For in Dalapchand village, one of the poorest in the district, the farmland is exhausted, drained by years of over-use that even crop rotation fails to prevent. Their crops are failing through this soil infertility in combination with the adverse attentions of fungi and parasites. The village is only able to feed itself for about two months of the year and the quality of the food that is produced is so poor that adults and children alike are malnourished and prone to illness. The rest of the time their financial distress is compounded by having to import expensive food to feed themselves. That is a very difficult chore for the villagers as the only way of getting into and out of the village is along a steep track that is just wide enough for one porter and takes two hours to climb. As if this isn’t bad enough, that one route is now severely compromised and dangerously fragile following a huge landslide that occurred next to the track in 1996.

In short the Dalapchand community is clinging onto its very existence and apparently losing the battle for survival. The children of the village are feeling the impact of this economic downturn most of all, with a very high infant mortality, high maternal mortality (no doubt linked to early marriages) and general ill health of the mothers and children. Education is very limited with a high school drop out rate; many children either marry young or are trafficked into domestic labour in the south. We know of no fewer than 36 children from this small village alone who are all in child labour when they should be at home and attending school.

The Dalapchand Village Project will run for a total of three and a half years with the overall aim of improving the viability of Dalapchand community and in so doing benefit the education, health and development of children and the health of their mothers. This will be through an Integrated Early Childhood Development Programme that will operate out of a new purpose-built centre in the village which can give educational and health support to parents and children. In parallel with this, income generation initiatives will make the community sustainable and allow the people to cherish and preserve their culture and identity. In return for our support we will expect the community to take better care of their children, to stop the trafficking and retrieve all those who are currently in child labour in the south of the country.