In Kunjrao women work in the local tobacco fields. There is often insufficient income to stop working when babies are born. Instead women either take the children to work (risking their health) or older daughters will drop out of school to look after their siblings.

This project funds a Childcare Center for one year. This will provide quality education, hot nutritious meals as well as routine health checkups for newborns and children up to age of 6. The center enables to children to grow and develop in a healthy environment, teaching them skills, and educating them through fun activities and games. These methods will be implemented with the main aim of advocating children to continue and/or remain in school by supporting the holistic development of children and providing them with more opportunities in the future.

Kunjrao is a small, rural village situated in the Anand district of Gujarat, India. The majority of families in Khadol work in the tobacco fields and neighboring factory where they earn approximately $1–$2 a day. As a result, working mothers are forced to take their children with them to work, limiting the women's employment opportunities and exposing the children to significant health risks.

Community member details not available yet.

Direct Impact of Your Project

• Ensures 35 children receive quality, full-time childcare, pre-primary education and 3 nutritious meals 6 days a week
• Employ 1 childcare teacher and 1 assistant full time

Infants as well as the toddlers will receive health care (including vaccinations), good education and hot nutritious meals. Along with this, the center will provide employment for women who can teach as well as cook.

Extended Impact on Your Partner Community

The entire town can benefit from this, since now parents can enroll their children at the center and thus, not have to worry about staying home to look after them –- so in turn, both the parents can work, which will also increase the average household income.

As time progresses, more and more villagers will realize the benefits of enrolling their children in such a center, and therefore, with each generation progressing, the illiteracy and poverty rates will slowly start to decrease. If the children do well, they will build on their self confidence as well as their self esteem. And lastly, the children themselves will later be able to progress to primary/secondary schools and with education, the children can only progress in life and may even find relatively well paid jobs for themselves.