The Marginalised Community Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation project focuses on a variety of vulnerable and poor families / communities in rural India, where we work.
Vulnerable, poor and migrant families / communities often live without the fundamental freedoms of action and choice that many others take for granted. They lack adequate food and shelter, education, healthcare access and other social and political opportunities that keep them from leading a fulfilling life of their choosing.
Due to their marginalisation, they can also face extreme vulnerability to ill health, economic dislocation, and natural disasters. Discrimination affects them in their communities and they are often exposed to poor treatment by institutions of the state rendering them powerless to influence key decisions affecting their lives.
In order to facilitate their empowerment and effect sustainable change, we must first build strong relationships, proving that we are here to assist them, not to decide for or use them, as they are often accustomed to. They have a better understanding of their needs than we do and it is imperative that they have ownership in the development process and the decisions that affect them, thus community participation is strongly encouraged.
Our aim is to undertake applied research, inspire and nurture the development of skills for self-sufficiency, innovation and self-reliance through a variety of programs:
- Socio-economic mapping of the families / community
- Education and skills development (reading, writing, maths, Hindi, and basic English among children).
- Food security and preventive healthcare (including information & assistance accessing healthcare facilities)
- Micro-finance, micro-credit and micro-entrepreneurship
- Arts, Craft and Theatre (ACT supports art and craft development and social self esteem)
- General Education
Benefits for > Interns ; Volunteers ; Researchers