New Zealand couple helps government school in Western TN

KRISHNAGIRI: In a moving gesture, two business professionals from New Zealand have come forward to fulfill the wishes of one of their much-loved neighbours of Indian origin who had tragically died in a copter crash, by gifting an English language teaching laboratory to a government school in Krishnagiri district. 

The laboratory has been set up at the Hosur government high school, on Hosur-Rayakottai road at a cost of about Rs 15 lakh. The sponsors, without any fanfare, unveiled the lab on Wednesday. 

 “Mr. Bruce Davis and Ms. Christine of New Zealand had spent '15 lakh including for purchase of laptops and furniture for our school to get an English language teaching laboratory,” G. Renuka told DC. 

Ms. Renuka, an English teacher in the government school added, “this great help will support our poor children to learn the language through the phonetic method, using software meant for this task.”

It all began with Captain Shri Rama Krishnan during his visit in 2011 searching for his familial roots in Thanjavur, from where his great grandparents had first migrated to Fiji and then to New Zealand, a century ago.

Rama Krishnan, an aviation expert, met children walking along the road during his travel across the state searching for his relatives. He then found that rural children had difficulty in speaking in English and decided to give them an opportunity to learn the language.

Rama Krishnan, according to the teacher, used to share with his neighbors Bruce Davis and Christine about his plans to support poor children's education in India. Sadly, Rama Krishnan died in Indonesia in a helicopter crash due to bad weather conditions, barely a year after he had visited Tamil Nadu in search of his family roots.

Bruce Davis and Christine, who loved Rama Krishnan so dearly, decided to take forward his work and in fulfilling his wish started supporting the Hosur government high school to which they gifted this English teaching laboratory, revealed Ms. Renuka.