Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2/27/2023, “A Learning Journey,” photo and story by Shmuel Thaler.
Eleventh graders at Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS) have courtside seats as Mount Madonna School senior Sky Weir challenges an attack at the net from one of the society’s students during a volleyball match. PYDS enrolls children (predominantly girls) with potential from needy and underprivileged families, many from the remote rural villages of the state of Uttarakhand. Through partnerships with institutional, corporate and individual donors, the school near Dehradun, India, provides children with holistic care and education, by providing free nutrition, health care and high-quality academics. The Mount Madonna seniors are on a 16-day learning journey in India andreturn to the U.S. on March 4. The score of the match has already been forgotten, but both the Indian students and the cohort from Mount Madonna School said that the effect of the friendships and relationships made between them will last many years.