The Past...
A survey among villages in the ten km
area surrounding Snehalaya - a care home at Gwalior, India -
included 43 villages (total population of about 250,000) highlighted
some disturbing figures and trends. From 250,000 only 1408
children have received a college education. Only 12 were girls.
Currently, 90% of female children have never attended a school for
various social and economic reasons.
While 70% of male children
attend primary schools till the age of 11, only 30% of them receive
any further education. Most of the girls in these villages remain
uneducated and undergo oppression throughout their adult lives.
In turn, this leads to the same future for their children, thus
reinforcing the vicious circle.
There are some educational facilities they are mainly targeted at boys and men. This project will be aimed at girls because they get little education opportunities due to a range of factors specifically family attitudes.
The Present ...
It is estimated that over 43,000 dollars will be spent on EBay within the next hour.
According to the magazine "Newsweek", EBAY now has more than 2 million items for auction daily. It's expected to quadruple gross merchandise sales this year, to $3 billion, from which it skims a profitable 6%.
Despite this evidence of affluence in one part of the world, in another region, Indian children (especially girls) are denied the basics of Western life that most take for granted.
The Gwalior Childrens Hospital Charity is doing something. At it's Snehalaya campus it is currently building a two storey, 6 classroom school which will focus on girls from these villages.
Even more - in December 2010, U.K.'s Reed Foundation will again participate in the UK's "BigGive Matched Funding Challenge" to the value of 50,000 pounds -- and hopefully more than 40,000 pounds will be raised.
But the need is still urgent.
Once the school is completed, running costs have ,to to be met.
Their Future ...
Together, we can turn this around
