Some facts about the I-India “Ladli projectâ€:
Ladli is a vocational training programme for abused, orphaned and destitute children
• The first centre was established for girls in August 2005, and a centre for boys opened in February 2006. Both are located in Jaipur, India, and are projects of I-India – a local, non-profit NGO whose donors include Unicef, Finland and the Government of India.
• The centre not only protects children from the danger of street-life, but teaches jewellery-making, tailoring and stitchwork in the hope that the students will be able to support themselves in the future
• Proceeds from the sale of jewellery and other sales go to the children and towards funding the project.
• However... donations are still needed to pay for materials, teachers, counselors etc. so that these children can continue to learn how to support themselves financially.
Some facts about street children:
[Statistics from SKCV and UNICEF]
• It has been estimated that there are currently 11 million children without homes in India
• 33% of these children are aged between 6 and 10
• Until 1993, the term "street child" did not figure in the "Official Vocabulary" of post-independence India
• There is absolutely no legislature that specifies the term "Street Children" in the judiciary of India.
• The Juvenile Justice system is so limited that street children are often sent to remand in adult jails where they face physical and sexual abuse for indefinite periods of detention.
• Usually children work by collecting and selling waste paper, plastic, scrap metal etc
• As of 2001, 12.6 million Indian children were engaged in hazardous occupations
• Many children are lured into bonded work or "work-camps" that they are unable to escape from
• Over 40% of female sex workers enter into prostitution before the age of 18 years.
• TB, leprosy, typhoid, malaria, jaundice and liver/kidney disorders are common. Venereal disease is rampant among older children. HIV & AIDS cases are now widely seen.
Our Project:
JHAG COMMUNITY PROJECT
Work has started on our project in India, with the construction of a boundary wall and a temporary school for the local children. The community is looking forward to the construction of the centre, which will include:
•2 dormitories to house orphaned or homeless children
•a vocational centre (to teach jewellery making and tailoring)
•a medical centre specialising in gynaecological services
•an old aged care clinic
•a school room
•a library and toy library
•cricket pitch, playground and entertainment for the children
