Get 10 000 children out of labour and into school

Durga, 13, lives in a village with her father, mother, and small sister. Durga’s mother supports the family by doing daily wage work but had wanted a different future with different opportunities for her daughter. The family have suffered badly during the pandemic as Durga’s mother has been unable to work. At times, Durga hasn’t known whether she could continue her schooling; her mother needed her to earn a daily wage during the worst of the crisis and when the choice is between survival and education, survival wins. We don’t want families to have to face that terrible dilemma. So this project helped keep the family afloat by providing food parcels. Our partners are passionate about ensuring Durga’s education doesn’t suffer. They have provided educational materials such as notebooks, a new school bag, a geometry box, and other equipment. Online lessons haven’t been possible for her because the family has no mobile phone or internet connection.  Durga had resigned herself to leaving education at 13. 

The project’s fieldworker also developed materials especially for Durga and took them to her home. They explained the benefit of Durga’s education to her mother, to encourage family support to remain in education, rather than having to earn a daily wage. The fieldworker visits Durga weekly to ensure she feels supported and is engaged in her studies. 

Durga shares “the self-learning material saved my schooling. Without it I would have dropped out of school. I’m now confident that I’ll go for my exams and also complete my further education.” 

Thank you for donating to this project; your support has helped save Durga from leaving school at 13. Her future is looking brighter. 

With the pandemic continuing to disrupt children's education and communities' livelihoods, we have been supporting our partners to address the real and live problems facing people on the margins in rural India. With vaccination access being hugely affected by gender inequality, our partners are working in communities to support women and other vulnerable people to access the vaccine.

Prakash shares: 

“Up until now, we had individually supported community members to get registered and access the vaccination centre through an outreach programme. We started this in areas where the vaccine is readily available. 

In our project area, to ensure the availability of vaccines for our underprivileged communities, we have communicated with the converted military hospital and jointly planned a vaccination camp.  We will also be coordinating with workers for awareness-raising about the benefits of the vaccine, mobilizing people for vaccination. Our community women leaders are coordinating and are vital to this programme.”

Public health is a critical component to ensure children can receive a safe and consistent education. Your support ensures our partners can address the barriers to children’s right to quality education. At this time, children continue to be supported with home learning with materials, tuition in small groups and home visits to support their welfare. Thank you!