Lepcha Cottage - this is where Sikkim’s most charitable soul lives. A former civil servant, retired teacher and social activist, Ms. Keepu Tsering Lepcha has devoted her life to the upliftment of her Lepcha community, a tribe indigenous to the Himalayan region of Sikkim. In 1989, Keepu embarked on a parallel role as a mentor for children of her community, by taking in 5 Lepcha orphan children to live with her in her six-roomed home, Lepcha Cottage. Having grown from strength to strength, today her humble cottage has 80 children. ‘’I have personally known Ms. Keepu since the last 48 years. She has sacrificed her life for providing home and education to the ethnic tribal orphaned children of the Lepcha community. She has set up a foundation which runs a school providing education from Class I to XII for orphaned and underprivileged children from Sikkim. She has been a motherly figure to me and was a close friend of my late parents. Thanks to the tireless efforts of this 76-year-old lady who has made Lepcha cottage a home for the orphaned children aged 3 to 10.”- Meera She is a member of the Peace Women Across Globe organisation which was shortlisted for the Noble Peace Prize in 2005 and a recipient of the 2012 Real Heroes Award of the Reliance Foundation and the 2013 Senior Citizen Award of the CNN-IBN. The Government of India also awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2009 for her contributions to society.
Read MoreFor the tribal village of Thanikandi, situated 30kms outside of Coimbatore, even the barest of amenities is considered a luxury, including education. When Isha Foundation adopted the village, its top priority was establishing a school for basic education. Additionally, providing the children with proper clothing, footwear and food earned the confidence of the children’s parents. It also strives towards creating employment opportunities for the adults so that their basic needs are met and their children are freed to focus on education. Thus, informally, Isha Vidhya was born, with the broad objective of bringing quality education to the often neglected rural areas. The first Isha Vidhya School opened on June 19, 2006 in Coimbatore, enrolling 263 students from 26 nearby villages. The schools presently cater to more than 2,800 students from nearby villages, with approximately 60% of students supported by full scholarships.
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