Mathew Kustel from the U.S. came to India to study Hindi and to explore ‘the India’ that tourists generally do not get to see. An excerpt from Mathew Kustel’s note to his friends on his visit to India.

‘Through mutual friends, I was introduced to the lovely Urvashi Nair and her family. Urvashi lives in Delhi, and works with IIMPACT, an NGO dedicated to providing primary education to underprivileged girls in rural parts of India. IIMPACT operates learning centers in remote rural villages, and gives girls who would not otherwise be in school the opportunity to receive a high-quality education. Urvashi was visiting some learning centers near Jaipur, and invited me along. Upon my arrival, I was absolutely blown away. Despite being a mere 50km outside a major city, it was as if we had gone back in time. The villagers were mostly subsistence farmers, and lived in small huts, some of which were made of mud. Our arrival was feted by a council of village elders. The elders explained how proud they were of the girls, and how happy they were to have a learning center in their village. The students were a mix of 30 girls between the ages of six and fourteen. They learn how to read and write, basic arithmetic, and environmental science. The girls proudly reeled off songs, performed long division, and counted to ten in English at the top of their lungs. Without the IIMPACT learning centers, none of these girls would have been in school. Furthermore, IIMPACT currently educates over 17,000 girls throughout India. I’d encourage you to find out more at http://www.iimpact.org. I am not prone to sentimentality, but it was an incredibly moving experience.’