Educate street children in rural India

We have fantastic news. For the third time we are taking a stand #WithMalala in the Malala Fund’s Educate. Empower. Lead. campaign to promote girls’ education to help reduce the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC).

This is great recognition of the work we already carry out in slum and red-light communities thanks to your generous support. We were compelled to start our slum schools as we know that these are the breeding grounds for opportunists and traffickers and we are reaping the rewards as hundreds of children each year receive the extra tuition and support that enables them to complete their education and make informed choices about their own futures. With 75% of the female sex workers we work with being illiterate, it’s plain to see that education has a huge role to play in changing the destinies of slum children.

Educate. Empower. Lead. will allow us to engage with more of them, specifically girls aged 13-17, at risk or victims of CSEC, to inspire them to stand up for their rights to be educated. We will also empower them to challenge the barriers to equality in education and give them the forum to advocate for it with key influencers and decision makers.

Through workshops and roadshows, we will reach out to even more slum communities and red-light areas to educate and empower children through teaching them about their rights, the laws that protect them and the importance of equal access to learning. We will also create a network of children to advocate for their own rights in the hope that they will become future leaders in ensuring every child has the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. We’ll also be promoting and opening up opportunities for further and higher education and vocational training including those available through our own projects, such as our new bedside nursing and agricultural technology training courses.

We are hoping to reach many more girls like Pia and Ria. The sisters were orphaned when Pia was 10 and were forced to live on the streets of Pune, a large city, three hours’ drive from Ahmednagar. With little education, Pia was lured into marriage by a brothel keeper who also forced her younger sister to marry another pimp. Fortunately, we found them and brought them to our shelter home where they both received emotional support and were enrolled in school. Pia also trained in our onsite kitchen and is now a professional cook, while Riya is completing her 12th standard. With your support, we can reach out to rescue more children like Pia and Riya and help them to realise their full potential through vocational training and education.

Why your support is vital NOW!

• There was a 20% rise of women and children trafficked in India in 2016
• Only 7% of trafficked girls and women are rescued
• 80% of trafficked Indians are women and girls forced into commercial sex work
• 75,000 children in Maharashtra, a large proportion of them girls don’t attend school

Thank you for standing with us and allowing us to continue our work with children in slums that is giving us international recognition as experts in preventing CSEC. 

Links:

• Visit our website