Family Posielek Foundation

Dear friends and donors!

At the end of 2024, we thank you for your loyalty and willingness to help, which has made the work of the Posielek Family Foundation possible for almost 25 years.

At the beginning of the year, 4 members of the foundation visited the projects in South India on site again. There was a tight, well-organized program that our friend, Dr. Anto Maliekal and his wife Seena, had put together. We visited many “tuition centers” funded by our foundation, which are tutoring groups in villages on the outskirts of big cities, and were able to see the precarious conditions in which many people live there, not integrated into society, with no connection to state aid. These tuition centers, which are run by helpers with our support, are so valuable and helpful because the children are taught the skills they need to attend school. They receive human attention by playing with them, teaching them the basics of hygiene and supervising their homework.

We also met many students on site who received a scholarship from our foundation to attend school, college, technical college or university. In personal discussions, we were able to learn a lot about their wishes and dreams, but also about their efforts in pursuing their goals. We took advantage of many opportunities to exchange ideas and get to know each other better.

Since our foundation was founded, many things have changed for the better in India. There are not as many children living on the streets anymore and they are no longer exploited by child labor to the extent that we saw on our first visit. However, equal opportunities for education are still far from being achieved. There is therefore still a lot to do.

With your support, we hope to be able to continue to promote education and training, especially for girls and young women in India, for many years to come, because when children go to school, it has a positive effect on all areas of life.

We wish you a peaceful Advent and Christmas season and a good start to 2025!

Dear donors and friends of the Posielek Family Foundation!

The year is coming to an end, Advent has begun, Christmas preparations are in full swing. And the world is in turmoil in many parts…

It’s good to hear that there is still continuity and success in the work of the CHANGE FOUNDATION, our local partner foundation in India:

We recently received news that a young woman, whose school and university education was supported by the foundation, applied to various positions after successfully completing her studies and received 3 offers. She decided to accept the position in the Intelligence Bureau, India’s domestic intelligence agency.

This example shows once again that education is the door opener to a self-determined life.

We want to stick to our work and continue to look after children, young people, and families from the lower castes, indigenous tribes, and ethnic groups.

In the last 20 years, our foundation has supported 718 students and 1,081 young people, especially girls, have been trained in tailoring, cosmetic applications or received basic knowledge of computer applications. In the Evening Tuition Centers almost 800 children from families on the margins of society are reached. These families are reluctant to send their children to school. They do not have their own dream about their children’s education and a good future for them.

In February 2024, some members of the Posielek Family Foundation will travel to India and get a picture of the place and do networking. We will keep you updated!

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your support over the last few years. So much can be achieved…

With best wishes for a blessed Christmas and the start of 2024!

Give children and young people a future, education instead of child labor

Dear friends and donors!

A year with so many dramatic events is coming to an end: Russia – Ukraine – war, streams of refugees, rising prices for the scarce energy and other raw materials, threatening climate catastrophe because of rising temperatures, still Corona …

In contrast, one might think that the project of the Family Posielek Foundation is rather insignificant. But we do not want to let up in our efforts to give children and young people in India access to education, because education is the key to a successful future for all of us, because it depends on each and everyone.

Many children of families from the lower classes in Indian society do not have access to education. They have to work or live on the streets because their families cannot provide for them. We want to continue to successfully break this cycle.

We are proud that in the last 20 years 592 students have been able to study with a scholarship from our foundation, more than 1750 children have been cared for in tutoring courses and 1647 young people, mainly girls and women, have been able to gain qualifications through further training courses in sewing, embroidery and cosmetics. Thus, they can provide for their own livelihood.

We thank you for your donations, which have enabled so many young people to receive an education and thus prospects for a better life, and wish you a blessed Christmas and a good start into 2023!

Education is one of the most important steps towards a world without hunger and poverty.

Dear friends and donators!

Once again we are at the end of the year and it’s the second time with Covid around. Who would have thought that this virus would turn our world upside down with such an intensity and for such a long time.

Nonetheless, we have made good experiences. The stream of donations has not stopped. We want to thank all donators for their generosity on behalf of all children, youngsters, and families in India.

Thanks to these donations, it was possible to build up new tuition centers this year after the lockdown. These tuition centers are private teaching and mentoring opportunities for children on private property. Especially young children did not receive education and support during the Covid crisis due to lockdown of schools. Instead, they were urged for child labour in farming, workshops, or quarries. But education is indispensable to overcome poverty and suppression – this has been shown by many studies. That is why we do not want to stop our efforts to enable as many children and youngsters from poor families at the edge of the Indian society to receive support for school attendance, academic studies, and professional training.

For 2022, we hope for progress towards a fair world with equal rights, less hunger, and more successful ideas to overcome the global pandemic.

We wish you a peaceful Advent season, Merry Christmas and a healthy year 2022!

Dear friends and donators!

We want to thank you for all your donations this year!

The year 2020 is coming to an end. It has been a special year, not necessarily a good one. The coronavirus has been an impact on our life worldwide.

Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that the pandemic would follow us for the entire year. Not only in Germany and Europe the public life has been shut down. Right after the USA, India is the country that has been hit the hardest by the virus. Schools, colleges, and universities had to close and move towards online learning. Schools are being reopened since the beginning of November. The funding of students through our foundation has continued and we are handling the allocation of scholarships flexibly. Nonetheless, everyone has to apply for the scholarship and keep us updated on their performance and exams.

The tailoring classes and beauty culture classes have been put on pause, but will continue as soon as possible. The tuition centers had to shut down as well.

We all hope that the pandemic will be overcome and that we can go back to a “normal” life in India as well as in Europe. The strategies that are necessary have to be developed and put into practice at a global scale. Thanks to the internet and global networks we will succeed.

We wish you a peaceful Advent season, Merry Christmas and a healthy year 2021!

Dear friends and donators!

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. (Nelson Mandela)

This is one of the most important reasons why the Family Posielek Foundation focuses since 2002 on supporting girls and boys, young women and men, and families in India. Many studies find: education for girls means development – not only for the girls themselves, but also for the future of their country which is why girls and women are of key importance to us.

Thanks to your donations, more than one hundred young people were enabled a higher education; kids were supported in tuition centers; many young women had tailoring or beauty culture classes. This kind of education provides chances to find work with fair earnings that enables to care for themselves and their families.

We feel honored by the trust you provide in our foundation through your willingness to donate. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

We wish you a peaceful Advent season, Merry Christmas and a good start for the year 2020!

For April 2018 to March 2019, our partner in India, the Change Foundation, published their annual report. It provides an overview of the activities last year as well as success stories that are only possible through your support.

Our partner foundation in India, the Change foundation, has released their annual report for January 2017 to March 2018. It provides an overview on the activities of the last year, focusing on skill training and scholarships that were enabled through funds of the foundation. Additionally, selected success stories demonstrate impressively that your funding is worth the candle.

Dear Members and Friends of Fam. Posielek Foundation,

We at CHAI wish you all the Peace & Joy of Christmas, and a Happy and Healthy New year with Hope.

Thank you for your generous support that we received in 2018.

This academic year (2018 – 2019), we could provide education scholarship to 105 students to pursue higher education. Of these, 75 (71%) are girls, mostly belong to Dalit and other backward communities. We have organized this year advanced training for 23 unmarried girls/young mothers in beauty culture. The two Women Societies, constituted by the mothers of students, and facilitated by the Foundation, could provide scholarship to another 28 students from the small amounts some of the mothers contributed back.

With your generosity, we could support one of our partnering organizations to organize 7 Evening Tuition Centers (ETCs named Akshara meaning Alphabet), attended by 150 children below 10th Std. Five of these ETCs are located in the state of Maharashtra & 2 in the Tribal State of Jharkhand. Most of the children belong to either Dalit or Tribal communities – of very low socio-economic status. Parents of most of these children are illiterate and they cannot help the children in their studies. They return only by evening after their daily coolie work – agricultural labour. Most of the houses are very poor. Many of the families live in single rooms. The ETCs help children in their studies after school hours. The ETC are relevant as most of the children attend the ill-equipped schools with not-so-trained teachers. ETCs help children, especially girls, to be regular in schools, without dropping out. The teams at ETC follow up the children at their own regular schools. They regularly meet the teachers in their own respective schools. The ETCs also make the children and their families aware of health and hygiene issues, rights of the girl children, govt schemes, etc. They groom leadership qualities among the children.

Thank you all. You generosity helps us to sustain the smiles of these children. Through your thoughtfulness, you become ‘Christmas’, give Hope for these children, in the midst of a world wallowing in greed and selfishness. We take this opportunity to specially thank and remember Mr. Joachim and Mrs. Joanna Posielek whose vision urges to move forward. Thank you Achim and Janka!

“Where God is born, hope is born; and where hope is born, persons regain their dignity. Yet even today great numbers of men and women are deprived of their human dignity and, like the child Jesus, suffer cold, poverty, and rejection. May our closeness be felt today by those who are most vulnerable.” Pope Francis

Anto Maliekal, Managing Trustee

Dear friends and donators!

„Sending a girl to school means forming a family and what applies to families also applies to communities and in the end to the entire nation.“
(Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General)

Not only as work slaves, women are having a hard time in India. Often, they are considered less worth than men, get less food, have to work harder, even at younger ages, are humiliated and neglected. This is a big wrong: especially well educated women are a chance for a better world where everyone benefits and they also raise and shape the next generation.

Thanks to your donations, many kids, teenagers, and families were supported over the last year. They were able to finish school, achieved an academic degree, or were trained to become a beautician. This provides them with the chance to work for a fair wage to take care of themselves and their families.

Through your willingness to donate, you put trust into this foundation which honors us and the work done. We want to thank you from the depths of our hearts!

We wish you a restful festive period, a Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year!