Ekal is a one teacher school project primarily in the remote tribal villages where often there are not even the basic necessities of life such as roads, hospitals, schools, clean water etc. A school consists of 25 to 40 children and there are no formal school buildings. Classes are held under a tree, in a verandah, or wherever else is available. A blackboard, teacher and students form the class room. To recognize the donors, a name plate is attached to the blackboard of the school showing the name of the donor.

Ekal helps run over 90,000 schools that educate well over 2.6 million rural and tribal children in India. Ekal Vidyalaya is a people's movement with a vision to facilitate the process of empowering rural and tribal communities based on the concept of social, economic and gender equality.

A contribution of CAD $500 helps run one Ekal school for an entire year, educates 30 children and has a positive impact on 30 rural families. The Ekal movement aims to eradicate illiteracy from tribal areas of India and Nepal through rural development based on the criteria of equality, diversity and inclusion across all sections of society whether Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist or any other community. Ekal's mission is the holistic empowerment of villages through basic education, digital literacy, skill development, health awareness, modern and sustainable agricultural practices and rural entrepreneurship. Ekal is now active in over 10 countries including United States of America, New Zealand, UK and Australia.

Ekal Foundation in numbers (present day):-

92,175 schools in rural and tribal areas

2,639,821 total students

1,316,096 boys are currently enrolled

1,323,725 girls are currently enrolled

So whether it is 'Giving Tuesday' or an employee giving / workplace giving campaign, or whether using Benevity, Go Fund Me, Charitable Impact as a site to donate - keep Ekal top of mind for its work at the grassroots level with indigenous and rural communities in Bharat. Ekal is a CRA registered charity or nonprofit organization in Canada, and we welcome donors (south asian diaspora or otherwise) as well as volunteers to come join us in this noble cause. We have regional chapters located in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, London, Windsor, Ottawa etc.

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Canada was registered as an Ontario Corporation in 2006 and attained Canadian charitable status in 2007. Charity Registration Number (Canada): 853421162RR0001.