Ashraya Foundation for Children

Ashraya Foundation for Children (AFC) works with two De-notified Tribe (DNT) communities, the Waghri and Sikligar communities, in Pune, India. Unlike Read moreother tribal populations in India, Denotified Tribes were legally criminalized by the government and their members were classified as “criminal by birth” under the British government’s Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. With the prejudices they face and a lack of government aid, most of the Waghris and Sikligars live in abject poverty, with extended families of ten or more to live on a collective household income of less than Rs 150 per day. Illegally tapped electricity connections, outdoor communal taps that provide water for only a few hours each day, and overcrowded public toilet blocks are a given. AFC views the children as the key to the future of these perpetually impoverished communities and invests its resources accordingly to ensure that the next generation has all the tools it needs to transform and empower the Waghri and Sikligar communities. In 2005 when AFC started its work in Pune, not a single member of either the Waghri or Sikligar community in Yerwada had graduated from secondary school. Community members estimate that around 40% of school-aged children had been registered in nearby schools, however, only 15-20% were attending with even minimal regularity and had no focus on individual education/tutoring. Thus, even those children who attended school were at a distinct disadvantage when compared to their peers. AFCs core programs focus on empowering these communities through holistic measures and creating first generation learners to create a sustainable future. The approach to do that is through three holistic but intersected programmes, Education, Health and Community Sustainability. Our primary stakeholders are the children and our secondary stakeholders are the parents.