PATNA SCHOOL BUS

During our first trip to India in 2007, we visited Patna, a very poor city in the state of Bihar. It was a Saturday and we were delighted to see a school full of kids taking their final exams. The boys pictured on the right were concentrating so intently that they never even looked up as we walked by.

The Patna school was very basic but the children were receiving the gift of education allowing them to grow, compete, and thrive. When we asked what their number one need was, the leaders said it was a new school bus. These kids live in extreme poverty and without a bus they had no way to get to school because they lived so far away and their parents had no way to get them there. The bus they had was almost beyond repair. The local authorities said they would confiscate it if they found the school operating it. They had no funds to purchase a new bus so they had to continue using it.

When we returned home, we were able to raise the funds for a new school bus in 8 weeks. That bus helped 125 kids in multiple grades get to school for more than four years.

Unfortunately earlier this year, thieves stole this new bus from the School in Patna. It was a crushing blow to a school struggling to make ends meet. The school has had to scrape up money to rent a bus so the kids could continue to attend the school.

The Just Let Me Learn Foundation took on this project to replace the stolen school bus. Including the insurance money, $12,000 dollars needed was raised to replace the bus. The funds have been sent to the school in Patna and the bus has been purchased.