We are excited to share some amazing work by our very own Green Schools Student Co-President, Mark Thekkethala. Mark has been working on an international project close to his heart. Here’s his story:
“When my grandfather passed away a few years ago, I wanted to do something substantial in honor of him. My grandfather and I shared a special bond because we both have had to deal with asthma throughout our lives. He served as my role model of what success should look like. One of his most important successes was the work he did with the St. Charles convent in India. After his passing, the St Charles orphanage immediately came to mind, and so a project was born.
Working in the summers of both my sophomore and junior years, I saved up enough money to fund the beginnings of an international sustainability project that I would not put into motion as a Green Schools Student Co-President. Currently, the project to provide a solar water heater to the St. Charles orphanage in India is in motion, and the solar panels/hot-water heater have been installed at the orphanage. Within the next few days, the plumbing will be completed and the Disol system will finally be operational. These installations will not only give these children the comfort of clean, hot water, but will also reduce the financial burden on the orphanage. The funds saved from the average cost of installing a conventional water heater, along with the costs of future energy consumption, will be reallocated back to caring fro the needs of the children. And of course, this is not only an investment in the orphanage’s ability to tend to the children, but also a step towards achieving sustainability by reducing the orphanage’s carbon footprint which benefits both the air and the environment. Cleaner air as a memory to my grandfather with asthma.”
