About Us

To be an exceptional creative Education & Charity family, opening minds and changing lives

OUR MISSION & VISION

OUR VISION

Opening Minds & Changing lives together.

OUR MISSION

To be an exceptional creative Education & Charity family, opening minds and changing lives:

To promote holistic education and economic growth skills among rural & tribal communities for a better tomorrow.
To offer a training, counselling & economic support for various social causes.
To remove the social stigma from the lives of rural communities.
To address the Health issues & Nutritional needs of the tribes in nilgiris.
To give all round development for differently abled persons at Nilgiris.

About The Colaso Education & Charitable Trust

Colaso’s Opening Minds & Changing Lives has been helping the most vulnerable and socially excluded for nearly 25 years in Niligiris.

We began as a small charity in the Ooty and later in Coonoor, helping people in opening minds and changing minds through education & training, Health, Women empowerment.

We began to look at counselling and psycho-social services to children and adolescents in schools at both micro and macro levels. Educational awareness campaigns are conducted for the general public through periodic meetings. Tribal students from remote hamlets in the Nilgiris face the prospect of technology. They need special attention due to the structural problems of impoverished families.

Other activities are to teach the women tribes of Irulas, Badagas, Todas, Kotas & Kurumbas on the skills and techniques of tailoring, crafts and dress Embroidery. The sole objective is to benefit the lower income housewives to become a full-fledged person and enable them to start their own business and thereby augment their income and improve upon their social status. Since then, our services expanded in both provision and geography.

We re-branded as Changing Lives in 2020 to mark this growth. Throughout our near 25 years of operation, our core purpose has never changed. We are here to help people who are most in need of literacy, Health and skill development and their by improve confidence, self esteem & Tribal identity.

Together, we are Changing Lives.

OUR VALUES THAT CHANGE LIVES

Love – Christian Love is based in the Love Jesus and God showed us. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New International Version (NIV) 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Hope – Christian hope is grounded in the character of God. Often, in the Psalms, the writer says to God: ‘My hope is in you’. It is a hope rooted in the love and faithfulness of God. Hope is not wishful thinking but a firm assurance that God can be relied upon. It does not remove the need for ‘waiting upon the Lord’ but there is underlying confidence that God is a ‘strong rock’ and one whose promises can be trusted. The writer to the Hebrews describes the Christian hope as ‘an anchor for the soul, firm and secure’.
Forgiveness – Jesus was uncompromising in his command to forgive. Forgive, he said, ‘seventy times seven’ (Matthew 18:21). In other words, forgive and keep on forgiving without limit. Forgiveness was at the heart of everything he did and is at the heart of the Lord’s Prayer. We forgive because we are forgiven. Paul says: ‘Be compassionate and kind to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ (Ephesians 4:32)
Joy & Celebration – Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope. It is something or someone that provides a source of happiness. It appears 88 times in the Old Testament in 22 books; 57 times in the New Testament in 18 books. As Christians we have much to celebrate from the birth of Jesus to his resurrection.
Trust – Trust is the very essence of faith; trust in the God who is trustworthy. Trust is essential to human life and lies at the heart of all relationships. Trust entails vulnerability, putting yourself in others’ hands. We have to trust experts – pilots, dentists, surgeons. Yet, within our society, there often seems to be mutual distrust between people and those responsible for governing them.
Friendship – Feeling comfortable in each other’s company, being able to share joys and sorrows are all features of friendship and these are things of immense value. True friendship enables each person to grow and ensures that the unique individuality of each person is recognised. All this echoes the value placed by God on the preciousness of each person.

OUR OBJECTIVES

To establish, maintain and run schools, colleges, social service centre, and Industrial training centre in rural communities for a better tomorrow.
To establish, Training centre and allied education institutions.
To establish cultural and social Institutions.
To do social development on well-being through interventions, awareness generations and establish linkages with grass root artisans including literacy programme, health care and community service.
To spread for promotion of education and learning in all branches more especially in Science & Technology.
To advance Indian culture and literature, service of this country for the benefits of Nation.
To train teachers and workers in ideals and practice of the true spirit of the education and learning.
To establish research and training centres for the furtherance of Education /Learning in its various fields and branches.
To undertake propaganda, training and education of the masses either of its own or in co-operation with similar agencies working for the causes of all round development of the society.
To bring, publish and sell, distribute books, periodicals, leaflets, branches and papers and also to open and maintain libraries, reading rooms for the promotion of the objects of the trust.
To function as a Non-communal Trust and as a secular organisation.
To establish centre’s for employment generation.
To acquire and maintain the movable properties for achieving and social objects.
To advance any other objects of general public utility.
To confer title on eminent personality in the field of science, education, literature etc.,
To establish the colleges to impart education in the area of higher education in the area of higher education especially the emerging field like Electronics, Bro-Technology and other allied fields.

Board of Trustees

Dr. Colaso Jeyaprakash – Founder & Chairman

Retnd. Senior Accounts officer, Defence Accounts Dept., with more than 30 year experience. He is the Founder Trustee & Chairman of Colaso Educational & Chairtable trust. He is also Secretary of Rotary club of Nilgiris. He served as Scout District Commissioner for 10 years. Currently he’s lending his service as Management committee of Family Planning Association of India, Nilgiris since 2012. He serves as Vice Chairman for Red Cross for 20 years. He has received Best social worker award during Covid19 Lock down as well from National Council for Holistic Medicine. He has extensively travelled across India & globe in connection with various professional assignments.

Mrs. Esther Colaso – Managing Trustee

Esther is a post graduate in School of Education and a Co-founder & Vice –Chairman of Educational & Charitable trust. Her area of expertise has been on raising awareness of educators for tribal & rural education as well for Women empowerment & Community development. She served as Educationist & Headmistress & Principal for more than a decade in the schools of Nilgiris Dt.

Mrs. Jennifer Colaso – Director

Jenny is a post graduate in M.B.A and the Secretary & Director of Colaso Educational & Charitable Trust. She is with work experience of over 10 years in the areas of Customer care, Commercial, Marketing & Sales, and Admin & Hr. Her responsibilities here include as trust secretary and planning, monitoring, executing trust mission activities. She possesses exceptional leadership qualities and has resources to motivate and mobilize people.

Mr. Theophilus Joe Colaso- Associate Director cum Trustee

Joe is a post graduate in M.C.A- IT and an Associate Director cum trustee of Colaso Educational & Charitable Trust. He is employed at Congnizant U.S., and has a vast experience and knowledge in the field of Information Technology & Social Media. He has expertise to plan and execute IT & Social Media programmes.

Mr. A. Raj – Resource Person & Consultant

Raj is a post graduate in Human Resource and Education cum Management consultant for Colaso Education & Charitable trust. He has more than 15 years experience in coordinating and consulting NGO’s and Educational institutions as well in improving quality of Education, health and overall children in Tribal communities.

Fr. Vanathuraj Rayappan

Vanathuraj is a graduate in Philosophy & Theology cum Project incharge for Colaso Education & Charitable trust. He has more than 10 years of experience in overseas projects and execution. He has vast experience in handling tribal children in Assam as well as in other northern & southern states of India. Currently he is servicing his pastoral cum social ministry in Canada.

Legal Status

The trust is Registered under indian trust act 1882 Doc No:98 of 2019 of Book 4

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