At ‘Project Help India’ we are committed to respond to the needs of those who are displaced, like the family whose house is shown in the photo above. I (Doug) took this photo a few years ago in the North Indian city of Haridwar. You are looking at a home made out of rubbish, located in a car park, 100 metres from the “mighty” Ganges River. I was embarrassed to take this photo but I could not believe what I was looking at. It was a heart breaking and sobering moment to stand there, and to imagine the life and circumstances of this incredibly poor family.
On the day of taking this photo I was a guest speaker at a roadside gathering of children and parents as part of ‘Operation Freedom’, a Uttarakhand Police program which aimed to get kid beggars off the streets and enrolled into schools. Many of the kids who would beg for money would live in slums and places like this.
Look again at the photo …imagine if this was your home. What hopes would you have for your future? If you were the father, what dignity and sense of worth would you have as you thought about your ability to provide and care for your family. If you were the mother, what confidence, what fears would you have for the health, education and safety of your children? These thoughts, feelings and fears are the reality for hundreds of millions of refugees around the world today.
Statistics tell us that there were over 5 million internally displaced people in India due to climate change and natural disasters. You can easily stretch this number if you consider the countless millions who are displaced and constantly relocating due to the vicious cycle of poverty (recently made worse by COVID). Many are forced to move from their rural village home to relocate and look for work in the city. Many of these people, including children, live on the streets or in slums with little or no access to adequate sanitation, emergency health care, education and advocacy. Because of the caste system in India, these people are ostracised, vulnerable, targeted and easily exploited.
At ‘Project Help India’ we work alongside these most vulnerable people, providing schooling, nutritious meals, crisis aid and interventions, counselling and delivering short courses to up-skill young people for employment. These are the slum people, the Dalits, who we have worked with for 10 years now. Amit, our Director writes;
They settle mostly besides rivers and railway tracks, and have houses made of plastic and wood (Kuccha House). They hope to accumulate money through jobs like labours and hawkers, and be able to live satisfactory life. But even after their migration they are unable to achieve anything they hoped for. They need to do extremely hard work in order to even be able to afford food for their family. These people are mainly labours (both male and female), hawkers who sell cheap utensils (both male and female), and garbage collectors (mostly women and children). They must work hard in the chilling cold as well as in the hot and humid climate of Uttarakhand to support their family. Their houses do not provide them with necessities like electricity, clean drinking water, urinal facilities, etc. Also during floods, the people living near rivers suffer the most. Along with lack of basic human needs they also lack sanitation making them prone to diseases. The children are unable to go schools due to the meagre wage of parents and hence have to do jobs like labour and garbage collector to support the family. These refugees are also not able to prove the ownership of their land and their citizenship as there are no documents of them being born here in Uttarakhand. Hence the government is also not able to help them in any way possible. They are also not able to get government ration due to this. By opening our Slums Educational Center here, the people in these area are given new hope to survival.
Vulnerable to trafficking
Our parenting awareness programs teach mothers and fathers about the very real dangers of their children being exploited into labour, particularly being trafficked. These most vulnerable children often disappear or have been sold by their parents promised that their child would have a better future rather than endure their present circumstances. It’s very sad…but with your help we are making a difference, and bringing love, dignity and purpose to the lives of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet.
This ‘World Refugee Day’ we can have awareness, empathy, compassion and make a difference. Your donation to ‘Project Help India’ will be used to advocate for and help some beautiful families who are displaced, and who live a life that is so terribly different from all of our Western comforts.
Please donate to our cause by the end of this financial year
With the Australian tax-year finishing in 10 days, your donation is tax deductible…it’s a perfect time to help us. Click the DONATE button located on this page.
