seed plan

SEED Plan
Site Visit
December 19 – 27, 2007

by Chuck & Ann Anderson
Portland, OR., USA

SEED Plan
Director: Ted Adams
SEED Centre, 375 E. St., Karumpalai, Madurai – 20, India

During our stay of approximately one week in Madurai, we had the pleasure of being in the SEED Plan Centers several times. In each visit, at various times of the day, we met and interacted with a number of school-age children and college-age volunteers who shared their planned & unplanned activities with us. They energetically shared their dancing, singing, poetry, art, crafts and drama. They also generously shared meals with us and most importantly their dreams. Their eyes light up when talking about dreams for their future!

Dr. Ted Adams has been mentor and leader and continues to be the driving force, providing inspiration and direction. The before and after-school tutoring programs for village children in Karumpalai, Sambakkudi, & Thathaneri are quite impressive! The center’s keep data on student success with relationship to improved public test scores and increased numbers of high school, college & graduate students. What is also quite impressive is that older students, high school, and college students/graduates, return (often daily) to tutor the younger children, even though they may be quite busy with their own studies. We observed the students supporting each other at every level across gender and age differences.

The centers continue to provide opportunities and encouragement for young women to obtain an education and/or training which in turn delays early marriage. The process becomes self-nurturing with students supporting each other and winning the support of families and the community. Students we met were going into teaching, social service, computer technology, or business. The emotional support and physical presence provided by the older students to the younger students was remarkable and something that we typically do not see in the US. For example, the teenage or young adults are just as respectful and interested in the grade school children’s performances as a parent might be. We witnessed a warm, supportive environment that you would expect in only the best of families. These are centers of learning, sharing, and caring.

In addition, the changes since our last visit appear to be quite remarkable! Four years ago, there was one water pump in the street in front of the SEED center in Karumpalai, very little commerce, and a great deal of evident poverty. There were no signs of entrepreneurship or business. Now there are three water pumps, food, & market stalls selling prepared or packaged snacks/drinks, and women sitting on the side, selling homemade food items. The area, now with a paved street, has the appearance of a rising economy and growing energy! It seems likely that the SEED Plan presence has been a significant contributing factor to the overall change.

In addition, four years ago, our SEED partners, two young women, were painfully shy, hesitant to speak English, and slow to show any confidence or leadership. Today, one young woman has graduated from Lady Doak College with plans to go on for a counseling certificate. The other will graduate from Lady Doak College in April and plans to teach art in the public school system. She also put on a full day art show with individual students demonstrating their creative projects. It was so much fun to watch her leadership, patience, and teaching skills while supervising a number of children in over 10 different art projects. Both of these young women and many others converse well in English, walk with confidence and poise, and talk of plans for additional education or promising jobs. Their eyes glow with excitement. They are part of a confident group of volunteers that will take the SEED Plan to the future!

We spent the greater part of time in Karumpalai village, but all three centers are filled with smiling, eager, and energetic faces of SEED Plan students and volunteers who are now role models and future leaders of Madurai. During our visit to several homes we saw evidence of significant family and community pride. Parents spoke with joy when talking of their children. What a pleasure it was meeting these bright, generous, creative, polite, kind, and beautiful people! To experience their spirit, one really needs to be in their presence! I encourage all to visit. Short of a visit; please enjoy the CD of photos.

In summary, by furthering their education and becoming ‘first generation’ students – first in their families going to college, they are significantly changing their community. After this visit, the critical role that education plays in transforming individual lives and whole communities could not be clearer. SEED Plan has changed lives and, thereby, nurtured a whole community’s hope for a future with possibilities.