Sun Devils’ letters spread hope to students in India

One of the most valuable gifts you can give another person is hope and care. 

Aarushi Bharti, a second-year student majoring in technological entrepreneurship and management, has made this her mission. At ASU, Bharti is involved with the Women's Business Leaders Association and Women in Science and Engineering at the Poly campus. Bharti also works as an intern with Global Pearls, a nonprofit organization aimed at aiding people in countries around the world and spreading hope and humanity. 

With the greater good always in mind, Global Pearls lets local partners take the lead in determining the greatest needs of the community and designing appropriate projects for their team to execute and lead. Bharti has been focusing on the group’s projects in India and Peru. Global Pearls recently started an after-school program for Kattunayakan tribal children, and the organization wanted to do something that would help the kids feel valued and important. 

Global Pearls sent letters to the Kattunayakan children in South India to encourage them to keep going.

Global Pearls sent letters to the Kattunayakan children in South India in order to encourage them to keep going, to keep trying, to never give up. Kattunayakar is a tribe in South India originally made up of honey gatherers, but they have been displaced from their land. Bharti said that overall, the tribe has low literacy rates. 

“The children of the tribe feel inferior to the other children around them. They tend to drop out of school at an early age because they don’t feel encouraged and don’t have many resources,” she said. “Through these letters, we hope to increase the self-esteem of the children and make them feel loved.”

Global Pearls has also opened after-school centers to help not only the Kattunayakan children but also the children of the agricultural villages. Currently, there are 26 centers that serve the 50 agricultural villages and two additional centers that serve more than 100 Kattunayakan children. 

 Based on the feedback Global Pearls received, the kids feel very encouraged. 

“These letters are something that they cherish and will probably keep for many years. It will serve as a reminder for them that they are loved and not to give up,” Bharti said.

 She shared some of the messages Global Pearls received back from the children:

 “You encourage me by saying that even I can achieve something by overcoming inferiority complex and by working hard.” 

— 8th grader

“Hope in life brings success and joy. These words encourage us very much.”

— 11th grader

“You and your friends are kind enough to tell us that we need to swim against the tides of negative forces and values in the stream of life.” 

— 6th grader

“Every human being will have both joyful and sorrowful moments in life. Both form part and parcel of life. We should not lose stability on joyful moments and strength in sorrowful moments.” 

— 9th grader

Bharti is thankful to those who took part in this, including fellow Sun Devils, saying this project has had an incredibly positive impact on the children. In particular, Bharti would like to thank Heather King for giving her the opportunity to make this a part of Changemaker Central @ ASU Make a Difference Week.

 Moving forward, Global Pearls would like to continue making a positive impact on the children by sending quarterly letters.

 “The goal is to increase the self-esteem of the children and to make them feel loved. The children treasure these letters and will probably keep them for many years. The letters were very thoughtful and had messages encouraging the children to work hard and to not get discouraged by mistakes, but instead to learn from them.”