A number of not-for-profit organisations both within the Indian community and in the wider mainstream are working hard to raise funds for charitable purposes in India. Check out the work of I-India Australia (www.i-indiaproject.org.au), who save destitute children from the streets of Rajasthan and provide and care for them, helping them to break out of the poverty cycle through education and vocational training at the Jhag Children’s Village, located about 45 minutes south-west of Jaipur.
The Ekal movement (www.ekal.org.au) raises funds for and trains primary school teachers who are sent out to remote and tribal regions of India. In single-teacher schools, these professionals teach 30-40 children in the age-group 5-14. The free schooling is centred not only around basic alphabetic and numeric knowledge, but also health and hygiene, and ethical values. Ekal Australia is currently sponsoring 350 such schools, ever since its inception in 2004.
Equally laudable are the efforts of Vision2020 (www.vision2020.org.au) and the 40K Foundation (www.40k.com.au), to help the needy in India.