Address
P.O.Box. 29304, San Jose, CA 94538
Education
A fifth of our funds go to children in village schools — not to lectures, but to things in their hands: a circuit that lights, a pond net, a sentence of English said out loud. Small grants, fully spent, bills kept.
The six projects
Since 2023 · AGN School, Salem, Tamil Nadu · $4,224 in kits, 2025
1 · Kalam Ariviyal Pattarai — the science workbench
Kalam Ariviyal Pattarai ("Kalam's science workshop", named for Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) is a four-year hands-on electricity and electronics curriculum for grades 6 to 9. No simulations, no videos: real wires, real bulbs, real soldering — 57 complete experiments so far, each with a teacher guide, a student sheet, and a bill of materials, on the way to a planned 215.
It runs at AGN School in Salem, taught by the school's own science teachers, whom we orient and equip. In 2025, Achaani spent $4,224 on electronics kits through a local vendor; ₹2.5 lakh of materials are on the benches and teacher orientation is done.
AGN School, Salem · with school faculty
2 · Aquascope
Aquascope is the quieter sibling of KAP: a club where younger children learn to watch water — ponds, tanks, the life in them — and through it, the habit of careful observation. Science begins not with equipment but with attention. The club runs at AGN School alongside the science workbench.
Since September 2025 · ZP High School, Viyyampeta, Andhra Pradesh · with Project RISHI, UC San Diego
3 .The Project RISHI collaboration
Project RISHI (Rural India Social and Health Initiative) is a student organization at UC San Diego that has adopted the village of Viyyampeta, near Visakhapatnam. In 2025 their team asked whether KAP could travel. It could.
Achaani's board approved the extension in September 2025; the AGN teachers shared the full syllabus and manual with RISHI's curriculum team; and on December 20, 2025, the first kit shipment reached the government high school in Viyyampeta. The students of one university, the teachers of one village school, and the children of another — connected by a box of components and a shared set of lesson plans.
Since 2025 · Erode district, Tamil Nadu · $2,000 in 2025
4 . Kanavu School of English
In rural Tamil Nadu, a child who can hold a conversation in English has doors open that stay shut for others. The Kanavu School of English teaches spoken English — speaking, not memorizing — across village classrooms in Erode district.
Achaani's grants support curriculum and operating costs at two rural schools, with an expansion into government schools in Kanyakumari district being planned. The Kanavu Startup Village team also works with us on this site's blog, where the children's own writing will appear.
Since 2024 · India & USA · $20,000 grant in 2024
5 . WeReachOut
WeReachOut matches sponsors with promising students from the sponsors' own hometowns — education funded person to person, with the relationship intact. It is a US 501(c)(3), founded and chaired by Richard Solomon, who also served on Achaani's founding board.
Achaani made a $20,000 grant in 2024, tracked under a dedicated account at WeReachOut. From it, in June 2025, ₹1 lakh went to sponsor ten students through job training in elderly care — schooling turned directly into livelihood.
Early 2025 · a girls' higher secondary school, Tamil Nadu · ~$1,200 · one-time, complete
6 .Girls' high school safety setup
During a board member's 2025 visit to his native village, the local girls' higher secondary school needed a basic safety installation the school could not fund. The board agreed on the spot; the equipment was purchased locally, the bills filed, and the project closed. About $1,200, once, done.
Not every project needs a program. Some just need to be finished.
Why we hold education to 20%
Not because it matters less, but because focus is a discipline. Cancer care is where our partners are deepest and the need most acute; education is where small money goes far. We would rather do six education projects completely than twenty thinly. The proportion is reviewed by the board each year, and published.
