By Ekta Mundra | Communications Manager
Dehradun is located in the lower Himalayan mountain ranges in the Uttarakhand state of India. The winter season is cold with strong winds accompanying occasional rains. On some days, temperature reaches below freezing point.
Such low temperatures during the winter season increases hardships for the school going marginalized children. The worst affected are those who live on the streets and in slum areas of the city. They don’t have a permanent roof for shelter, let alone two pairs of warm clothes.
The months of November to February record the highest dropouts and the lowest level of school attendance among our children. We discovered one of the major reasons is the lack of adequate thermal clothes. This roots back to the unfavorable environment they come from: extreme poverty, discouraging parents, and education being low on priority compared to survival.
For Aasraa, it is a grave concern. If children get sick, they cannot attend school. Their studies get severely affected and eventually they drop out. Every year, we respond to this issue by providing appropriate thermal clothing to all of our children to keep them warm and healthy during the winter season.
With the generous support of our donors and well-wishers, we are able to meet the needs of our children year on year. In 2018, we provided woollen sweaters and thermal track suits to 2,000 children in Dehradun city.
We strongly believe that education cannot be achieved in isolation. We must take holistic care of our children throughout the year for their better growth. Warm clothing has always been one of the essential aspects of our work. We protect our children from the adverse effects of the brutal cold so they can stay fit and study without any obstacles.
We are sincerely grateful to all of our donors on GlobalGiving who have helped us serve our children better. With their invaluable support, our commitment to educate all marginalized children has strengthened with greater resources and capacity. A Big Thank you to all of them!
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