Why stand with Dalit children?
Dalit children face innumerable barriers to success, living in a society which tells them every day that they have no value. In India today, despite laws which forbid caste discrimination, the plight of Dalit families remains perilous.
Campaigners using national crime statistics say a crime is committed against a Dalit person every 18 minutes. Citation
Yet in a society which denies their personhood and demeans their dignity, Dalit families in the Patripul slum have experienced the work of the GCare Foundation as a beacon of light and Christian hope for more than a decade.
Every day our partners show Dalit children they are precious. We believe God loves every one of them, and they have the same right to respect and opportunity as any other child.
Funding Faith in Action in Patripul
This Lent we want to raise £15,000 to support this important work, which is helping more and more children, in creative and individualised ways, and so clearly demonstrates the love and hope intrinsic to the Christian faith, to a community denied this by their own culture. It has never been more needed.
Who are the GCare leaders?
The work of the GCare Foundation springs directly from the earliest days of Global Care, when we supported Jyoti Nilyam – the House of Light – a children’s home for orphaned and abandoned Dalit children near Mumbai, from the mid-1980s.
All the trustees of the GCare Foundation were once children at the House of Light. They are determined to pay forward the life-changing Christian care they received, by changing the lives of other marginalised low-caste children. What a testimony! Truly, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
What do the GCare Centres do?
Three GCare Centres in Kalyan, near Mumbai, support around 250 Dalit children with a safe space where they can learn. Children receive teaching and homework support in lessons including Maths, English and local languages. As well as education, they receive a nutritious snack.
GCare staff advocate for children’s needs at school and home, fighting to ensure they go to school rather than out to work or to beg, and that when they do get to school they are treated fairly by teachers.
*Rohul and his younger brother were discovered by the GCare team living in a shack on the hillside in Patripul.
Dad’s lack of education meant that not only could he not find a good job, when he did find work he was frequently cheated out of a proper wage.
Rohul was not in school. His dad told the team he just couldn’t afford it.
The GCare team arranged admission to a local primary school, provided school essentials, and admitted Rohul to a GCare centre. Now Rohul is at school every day, has extra support and a nutritious snack at the centre, and he and his family could not be happier.
Rohul was not in school. His dad told the team he just couldn’t afford it.After over a decade of advocacy, staff in local schools know that when a child is in the care of the GCare team, they must treat them fairly – for example, let them participate in lessons, not insist they clean toilets, and they must mark their books – all common forms of discrimination against Dalit children.
The GCare team also intervene to meet welfare needs where appropriate – perhaps a food parcel, a safe home after eviction, helping mum find work, medical treatment, hygiene supplies, school uniform and equipment. The needs are many… the resources are few… but the ingenuity and commitment of the GCare team is endless!
Can you stand with Dalit children this Lent?
For the first time in her life, *Priya celebrated her birthday, thanks to the staff at the GCare Centre. Although her brother’s birthday is always celebrated, her parents never mark Priya’s birthday. Priya says, “When I joined GCare I got joy and peace – the GCare centre is like a peacemaker for all girls like me.”
This Lent, you have an opportunity to be a peacemaker for children like Priya. To provide children like her with an education, but also an advocate, welfare support and a safe space where they are not afraid.
Help us raise £15,000 for children like Priya, giving them hope for a better future.
I want to help