60 million girls in Rajasthan, India

We have now arrived in the northern state of Rajasthan, India, where we partnered with Free The Children in 2010 to support an education project in the Udaipur District for marginalized populations such as the Adivasis, Dalits and Other Backward Classes (a collective term of the Indian government).

This project provided for the construction of four classrooms, as well as teacher training, education awareness and community mobilization. In addition, a library and community resource centre were built, a community garden was set up and nutrition and health education and awareness programs put in place.

Welcome to India!

Girls’ education in India

• In August 2009, the Indian parliament passed the landmark Right to Education Act making education free and compulsory for children between the ages 6 and 14.
• However, the government did not ban either housework or agricultural work by children. Girls, in particular, often drop out of school to look after their younger siblings or have to contribute to the household chores.
• Other barriers to girls’ education are the lack of proper sanitary facilities and safety concerns.
• There has been progress but much work is still needed to break down barriers that prevent girls from going to school.

Are you ready for a hike?

• Older than the Himalayas, the Western Ghats are a mountain range that runs along the western coast of India, a region covering an area of 160,000 km². The lush mountains are home to thousands of species of flora and fauna and are so biologically diverse that they’ve been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Take a stroll through the forests or day-long walks up to some of the highest tea fields in the world – truly an incredible sight.
• In the Himalayan foothills, you’ll find the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary spreads over 45 km² and its altitude varies from 900 to 2,500 metres, with sweeping panoramas of the great peaks of the Himalayas.
• The Ajanta and Ellora Caves, both UNESCO World Heritage sites, are magnificent. 30 km northwest from the city of Aurangabad, the Ellora’s 34 caves were carved from the stone face of the Charanandri hills between the 6^th and 9^th The caves are actually monasteries and temples, extending for more than 2 km, and were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff. About 100 km northeast are the Ajanta Caves, formidable caverns cut into cliffs between the 2^nd and 1^st centuries BCE and the 5^th and 6^th centuries CE to house Buddhist temples, shrines, prayer halls and dormitories.

Ellora Caves / Photo: Bruno Poppe