The 2020 pandemic saw a rapid rise in global poverty especially in South Asia, and namely in INDIA.  The Pew Research Center, a US think tank based in Washington, informs that India added 75 million people to poverty (earning less than US$2/day) accounting for 60% of the rise in poor populations globally.  By contrast, China added 1 million to the poverty population.

Mother Foundation is adding a Sponsor A Child page in its new website because of need.  These 10 children are from a village in southern India called Addakurukki where Mother Foundation already has a presence. The need manifests in the common forms of poverty: malnutrition, illiteracy, unsafe water, lack of hygiene, child labor, disease,  and high infant mortality rates.  Lots have been written about India’s poverty–near 40% live at or below poverty line; female infanticide prevails; so does child trafficking & sexual exploitation; 47% of children under 5 are malnourished; 2 million die before their first birthday due to lack of immunizations and medical facilities.  But this page will focus only on Addakurukki village which is located close to Masard’s Rural Development Centre, about 2 miles away.  In India, Mother Foundation teams up with Masard and SevaChildren Norwary  to collaborate on projects there.

In Addakurukki, nearly 90% live Below Poverty Line (aka BPL). These families receive some government assistance like food rations but quality is poor, eg. substandard rice, which is a staple in their diet.  Majority of the villagers work in commercial agriculture, planting and harvesting crops for a handful of landlords. They are mostly daily wage coolies. Others cut and polish stone at granite factories, the stone brought in from Bangalore. There are no granite quarries in Addakurukki. And still others find employment by maintaining roadside “Eateries” aka hawkers.

There is one primary and middle school. But there is no hospital. The sick go to a government-run health care clinic. Masard provides mobile medical care for many villages.

Families live in small “houses” which essentially is one large space that accommodates 5 – 6 persons, the space being divided into kitchen, dining, living and sleep area; or they live in a very small hut. With little or no access to the most basic amenities, like safe drinking water and indoor plumbing, life is an endless struggle. Only recently, the government began providing tap water outside the house. It will take years before every house is hooked up with an outside tap. Water must be brought in for cooking and everyone bathes outside. A modest structure comprising old saris and tree fronds make do as small bathrooms for the women. Men generally bathe in the open, and for houses that don’t have outside toilets, behind bushes must suffice. The government will provide an outside toilet only if there is space in one’s yard. Not everyone has even this space outside their house.

2020 was an especially hard year for all the children. Government schools provide one free midday meal which for many is their one good meal. They get rice & curry, popcorn, chickpea/lentil balls, sometimes eggs or fruit or vegetable. A menu that doesn’t vary much but provides protein and carbs, and a meal that every child can depend upon.  However, all schools got closed in February 2020, and for an entire year, these children lost their one good meal for the day.  Even though Mother Foundation and other NGO’s came to the rescue by preventing starvation, crisis intervention is not the answer to systemic poverty. The answer to systemic poverty is education and providing families opportunities to at least be able to feed themselves by way of kitchen gardens, rearing goats and chickens and/or starting up cottage industries.

When you sponsor a child, at $35/month, that child will be provided with the following:

School uniforms, bag, books, shoes, a water bottle, and other school required paraphernalia. Masard’s social workers will follow up with school progress and tuitions will be provided when required. Each year, the child’s birthday will be celebrated along with other village children. Once a year, all sponsored children partake in a full day’s Educational Tour. Awareness education programs on safe drinking water, hygiene and hygiene related diseases are offered, including health checkups for the entire community.  Sponsoring children in a community provides funding not only for the child’s immediate needs, but it also profits the whole community at large. Everyone’s life can improve from the many empowerment classes social workers can now provide because your monthly sponsorships are the financial stimuli that can alter an entire village’s economy and well-being.

Please consider sponsoring a child. You can select one yourself, or we can select one for you.

Please forward this information to anyone you think may be interested in sponsoring a child in India too.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”

Mother Teresa