Uma

Founder

Uma is the founder of Suyam Charitable Trust (1999)[1], an Indian non-profit working on education, women & children and livelihood from Chennai.

V. Uma, known as Dr Uma, is an Indian educationist and the founder managing trustee of the Suyam Charitable Trust in Chennai. The trust, which began as a group of volunteers in 1987 and was registered as a public charitable trust in 1999, provides free education and support to children from nomadic and begging communities, street children, bonded labourers and other disadvantaged families.

She founded the trust with Muthuram Narayanaswami and a group of associates; Suyam records that the two of them had begun volunteering together in Chennai's slums as twelve-year-olds.

Career

Suyam's work began with fifty families found begging in Chennai. In 2003 the trust opened Siragu Montessori School near Avadi on the outskirts of Chennai, starting with about thirty children; the school was destroyed by fire in 2004 and relocated within two days. In 2008 the trust took over Bharathamatha School in Vyasarpadi. It introduced a higher secondary curriculum in 2015, started a gaushala in 2017 and opened Siragu Industrial College for vocational training in 2019.

Suyam reports that Siragu Montessori School now provides free education to more than 460 children, including residential students, and that Bharathamatha School serves a further 125; more than 2,500 children have been educated free of charge since the schools began. The trust also supports students through higher education, and runs community development work with nomadic tribes including health activities, rights advocacy, women's self-help groups and pre-school provision.

Uma describes herself as an education researcher working on self-learning processes and thinking skills in mainstream classrooms, and has developed modules for teacher-training programmes. She founded the Iconowrite Academy to promote creative writing. She has also led Suyam's disaster relief work, heading teams during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. She spoke at TEDxChennai in 2018 and at the first TEDxRMKEC in 2019.

Recognition

Suyam lists a long series of awards to Uma. They include a Governor's Award (Raj Puraskar) in 1990; recognition as best NSS volunteer between 1992 and 1995; the Youth Achiever Award from Yuvashakthi and the Gold Star Millennium Award from the National Integral Cultural Academy in 2010; the Mother Teresa Award from the Malaysia S. Palanivel Memorial Trust in 2011; recognition as a Big Chennaite by BIG FM for outstanding contribution to education in 2012; a Women Achievers Award from JCI Sivakasi Dynamic in 2013; Women Achiever Awards from the Lioness Council, the Rotary Club of Madras Silver Beach and First Copy Productions in 2017; the True Hero Award from Merck India in 2017; the Seva Dharmikk Award from the Latha Raja Foundation in 2018; the Vocational Service Award of the Rotary Club of Madras Downtown and the Namma Ooru Hero Award from Sun TV in 2019; the Peace Builder Award of Rotary International District 3232 in 2020; the Gouthama Buddha Award of Peace in 2021; a Covid Warrior Award from the Jamal Mohamed College alumni association in 2022; a lifetime achievement award in social development and education from Lions Clubs International District 3241 in 2023; the Nandha Deepam Award for best social service from the Nandhalala Seva Samithi Trust in 2024; and the Bharathi Kanda Pudumai Penn honour at Bharat Utsav in 2025.[2][3][4][5][6]

Suyam Charitable Trust

SUYAM Charitable Trust was formally registered in August 1999 by a group of college students and experienced social activists who had already been working in the field since 1987. It works to improve conditions in poor communities in Chennai through education and career guidance for youth, and by addressing problems such as child labour, begging, school dropouts and early marriage. It also builds networks with like-minded groups to widen its impact.

Suyam Charitable Trust reports the following, on its own site: