India - Andrews's Centres

The Andrew James Walsh Tuition Centres - Madurai, Tamil Nadu

The Andrew James Walsh Tuition Centres provide educational support and tuition to nearly 120 children in southern India. Directly as a result of our help, we provide teachers, classrooms, books, learning materials and clean drinking water for the children.

The tuition centres have grown from a series of small family donations. After Andrew died, his aunty and godmother Stella McHugh sent a donation in his memory to a priest she knew of in Tamil Nadu. This priest, Monsignor Selvaraj, bought some learning materials for the children in his parish in the city of Madurai. Our family wanted to further this in Andrew's name. Mgr Selvaraj was subsequently able to recruit local community tutors and pay for two small classrooms. Mgr Selvaraj soon established the first 'Andrew James Walsh Tuition Centre'. The tuition centre became an integral part of the local community, and with the continued support of family and close friends, it started to flourish.

On the fifth anniversary of Andrew's death in September 2005, a second tuition centre was opened in Mgr Selvaraj's new parish of Melur (some 30 miles outside Madurai). This too has been a resounding success. Both centres are truly valued help by the children's families.

We are now in a position to pay for four teachers and a supervisor for the tuition centres. Our support has also enabled Mgr Selvaraj to improve the facilities at the centres. He has bought the children uniforms and books and has invested in a generator to provide electricity for the centre in Melur.

The Trust is thrilled to be able to help the children and their families, and it is a great privilege to do so in Andrew's name.