we sent $11,800.00 to 3 schools in Padhar and 1 in Panchsheel

• In 2018, we sent $18,250.00 to 4 schools in Padhar with 2 additional schools in the surrounding villages, 1 school in Panchsheel and 1 school in Paratwada.

• In 2019, we sent $28, 430 to our eight schools.

• In 2020, we sent $26,000 to our eight schools, with a focus on supporting teachers’ salaries, due to the affects of the lockdown.

• In 2021, we sent $36,445.00 to our schools, focusing on rebuilding and restarting in-person classes.

• Our goal for the 2022-2023 school year is $33825.00 from the General Fund and an additional $5046.00 to support three nursing students from the Jaime K. Kim Memorial Fund.

We are currently supporting eight schools including:

• Padhar Mission Primary School, Padhar, Madhya Pradesh

• Padhar Mission Higher Secondary School, Padhar, Madhya Pradesh

• Happy Valley English School, Padhar, Madhya Pradesh

• School and Rehabilitation Centre for the Blind, Padhar, Madhya Pradesh

• St. Mark School, Sarni, Madhya Pradesh

• Ebenezer Hindi and English School, Shahpur, Madhya Pradesh

• Panchsheel Ashram School, Bahiram, Maharashtra

• Felix Convent School, Paratwada, Maharashtra

It’s been an amazing journey thus far. Our partners in Padhar are invaluable to accomplish the work we are doing, in identifying the needs of the schools and in distributing funding. Our donors fuel the whole process: even the smallest donations provide invaluable resources to our students. And the support from friends and family keeps us going in challenging times.

With gratitude,

Krista S. Givens, Executive Director