OUR Mission
Mission Statement
Pawel’s Children is a non-profit 501c3 foundation whose mission is to support the education and well-being of children in need. We currently support schools in India and Poland by providing funds for physical and digital infrastructure, student transportation, school supplies, tuition, meals, healthcare and enrichment opportunities.
Our goal is for every child, regardless of their background or current circumstances, to have the support they need to achieve their dreams. To advance this goal, Pawel’s Children takes no overhead, so 100% of donations the foundation receives go directly to schools educating and caring for children in need.
We Educate
We currently support schools in India and Poland.
We Help
Our goal is for every child, regardless of their background.
We Build
Donations go directly to schools for children in need.
We Donate
Providing funds for physical and digital infrastructure.
Our TEAM
Board of Directors
Monika Sywak
President
Denise Walsh
Treasurer/Secretary
Callan Walsh
Vice-President
Note
from Pawel’s Mother
My son Pawel Sywak died three years ago, just a few days shy of his 21st birthday. Outgoing and compassionate, he was also full of dreams. For three years, I have been searching for a way to honor him and give meaning to his life, cut so short, so unexpectedly.
In his short life, Pawel was dedicated to working with children, particularly those who were disadvantaged or mentally and physically challenged. As a volunteer for Friends and Buddies at the local YMCA, he derived great joy from helping improve the lives of others, but he was mature and perceptive enough to realize that the children he was helping, in his own words, “improve my quality of life more than I could ever improve theirs.”
In order to continue his legacy, and honor his dream, I have established 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Pawel’s Children Inc, to help the children at the Abhaneri School in Rajasthan, India, and children at other schools like it in India, achieve their dreams. – Monika Sywak.
I thought my life was hard, but that was just ignorance. I am blessed to be healthy, and it is my duty to help others in need.
Pawel, 2008
Pawel Sywak
About Pawel
My son Pawel Sywak died three years ago, just a few days shy of his 21st birthday. Outgoing and compassionate, he was also full of dreams.
Pawel was born in Poland in 1991, and in 1995, our family moved to the U.S. When Pawel entered preschool, he did not speak English, but this did not hold him back. While he never lost his sense of his Polish roots, he quickly acclimated to his new country. He started playing soccer in kindergarten and fell in love with the game; he continued to play soccer throughout grade school, middle school and high school. “Soccer has always played a tremendous role in my life; back as early as I can remember, my family would come together to watch games. Even as a toddler, I would sit with the adults and cheer for our country,” he wrote in his Wilton High School Varsity Soccer Yearbook.
Pawel was a wonderful, caring and compassionate big brother to his little brother Alex. Even though they were 10 years apart in age, they were very close. He attended many of Alex’s ice hockey games even though he himself never played the sport. He and Alex loved spending time together, and often had sleepovers in Pawel’s room, where they would spend the evening watching movies, playing Xbox and knee hockey.
An honor roll student, Pawel worked hard academically and was drawn to math and science related subjects. In high school, he volunteered his time at the after-school program at the Wilton YMCA, and when he turned 16, he got his first job as a YMCA after-school counselor. He also joined Wilton High School’s Friends & Buddies, a program that pairs high school students with children who are physically or mentally challenged. “I had no idea what to expect. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to connect with the kids. I had never interacted with physically or mentally challenged kids before, but through [my involvement with] the Friends & Buddies, I [feel I] have grown tremendously. I thought my life was hard, but that was just ignorance. All the things I am responsible for such as household chores, yard work and schoolwork are nothing compared to the everyday hardships [these kids face]. I am blessed to be healthy and it is my duty as a human being to help others in need.”
After graduating from Wilton High School, Pawel attended University of Connecticut. The year he died, he was a junior, majoring in Engineering. He was also a member of Alpha Delta Phi, which as its philanthropic cause, supported the Special Olympics program. Pawel loved University of Connecticut, and was a big fan of the school’s basketball team, the Connecticut Huskies. He wanted to enter the military when he graduated, and use his degree in engineering to work on maintaining and repairing military plane engines.
In January 2012, just days before Pawel died, he had been accepted as a volunteer for the UEFA (Union of European Football Association) during the coming summer, assisting with soccer games. He was excited about the opportunity to be involved with such an important event and cheer on the Polish soccer team.
In his short life, Pawel was dedicated to working with children, particularly those who were disadvantaged or mentally and physically challenged. As a volunteer for Friends and Buddies at the local YMCA, he derived great joy from helping improve the lives of others, but he was mature and perceptive enough to realize that the children he was helping, in his own words, “improve my quality of life more than I could ever improve theirs.“
When his younger brother graduated from 5th grade, Pawel wrote in his yearbook: “You miss 100% of the shots you never take so always shoot for the moon.”
Today we want to make Bainada Adrash Vidhya Mandir School a place where every child can shoot for a moon as well.
Abhaneri School
About Abhaneri School
View from 2014
The Abhaneri School in Rajasthan, India, is little more than a series of connected brick lean-tos with dirt floors, no doors, and a tin roof. The students sit on dirt floors for classes; walls painted with black rectangles serve as chalkboards. Basic school supplies are limited, and the school has no heat. Most of the children have no shoes; those who do have soles that are worn to the ground. And although they wear uniforms, their clothes are ill-fitting and threadbare.
The principal, Mr. Mahavir, started the school in 2004 as a volunteer to provide an education to the local children who may otherwise have not had the opportunity. He started the school with 40 children, but as parents in nearby villages heard about it, they started to send their children and the school has been growing now since. The tuition, for those who can pay it, is $2.50 per month. Many parents cannot even afford that amount, so Mr. Mahavir does what he can to cover their fee.
View from 2018
Possible thanks to your very generous donations 🙂