Projects -> MAHAD

Development of the Kathkaris (adivasi) in the Mahad region

Responsible NGO : Jankalyan Trust, Mahad, Raigad District
Project coordinator: Fr. Carlton Kinny
Period: Boarding school – 2 years (2007-08). Farm – 1 year (2007)
Budget: Boarding school – 7,400 € / year. Farm – 6,109 €

Jankalyan Trust is a legally founded church organization working in Mahad since 1996, 150 Km south of Mumbai.

The aim of the project is to improve the situation of the Kathkaris by raising their awareness of their present situation and working for them to recover their freedom by fighting against illiteracy, poverty and disease. The Kathakaris are one of the most underdeveloped adivasi tribes, and are considered by the Government as a primitive people.

he proposal is to maintain a boarding school for 150 girls and boys along with a farm that will make it self-financing. The fact that the boarding school functions well will favour the parents' trust as well as the establishment of a literate generation.

Specific objectives of the project:

•  To improve the education of the tribal school population (children between 8 and 16 years old) in Mahad and its surroundings.
•  To provide a roof, food, and medical attention as well as the necessary psychological and educational support for the development of these 150 children in their tribal community.
•  To create an awareness of the importance of education amongst the parents.
•  To develop other skills in the children (art, computing and agricultural work).
•  To raise an awareness of the consequences of premature marriages.
•  To seek self-financing the boarding school with the sale of surplus milk and milk products obtained on the newly created farm, which is also part of the project. The stable will have to be extended, high quality cows bought, the person in charge named and there will have to be a guarantee that the children participate as part of their education.

Budget

After our experience in the last 5 years, we have decided to continue putting our trust in this project and extend its financial support for 2 more years.

The budget for the boarding school is 200 € / year / child. Therefore, in the next 2 years we will finance 25 % of the total amount claimed for the boarding school. This implies financing 37 children from 16 different villages where illiteracy reaches 70 %. The yearly global budget of the boarding school is 26,650 €, of which ADA finances 7,400 € per year.

Thanks to supplementary classes and to the support, the children in the boarding school will be able to continue their education successfully at school. Besides, they will receive resources to consider themselves as part of Indian society with all the rights and obligations.

Moreover, in this new stage, 2 initiatives will be carried out to create a new way of doing with the aim to increase its sustainability. On the one hand, the construction of a small stable for which 10 cows will be bought, whose milk will not only be put on sale, but will also be used for the children's breakfast; on the other, the cultivation of a small vegetable garden (6,100 € in 2007, financed exclusively by ADA).