Deenabandhu Children's Home
Deenabandhu offers a warm and caring home for boys and girls who lack parental care. The trust runs separate homes for boys and girls. Generally, children aged between 6 and 8 years are taken under the care of the home. Once admitted, every child receives extensive care and education until they finish their 10th standard, after which they choose their preferred course based on their interests and abilities. The trust continues to offer unwavering support to each child until they become self-sufficient.
In addition to academic education, the children are exposed to a broad range of extracurricular activities, such as classical music, dance, theatre, film-making, sculpting, and sports, fostering their overall development. Over the years, Deenabandhu has successfully facilitated the growth of more than 150 children under its care, with many of them having transitioned into economically stable adults.
Our alumni are a diverse group of professionals, including actors, journalists, artists, musicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, carpenters, and drivers. Few stories of our alumni are published in our Alumni report. Click here to read the report.
Deenabandhu Primary and High School
Deenabandhu school serves as a means for social transformation and offers experiential activity based education to children from economically challenged families. The school is financially completely supported by Indo-MIM.
The school has been committed to delivering high-quality education to children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds since 1999. To fulfill this objective, the school offers education at a highly subsidized rate, with a minimal participation fee in the range INR 1500 – 3000 per year, less than 10% of the total cost. The school not only provides excellent education but also offers nutritious mid-day meals to promote the holistic development of the students. Deenabandhu School caters to children from LKG to 10th standard, with a total student strength of over 430.
Deenabandhu School follows an experiential teaching and learning approach, and the faculty has created over 800 teaching materials, experiments and projects to enhance the learning experience. The school curriculum also includes theatre, handicrafts, computer training, basic agricultural skills, and it features a Kayaka Kuteera where traditional skills like pottery and charaka are taught.
Chan and Aarathi Desaigoudar Scholarship
A trust fund was established through the generous donations of Sri. Chandrashekar Desaigoudar and Smt. Aarathi Desaigoudar to initiate this scholarship programme. The programme provides scholarships to academically talented students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These students attend rural government high schools in Karnataka and the scholarship supports them in pursuing higher education. Till 2025, over 1300 students have been granted scholarships through the programme, with 67 new students receiving awards annually.
Scholarship for Higher Students (SHE) Programme
Yoga Gives Back, USA launched the Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) programme at Deenabandhu School. The programme provides SHE scholarships to students who have completed their 10th standard at the school, and supports them financially for a period of 5 to 7 years to complete their college education. The scholarships are awarded to deserving students based on their academic merit and financial backgrounds.
Since 2022, the scholarship programme was also extended to students from a neighbouring government school with which we work closely.
Government School Adoption Programme
Deenabandhu School has adopted a neighbouring government school, the Government Higher Primary School, Ramasamudra. This collaboration aims to promote the exchange of resources, knowledge, and experiences between the two schools. The goal is to ensure that the children at the government school receive the same calibre of high-quality education as those attending Deenabandhu School.
Teacher Resource Center
Since its inception in 2002, the Deenabandhu Teacher Resource Center (TRC) has been dedicated to promoting experiential education in government schools within the Chamarajanagara district.
Currently, the TRC actively collaborates with over 200 government schools to provide teaching resources and training programs to incorporate activity-based teaching methodologies into the classroom. To achieve this goal, the TRC conducts a variety of activities, including the establishment of Learning Centers in schools, workshops for teachers and children, the development of teaching aids and educational films, the production of a newsletter called "Anubhava," and the operation of a mobile science lab.
Project Shaale, facilitated by the TRC, collaborates closely with 42 government schools. We have established 8 Learning Centers in government schools. Each Learning center is tagged to 5-6 nearby government schools. At each Learning Center, we conduct regular meetings for teachers where we collaborate with them in designing and creating TLMs. Additionally, our resource persons visit these schools conducting experiments and demonstrations.
Thanks to its effective efforts, the TRC has become a reputable organization that is highly valued by both teachers and students. The Education Department in the district recognizes the TRC's contribution and has partnered with the organization in various teacher workshops.
For more information, visit the TRC website here: https://www.deenabandhutrc.org
Science Talent Award
To promote an attitude of research and innovation in Science, the Chan Desaigoudar foundation in collaboration with Deenabandhu Trust, started the Science Talent Award Programme in 2017-18. This science project competition is organised for Government high schools in Chamarajanagara region. An exhibition is held where these schools showcase their models and are evaluated. Two winners are selected, with the first-place recipient receiving Rs. 55,000 and the second-place recipient receiving Rs. 25,000.
Vijnana Loka
Vijnana Loka, located near the Deenabandhu School, is a vibrant space consisting of a Science park and a Science gallery. The Science Park consists of a variety of installations which illustrate various scientific concepts. The gallery contains interactive exhibits where students can learn various concepts through hands-on interaction.
This center attracts students from government schools in the district and we arrange transportation for them. They spend an entire day exploring the various exhibits and models. Two facilitators oversee the activities for the children. The children also go through a workshop exclusively designed for them where they make Science toys.
There are no such centers in neighbouring regions. A center of this nature is typically out of reach for rural schools and children. Therefore, it plays an important role in developing scientific temperament in the district.
Biodiversity Project
Biodiversity Project aims to educate children about the importance of biodiversity by making them plant rare and endangered plant/tree species in school surroundings. Considering the rapid depletion of biodiversity due to human activities, it is essential that children learn about biodiversity as part of their school life.
Saplings of rare and endangered species of plants endemic to Chamarajanagar region are nurtured at the Deenabandhu nursery until they reach a height of 2-4 feet. These saplings are transported to various government schools, where the students will plant them and take responsibility for their care. Through this hands-on involvement with plants and trees, a bond forms between students and nature, fostering an attitude of respect towards biodiversity and the environment.