After hearing about Arnav Gupta’s ’18 community service project that raised $5,000 in 2016 to build much-needed toilets for a small village in India, Deepak Shankar ’20 was ready to take on a service project of his own.

“Everyone should strive to make the world a better place,” said Deepak. “At Moravian, in chapel and class, you hear about community service projects that your peers are working on - which is really inspiring. The school has taught me that there are so many ways you can help the world and understand the ideals of philanthropy.”

While discussing ideas for his own community service project with a family member, Deepak learned about NNPR Charitable Trust in a small town in Southern India, which focuses on improving the resources for the education of children in government schools in India. Through conversations with NNPR about the education disparity in certain villages in India, Deepak’s developed the idea to convert one of the halls of a rural school in Karnataka into a “smart” classroom.

Although the idea came with a lofty price tag of $4,000, Deepak was ready to take on the challenge headfirst. He created a GoFundMe page and spread the word to family and friends through endless phone calls and emails. After months of fundraising efforts, Deepak surpassed his goal - raising $4,800, which funded a computer, a projector, and chairs to transform a hall into an audiovisual classroom.

“Technology makes learning more fun and interesting,” said Deepak. “The hope is that this is a start and that one day there can be more computers and more projectors where they are needed. Technology can be very influential for these underprivileged students in the way they go about life and learning as well as being on par with the rest of the educated world.”

The most rewarding part of the project for Deepak was seeing the finished product: the new space in use. This summer, Deepak and his family traveled to India for a ceremonial unveiling of the new classroom called Vagdevi, a Sanskrit word for education.

“I could tell by the students’ faces and body language, when they were watching the video on the projector with wide-eyes, smiles, and intense focus, that it was a whole new thing for them,” said Deepak. “It felt so rewarding. All my hard work had paid off. I was truly touched.”

NNPR continues to send Deepak progress reports about the school, including regular video updates of how this audiovisual room is making a difference to teachers and students alike.

With five other classrooms in the school and several other schools in the surrounding area in need of technology, Deepak plans to stay involved and assist in future projects to make technology-based education a reality for more students.

“Giving back is the coolest and most rewarding thing you can do,” concluded Deepak. “If you have a goal in mind, with perseverance and determination, nothing can stop you.

This article originally appeared in the 2019 Moravian Academy Fall Journal.