Context

Sankarapuram is one of the poorest villages in southeastern India. Its 1,362 inhabitants are spread out among 315 households. Nearly one out of every three children is without formal schooling, due in large part to poverty. These children tend to be child workers as well as abandoned or neglected children… whose most fundamental rights are not respected.

Composed essentially of a population issuing from the low castes, the village of Sankarapuram needs assistance to ensure its development. More than 71% of the adult population has no steady income. It is at the villagers’ demand that our organization has launched this project for promoting the sustainable and fair development of the village.

Objectives

Eradicate Child Labour and improve the living conditions of the most underpriviledged in the long term.

• Ensure lasting, long-term primary school education for all the children in the village ;
• reduce extreme poverty and provide a stable revenue for each family ;
• teach adults to read and provide professional training, especially for women ;
• reduce malnutrition and guarantee a rich and balanced diet ;
• promote gender equality and the autonomy of women ;
• improve health and hygiene, and reduce infant mortality ;
• preserve the environment and reduce the effects of pollution ;
• make respect for Human Rights a reality ;
• improve local governance and promote participation in the democratic process ;
• reduce the digital divide, and ensure access to information and communication.

Activities

The main characteristic of this development project is its global approach, combining the strength of six development programs, which focus on : Education, Microfinance, Health , Human Rights, Citizenship and Environment.

This integrated community approach strives to cover all villagers’ needs. This is a complete solution that takes the complexity, the variety and the interconnected nature of the problems into account.