The Jesuit Mission we were working with is called Loyola Vikas Kendra. It was set up by the Jesuits about twenty years ago, and since then has grown rapidly, and done some great work starting to alleviate some of the problems in this poor area.

             The most important part of their mission is the education of the low caste children. Lack of education is one of the major problems in this rural area: illiterate parents do not see the benefits of education and are reluctant to send their children to school when they can be more useful at home; even parents who would like their children to be educated are often too poor and need the extra pair of hands for working the land; some children live too far from the nearest school to make the daily journey.

              LVK have established twelve hostels near village schools to provide accommodation for children from remote and illiterate areas who would otherwise not get to school. Often these hostels are used by local children whose parents are uneducated so that they can be given help with their studies. These hostels are very basic. The one classroom is also a dining room and all thirty or so students sleep on its stone floor at night. The washing facilities are only just adequate (some hostels have to collect water by hand from wells) and all the food is cooked on open fires.

 

 

 

 LVK also deals with children who have run away from home and got stuck in child labour in the towns, where they can be paid as little as ten rupees a day (12p). Although the government schools do encourage all the children in the area to attend, they do not persevere when a child is continually absent. LVK has one child labour school and one ‘open school’. These cater for those who have dropped out of government schools, whether because of child-labour, expulsion, or sometimes even failed admission on account of their low social standing. The children in these hostels all their education on site.

 LVK is an expanding project: At the moment they are building a new village hostel, a new residence, and a new district headquarters in the neighbouring district. They have a limited amount of funding from the government and the Jesuits so they are working on a very tight budget. In particular they are awaiting funding for a planned school for disabled children and child labour students. At present, LVK has one child labour school which is based in a rented building: a ‘converted’ cow shed. We have lived with these children for some time: they are keen to learn, and what is more, they are very able students. However, the present facilities are completely inadequate. They only receive running water every three to four days, there are no toilets so the children must go out to the nearby scrub land, which is not only incredibly unhygienic but also dangerous considering the snakes in the area. The classroom is too small and has two large pillars awkwardly placed in the middle of it. The kitchen doesn’t even have a chimney and the children have nowhere to play so end up playing volleyball in the street. This is clearly a dire situation.

 LVK has drawn up plans for a new hostel to provide for one hundred children released from child-labour, and twenty disabled children. This new building answers all the problems listed above. Obviously any donation would be gratefully accepted: in total they are requesting 1,284,000 Rupees for the construction, which at the current exchange rate is £16,689 or $29,549. Please donate generously.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate: Trustees for Roman Catholic Purposes will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. They will then send it straight to LVK which, for obvious reasons, is not a charity registered in the UK

Many thanks for your support.

 

Edmund Page