Gusbethi, Haryana : Deepalaya School Gusbethi is one of the most ripple-making school of Mewat district (currently Nuh District) in Haryana. To take the crusade against illiteracy a notch higher and to meet the community demand in one of the most backward areas of rural Haryana, Deepalaya is constructing a new school building with the generous help of its corporate partners.

Oriflame, one of the oldest and most significant corporate partners of Deepalaya NGO, has agreed to provide a grant in completing the construction of the school to be built on 90,000 sq. ft. over a period of next 3 to 5 years.

The inaugural ceremony of infrastructure development project with the CSR support of Oriflame was held today at

the premises of Deepalya School, Gusbethi. Mr. Sergei Kanashin, Senior Vice President & Head of South Asia, and Managing Director-India, Oriflame graced the occasion as chief guest along with his wife Mrs. Anastasia Kanashin, and some other Oriflame employees.

The guests reached the venue at around 10.30 AM; they were welcomed by the school band and the traditional “tilak” ceremony. Mr. & Mrs. Kanashin cut the ribbon to mark the formal inauguration of the project, and unveiled a plaque in front of the newly constructed school buiding. Hereafter, a tree plantation drive was conducted on the school grounds by the Oriflame employees, which was followed by a cultural programme that began with lighting of the lamp and welcome dance by students.

Mrs. Jaswant Kaur, Executive Director, Deepalaya delivered the welcome speech at the event, wherein she outlined the significance of the project, the challenges faced by Deepalaya in implementing it, and the positive outcomes so far.

Mr. A J Philip, Secretary & Chief Executive, Deepalaya thanked Oriflame for the benevolent support Oriflame has been extending to Deepalaya for the last 12 years. “Our partnership with Oriflame has been already creating ripples of change in the lives of many underprivileged children in the past, and will continue to do so. We are happy to acknowledge their support once in this infrastructure development project at Deepalaya School Gusbethi, and are committed to deliver the best results.”

Mr. Sergei Kanashin, Senior Vice President & Head of South Asia, and Managing Director- India, Oriflame said, “Oriflame and Deepalaya have a similar mission, of making people’s lives better and helping them utilize their inner potential; in doing this, education always acts as a stepping stone. It is heartening to see Deepalaya providing quality education to students in this area, and we have associated with them in this infrastructure development project so that we can together make people educated, self-aware, and build long-term capacity for sustainable livelihood.”

On the sidelines of the speeches, a group of students from Deepalaya School, Gusbethi   performed a Haryanvi group dance. Other groups performed on Bollywood songs like “Dil hai chota sa”, “Ghoomar” and “Bum Bum Bole”. Towards the end, there was a solo dance performance by one senior girl from Deepalaya Children’s Home, and prizes were distributed some of the most promising students of the school. The children were also given Oriflame hampers as a token of love.

Smt. Anjum Ara, Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat, Sahsola Patti was also present on the occasion; she lauded Deepalaya School’s contribution to the socio-economic development of the community.

Mr. Manoj Kumar, Principal, Deepalaya School, Gusbethi, proposed the vote of thanks, followed by the national anthem to culminate the event.

One of the two formal schools under the aegis of Deepalya, the Gusbethi School has seen a notable decrease in the drop out and absentee rates in the recent past. Through community visits and regular counseling of parents, Deepalaya has been able to project education as a necessity (and not a hindrance) for children, even in the poorest of households in the area.  With the roll out of the new infrastructure facility (extension of school building), the enrolment in the school shall go up to more than 280 more children immediately as the number of sections in each class will increase, and students who await admission in the school will finally get enrolled.

On the other hand, Oriflame is a company that believes in giving back to the society, and has been supporting Deepalaya’s girl child development projects for many years now. In the past, they have donated 2 buses to the 2 formal schools of Deepalaya, and has sponsored education of around 7000 underprivileged children of Deepalaya till date.