India

Less than 50% of the population of India has access to safe drinking water, and nearly 600 million people don’t have toilets and have no choice but to defecate in the open. This leads to a greater likelihood of water contamination and diarrhea. Children who suffer with diarrhea are more susceptible to malnutrition and other illnesses, such as pneumonia.

How Child Champions Are Helping Children in Poverty in India

Kids enrolled at Hope Centers in India have access to clean water and also are taught good hygiene practices to avoid preventable illnesses. Hope Centers with clean, running water make it available not only to the kids, but to the community as well. Kids also have access to health care at their centers in the event they end up sick from drinking contaminated water.

Read an inspirational story from Asia: Much More Than a Birthday Gift

More than a quarter of the population of India lives below the poverty line and don’t get enough to eat, and malnutrition affects nearly half of all children there. A contributor to food insecurity is climate change, which has produced uneven weather patterns and caused more droughts, adversely affecting food supplies.

How Child Champions Are Helping Children in Poverty in India

Through OneChild’s Children’s Crisis Fund, families in India receive disaster relief including emergency food relief supplies. Families who are struggling day-to-day receive vitamins, supplies, and food baskets. At their Hope Centers, children regularly receive nutritious meals and snacks, which helps them stay healthy and fights child hunger.

Read an inspirational story from Asia: Helping Kids Thrive in India

In India, more than 75%  of health care facilities are located in cities, where only 25% of the population lives. The rest of the population lives in rural areas, which lack even the most basic medical facilities. Most of the rural poor can’t afford to travel to or receive treatment in urban areas.

How Child Champions Are Helping Children in Poverty in India

Children at Hope Centers receive preventive medical checkups and immunizations to fight common diseases. In addition, kids are taught to take care of their bodies and protect themselves from illness through simple and effective hygiene habits.

Read an inspirational story from Asia: Healing in the Midst of Suffering

Across India, gender inequality results in unequal opportunities. And while it affects the lives of both genders, statistically it is girls who are the most disadvantaged. Girls, who aren’t valued as much as boys, are more vulnerable to child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child labor, poor education, and sexual abuse and exploitation.

How Child Champions Are Helping Children in Poverty in India

Child Champions help give impoverished girls the opportunity to go to school and stay in school by working with the parents to educate them on the importance of an education. They also teach about equality in schools so that the boys’ and girls’ mindsets are changed through their education. They hold training sessions with caregivers to give them coping skills and connect children and their families to counselors and other resources. They intervene on behalf of their kids in cases where girls have been promised as brides to older men in exchange for a dowry.

Read an inspirational story from Asia: I Am Hope