The first Legacy
Shernaz Firoze Vakil
Ex-President, The Rotary Club of Bombay
Shernaz’s endowment supports one Mising child’s complete journey through the school every year in perpetuity: the founding gift the Circle is named for.
The Legacy Circle
A network of believers committed to the long-form education of Mising children from Majuli. A single endowment of ₹8 lakhs sits as corpus, the annual interest educates one child for the nine years of school, then rolls to the next. Forever.
How it works
The mechanism is older than philanthropy itself, but rarely set up this cleanly. One gift, one corpus, one child at a time, forever.
Step 01
₹8,00,000
You give once
A single endowment contribution to the Hummingbird Legacy Circle, held by Ayang Trust. The capital stays in the corpus, fully protected. Nothing of it is spent.
Step 02
~₹56,000 / yr
Interest educates one child
The annual interest on your Legacy, at conservative deposit rates, covers one residential child's complete year at the school. Tuition, books, food, bed, mentorship.
Step 03
9 years
Until they finish Class 10
Your Legacy stays with that one child through their entire school journey. They graduate from Grade 10 having spent every learning year under your name.
Step 04
Forever
The corpus moves to the next
When the first child graduates, the Legacy moves to a new child entering school. And then the next. And then the next. The corpus never depletes, only the interest is spent.
Interest rate is illustrative based on prevailing FD rates for charitable corpus deposits. Actual yield is reported transparently in our annual financials.
Why a Legacy
People rarely give at this level because the numbers fit. They give because someone, somewhere, made them who they are, and this is a way of carrying that forward.
In honour of
A grandparent. A teacher. A friend. A Legacy in their name doesn't end with a plaque, every child who learns under it carries forward what that person stood for.
In memory of
Many families set up a Legacy when someone they loved passes. It's a quieter, more lasting form of remembrance than a one-time gift. The name stays. The children learn. The remembering continues.
From your family
Some donors give the Legacy as a family, parents, children, sometimes grandchildren, so the gift carries the family's name across generations. A bequest through a will fits the same shape.
What's included
Your named scholarship
The Legacy carries your chosen name, yours, a loved one's, or your family's, and that name follows every child it educates.
An inscription on campus
Your Legacy is permanently inscribed on the recognition wall at the school in Kulamua, where the children pass it every day on their way to class.
Quarterly written updates
A written note four times a year on how the child supported by your Legacy is doing, what they're reading, what they're playing, what they wrote this term.
Annual video message from the child
A short video each year directly from the child your Legacy supports, their voice, their classroom, their year in their own words.
Optional virtual meet-ups
If you'd like, we set up a short video call once or twice a year, you, the child, and a member of the school team. Some donors love it, some prefer the written updates. Entirely your choice.
Public recognition (opt-in)
If you'd like, your name (or the name in whose honour the Legacy is set up) is listed on this site's Legacy Circle page and the Annual Report. You can also remain entirely private.
Annual Report each May
Full audited financials, programme highlights, and a dedicated page documenting the Legacy Circle and its named donors.
An open invitation to Majuli
Visit the school whenever you're able. Stay on campus. Meet the child your Legacy is educating. We help with logistics for the journey from Jorhat.
Dinner Circles in your city
Small student-hosted gatherings, typically in Bombay or Bangalore, where Legacy donors meet a handful of Hummingbird students over a meal. Quiet, slow evenings, not fundraising dinners.
The Circle, behind the public list
Access to a small, private network of other Legacy donors, the annual donor evening at the school, a year-end letter from Bipin, and a quiet WhatsApp group for the people inside the Circle.
80G receipt
Indian donors: 50% tax-deductible under Section 80G, with a receipt by email as soon as the gift clears. Based abroad? Write to us and we'll find the best route together.
For groups, alumni, foundations
The Legacy framework also extends to physical spaces. A classroom can be named in honour of an individual, an alumni cohort, a family, or an institution, and that name stays on the door for as long as children learn behind it.
Who it suits
Alumni groups, university batch funds, family foundations, corporate CSR teams, and groups of friends who want to give together at a scale a single Legacy doesn’t reach.
What it includes
A permanent plaque on the classroom door, a dedicated page on this site, and an open invitation to the named group to visit, teach a workshop, or host an event in their classroom.
How to begin
Write to partnerships@ayang.org.in with a sense of who’s in your group and which name you’d like to carry forward. The figures and structure are worked out in conversation.
Founding members
Other Legacies are quietly being set up across India and abroad. If you would like the next Legacy to carry your name, write to us, we will start the conversation slowly and on your timeline.
The first Legacy
Ex-President, The Rotary Club of Bombay
Shernaz’s endowment supports one Mising child’s complete journey through the school every year in perpetuity: the founding gift the Circle is named for.
Common questions
Yes. The Legacy can be given in your own name, in honour of someone living, or in memory of someone you've lost. The named scholarship continues with that name in perpetuity, every year's child, and the next, and the next, learns under it.
Yes. Several Legacy donors have committed the ₹8 lakhs over two to four years. The corpus begins funding a child as soon as the first installment matures. We'll structure the schedule with you directly.
Yes. Ayang Trust is registered under Section 80G, donations are tax-deductible at 50%. We currently accept contributions from Indian bank accounts; if you're based abroad, write to us and we'll find the best way together.
Nothing changes. The corpus continues. The name stays. The next child, and the next, learn under your Legacy exactly as you set it up. Bequests through a will are also welcome, we'll work with your executor.
Yes, and several do. Multiple Legacies in a family can support a wing, a grade, or an entire programme like the Mising-language library. Write to us and we'll talk through the right structure for your family or organisation.
Yes. Some donors prefer to direct their Legacy at the Teacher Learning Ecosystem, the residencies and workshops that train educators across Northeast India. The mechanism is the same (corpus stays, interest spends), only the named outcome changes. We'll set it up either way.
Begin the conversation
Write to Bipin or Aswathy directly. One of them will set up a call at a time that suits you, by phone, video, or in person if you’re in India. There is no obligation, no follow-up cadence, no pressure. A Legacy at this scale should be made slowly, and we treat it that way.
Ayang Trust · Kulamua, Majuli, Assam, India · 80G registered · Charity reg. 59/2017 (Assam)