About Us
An Initiative To Touch Your Soul (AITYS) is a volunteer-driven nonprofit founded by Madhu Chowdhry in 2012 with a simple belief: no child should be denied education because of poverty or geography.
What began as a small effort supporting 300 children in 4 schools has grown into a deeply rooted movement across rural Uttarakhand strengthening 70+ schools, transforming infrastructure, improving health and hygiene, and enabling students to pursue higher and vocational education.
For over a decade, AITYS has worked in some of the most remote areas of Garhwal region of Uttrakhand, where challenging terrain, economic hardship, and limited access to healthcare often keep children out of school. We currently support nearly 40% of higher secondary schools in our core geography.
Our programs address every barrier that stands between a child and their education:
Education Aid: school supplies, weather-appropriate clothing, learning materials, and essentials that promote attendance, comfort, and confidence.
Infrastructure Development: building classrooms, safe bathrooms, science labs, smart classrooms, and playgrounds to create environments where learning can truly flourish.
Health & Hygiene: providing sanitary supplies, undergarments, medical camps, nutrition support, and incinerators; ensuring dignity and wellbeing for every child.
Vocational Education & Training: enabling youth to earn accredited online degrees and certifications through Uttarakhand Open University, helping them build employable skills and break the cycle of limited opportunity.
Registered under 12A, 80G, CSR1, and FCRA, AITYS operates with an exceptionally transparent model where the vast majority of every donation directly reaches beneficiaries. Our unique strength lies in our presence on the ground working closely with principals, teachers, village communities, and mentors who ensure that each intervention is sustained and meaningful.
At its heart, AITYS is a journey of seva - a commitment to dignity, opportunity, and lifelong education for every child in the mountains.
Vision
Mission
Ms. Madhu Chowdhry, a J.J. School of Art graduate who has lived in both the US and India, first visited Uttarakhand in 2008. What she witnessed there profoundly changed her life. The remote mountain villages were home to some of the most underserved communities in the country; children walking miles to school without basic facilities, families without access to healthcare, and entire communities limited simply by the distance from major towns and resources.
Passionate and deeply committed, Ms. Chowdhry remains involved in every aspect of AITYS’s work from fundraising and planning to multiple field visits ensuring that every project is executed with care, transparency, and integrity.
Over the years, volunteers from diverse backgrounds have joined her, strengthening AITYS’s culture of compassion, service, and community partnership. Guided by humility and sincerity, Madhu often sums up her philosophy in simple words:
“Someone helped me get somewhere in life; now it’s my turn to do the same for others.”
- To Promote the completion of secondary education for all school children.
- To upgrade school infrastructure with modern amenities and help bridge the gap between urban and rural education opportunities
- Providing sanitary pads and essential undergarments to students to support basic health and hygiene.
Progress Snapshot
0
AITYS Founded
0
Students Sponsored
0
Schools Supported
0
Free Medical Camps
0
People Treated
0
Villages reached
Located partly in the Gangetic plain and partly in the northern Himalayas, Pauri Garhwal district encompasses an area of 5,230 square kilometers in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. Our work is centred in Pauri Garhwal and extends to Haridwar and Uttarkashi.
Located partly in the Gangetic plain and partly in the northern Himalayas, Pauri Garhwal district encompasses an area of 5,230 square kilometers in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. Our work is centred in Pauri Garhwal and extends to Haridwar and Uttarkashi.
Media Coverage
No child should be deprived of education due to poverty.
#Disaster Relief #Education #Women Empowerment #Children
