When Mumbai Indians stood against Pune Warriors on Saturday in Wankhede Stadium, the home cricket team also rooted for their education initiative- Education For All. Around 10,000 under privileged kids along with 1,000 representatives of various NGO’s were invited to witness the match by Mumbai Indians. This initiative, also known as EFA, is the brainchild of Nita Ambani, owner of Mumbai Indians, who wants to spread the message of rightful education for every child in the country.
The claps, shouts and glee went on continuously as the children were witnessing a cricket match first time in the stadium. The organizers had made provisions for their safe travel and food by deploying 175 BEST buses and served themover 45,000 meal boxes. The children who were a part of “Education For All” initiative, had a day worth remembering.To add to the cheer- quotient for the children during the match, ball-jugglers dressed as jokers were employed to entertain the kids with their skills. The children waved the blue flag, sported the franchise t-shirt and colorful caps. They enjoyed the match as their stars were performing in front of their eyes. Even Sachin Tendulkar appreciated the presence of these fans in the stadium. He said, “This event was one of the best that I have attended because all these children made our afternoon really special. After having attended this event I can say there are some really bright children here who can make our nation proud and I wish them all the very best.” He also added that his team mates were too elated to see this big number of kids enjoying the match.
This was first of its kind event for Mumbai Indians where they had these small supporters on field. Nita Ambani who has pioneered this initiative for the last three years was visibly happy. She said, “Last three years have been an eventful journey and I am happy that through our initiatives, over 15,000 underprivileged kids have been impacted meaningfully. As we enter the fourth year, Mumbai Indians have drawn up plans to touch upon an additional 15,000 children this year itself who deserve this rightful education.” She also strives to build awareness amongst various groups of the society so that this educational movement can grow bigger and reach more number of children. The initiative clearly states that the right to education for each child is the same. Based on this belief, EFA- was incubated in 2010 and is unfailingly trying to give children an opportunity to study, learn and grow. Nita Ambani believes that a child should walk to school with a bag full of dreams. As a part of this initiative, Mumbai Indians also supports girl education strongly.
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