By Jane Manson | Fundraising
Parveen is 25 years old. She has five children and was recently widowed. She lives in a shack beside the railway tracks close to Park Circus Station in Central Kolkata.
Parveen supports her family by rag picking. She goes out into central Kolkata between10:30 pm and 5:30 am and scours the streets and bins for any dry solid waste (cardboard, paper, plastics and metal) that she can sell on to a dealer. Typically she earns 200 rupees ($3) a day (and often less). Since her husband died she has been unable to pay rent on her shelter and has fallen 3 months in arrears. The family risks being turned out onto the street. Her oldest child, Simran, ought to be in school, but Parveen needs her at home to help with the smaller children and look after them whilst she is out collecting waste.
Parveen is in crisis: she doesn't know where to turn. But thanks to you and this project, we can help get Parveen and her children back on their feet. Your generous donations mean that we can provide Parveen with a weekly food parcel. This will include all dry rations - rice, flour, dal, salt, sugar - as well as fruit and vegetables, eggs and milk. With enough food to feed the family, she won't have to go out rag picking at night. Simran will return to school and the whole family will have a much needed health check.
Once things have settled, we will start to work with Parveen to prepare her to take up vocational training and to set up a small business of her own under our very successful Livelihood Programme. Over the last 3 years nearly 400 former rag pickers have turned their lives around by taking a small microloan to start a small business. Read about the programme here.
So please consider a special donation today. I was with Parveen just last week and her situation is critical. But hers is not the only needy family. We desperately need funds to help get very vulnerable families through difficult times.
Thank you as ever for your generosity
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
