The Forgotten International - India

Butterflies

New Delhi, India
www.butterflieschildrights.org

Butterflies is a volunteer organization reaching out to street and working children in Delhi since 1989. Their main goal is to provide children with the skills and knowledge to protect their own rights and develop into respected and productive citizens of society. It is their belief that every child has a fundamental right to protection, respect and the opportunity to participate in his or her own growth and development. The organization is in contact with over 1,500 children living and / or working in bus terminals, railway stations, markets and parks. They have arranged monthly Children's Council Meetings guided by an adult Child Rights Facilitator where children come to discuss the issues which affect their lives, share their concerns and find collective solutions. Butterflies also offers assistance with coping and management skills in the face of each child's current situation and responsibilities. It links these children with much-needed services such as health, legal aid, counseling, financial, cultural, arts, sports and vocational training in order to empower each one to be self-reliant and independent. TFI has provided blankets to help some street children get through the winters, donated some sports equipment and small grants to support their efforts.

Swati Kanak Durga Center

New Delhi, India

Swati is a community center and school, as well as a technical training and skills academy for some of the poorest children and youth in New Delhi, India. The Center's school serves about as many girls as boys and works to build up their self-esteem and confidence. The children are treated with the utmost respect, learn to love school, and are given time to play. They are fed daily and provided with needed health care and immunizations. Additionally, they are taught the importance of community and the need to protect the environment. The younger children are always sent to school clean and ready to learn, while the older students spend hours each day honing their language and computer skills. The Center has four simple classrooms, three computers, a few typewriters, an all-purpose room, and a dirt area in which to play. TFI supports these kids with donations of clothing and toys, as well as tuition fees.

The Greenfield Paramount School

Kusumpur Village, New Delhi, India

Founded by women who live in one of the poorest slums in Delhi, the school offers basic education to children ages 4 to 12 at a cost of 2 Rupees a week (5 US cents). Even at this price, many parents cannot afford to pay. Nevertheless, no child is ever turned away. All children are provided uniforms and learn basic skills in rudimentary lean-to classrooms. They have few school supplies, take lessons on long wooden benches, and have bathrooms facilities that are simply holes in the ground. Yet, these children come to school every day and work with teachers who get paid almost nothing in order to build a better future. TFI provides tuition support in an effort to keep these kids in school.

Tibetan Children's Village

India
www.tibchild.org

Tibetan Children's Village is a self-contained integrated community with family homes for children, schooling facilities and vocational and teacher training centers. Originally, it was established as a transit care center for the thousands of Tibetan children orphaned or separated from their families leaving their homeland during the Chinese occupation. In the 1990's refugee children flooded the main TCV at Dharamsala, smuggled out by parents trying to send their children to freedom. The overcrowding forced the development of more educational facilities all over India. Today, they provide education, family life, support and love to over 33,000 Tibetan children and live-in care to over sixteen-thousand children all over India. TFI supports their efforts by providing tuition and boarding fees for several children each year.

Harmony Through Education

Dharamsala, Northern India
www.harmonythrougheducation.org

Harmony Through Education (HTE) is a learning center for physically and mentally challenged children. In Gamru, Dharamsala, HTE involves and instructs parents of mentally and physically challenged children on how to best meet their child's needs, while providing educational opportunities for these young people. In addition, their facilities are used for parent / teacher meetings, adult education, health and environmental education, community improvement and general empowerment meetings. In doing this, HTE contributes to the well-being of the entire community, while enhancing the lives of children who otherwise would have little or no opportunity to progress. TFI is pround to support the efforts of these children as they face new challenges each day.

Tibetan Delek Hospital

Dharamsala, Northern India
www.delekhospital.org

Nestled in the hills along the northern Indian Himalayas, Tibetan Delek Hospital has been providing health care services in Dharamsala since 1971. The hospital offers inpatient care with 45 patient beds, a pharmacy, laboratory and tuberculoses clinic. It also provides dental, eye care and emergency assistance. Medical services are made available at minimal or complimentary rates depending on genuine need. Furthermore, the hospital provides a half-day of outpatient consultations and treatment to postnatal and tuberculoses patients, children under five, and those in need of immunizations. These part-time doctors see on average 30 to 40 patients per day. Also, the hospital's Public Health Office works to promote preventative health care, AIDS education, anti-smoking campaigns, diabetes and blood pressure camps, and their community health project provides mobile health care to all nineteen Tibetan settlements in Himachal Pradesh. TFI is proud to support this charitable hospital with small funds and donations of medical supplies.

Khalsa Public School

Khaira Majja, Jalandhar, India

Located in the Punjab region of India, in a farming village outside the city of Jalundhar, the Khalsa School is made up of the Primary School for the younger children and the Rural Senior Secondary School for students who had completed their elementary education. When TFI came to this school in 2006, we were welcomed warmly by teachers and the village government who were all very dedicated to their students. Encouraging equal educational opportunities, the student body comprises students from Sikh, Hindu and Christian faiths, all castes and most impressively, more than half of the students are girls. Educating young girls is one important tool in lifting this generation out of poverty. Some children come from extremely poor backgrounds and in visiting their homes, we found no electricity, no hot water and in some cases, no door and tarp for a roof. Nevertheless all students work extremely hard and have dreams for a brighter future. TFI gave towards the general support for this school and its children.

Tibetan Nuns Project

Dharamsala, Northern India
www.tnp.org

In 1991 a group of 66 refugee nuns appeared overnight on the streets of Dharamsala, India. They had completed a two-year pilgrimage from eastern Tibet that ended in a grueling journey over the Himalayas. Ill and exhausted, the women had nowhere to go. The Tibetan Women's Association organized emergency assistance to provide for their basic needs, and eventually the Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP) was formed to find long-term solutions and secure housing, medical care, and most importantly, education for the refugee nuns. Besides their religious training, the nuns also achieve self-sufficiency through educational training opportunities. The TNP continues to assist recently arrived refugee nuns from Tibet and establishes facilities for Buddhist nuns from many traditions. TFI provides small grants to help these courageous young women start a new life in India.

Lha

Dharamsala, Northern India
www.lhaindia.org

Lha, the Tibetan word for fundamental goodness, is a grassroots, social work organization working to facilitate an easy transition for displaced Tibetan exiles in and around Dharamsala, India. The organization helps create educational, cultural and social bridges for refugees by offering free year- round language and computer skills courses. Their community development projects also aim to provide clothing, shelter and clean water to anyone in need. Lha's ultimate goal is to establish community connections and increase the quality of life for the greater majority of the population, while simultaneously preserving the cultural traditions of Tibet. TFI provides small grants for their overall opperations.

Tong-Len Charitable Trust

Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India
www.tong-len.org

Tong-Len is a registered charitable trust aiming to help impoverished communities from the poorest regions of India escape from poverty and ill-health. Their child sponsorship program makes it possible for the children of street beggars to go to school and pays for their school fees, uniforms, books, clothes and medical care. Tong-Len also supports an informal teaching program in impoverished encampments which offers basic education to residents and children with special needs. Furthermore, they organize community information seminars about public health, hygiene and environmental management. Tong-Len hopes to introduce a comprehensive health care program with the aim of reducing the spread of disease, expand their current educational program to include a greater number of students, encourage more income-generating activities in the camps and provide basic water and sanitary facilities. TFI's support helps to achieve these goals.

Pingalwara

Punjab, India
www.pingalwaraonline.org

Pingalwara is the vision of much revered humanitarian Bhagut Puran Singh, a man who dedicated his life to helping the disabled and destitute citizens of India. He created a home for the homeless, underprivileged and mentally challenged where they can come to live, and die, with dignity. Today, his vision has expanded to five separate facilities stretching across the Punjab state of Northern India. They provide shelter to over 1,000 people suffering from mental and physical disorders and disease. Donations help fund treatment clinics, education and rehabilitation centers, and insure proper cremation rites are performed. Above all, Pingalwara provides home-like comforts to those who would otherwise be abandoned by society. TFI gives general support for this organization.

Youth Net

Kohima, Nagaland, India
www.youthnet.org.in

Located in one of the poorest areas of India, YouthNet was founded by a young Indian attorney who grew up in Nagaland. It is a children's rights and advocacy project committed to educating young people about the problems they face and provide them with the necessary skills to affect change. The organization cares most about alleviating child exploitation, stopping child labor, and promoting universal education, effective citizenry and voting rights. The Forgotten International helps support YouthNet's Education Fund which supports two remote village schools, Mountain View School in Suruhuto and Agape School in Kiphire. It focuses on two areas. First, setting up a library to encourage the children to read, and second, offering scholarships to meritorious students who are too poor to afford their school fees. Seven students from Mount View School and six students from Agape School are presently receiving scholarships.