Calabasas family hosts student from India

NEW FRIENDS—Viewpoint School student Sara Wolfson and her family host Kumkum Chauhan from India. Viewpoint School hosted Sarita Chaudhary, 17, and Kumkum Chauhan, 20, two female students from the Pardada Pardadi Educational Society (PPES), based in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. This visit was part of a three-week visit to some of California's high schools.

During their stay, Sarita and Kumkum were hosted by the families of senior Sara Wolfson of Calabasas and freshman Tali Sandel of Malibu.

In addition to attending classes, the young women spoke to Viewpoint's second and fifth grade students about their lives. Both young women come from poor, rural areas of India, where it is unusual for girls to receive formal education. Sarita and Kumkum also presented a slideshow of their school and displayed examples of their hand-embroidered textiles at the October meeting of the Rotary Club of Calabasas.

Paradada Pardadi was started in 2000 by Dr. Sam Singh, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a retired head of U.S. DuPont Asia. Pardada Pardadi admits girls from ages 3 to 14 and compensates the students for their attendance. Each student earns 10 rupees a day, the equivalent to 22 cents. The money is put into a trust that cannot be accessed until students turn 21.

When students graduate, their trust accounts have grown to about $700, which makes them among the wealthiest and most educated young women in the region.

The school has 1,000 female students enrolled from 43 villages providing them with uniforms, books, shoes, bicycles, and three meals a day. The students learn math, science, English, and social studies and vocational training in textile work. Graduating students have developed marketable skills and produced home textile furnishings that are sold in India and abroad through PPES.

Each year, several students are selected to study in the United States and return with leadership and teaching skills to share with their community.

"The link between Pardada Pardadi and independent schools in the United States was formed in 2006 when the National Association of Independent School's Delegation for Diversity visited the school, while touring a number of schools in India," said Margaret Bowles, Viewpoint's associate head for academic affairs. "We were thrilled to have these young women visit our campus and hope to develop a cooperative relationship between their school and our global studies program."

Sarita hopes to become a doctor and Kumkum wants to teach English.