See It: The Community being helped

See It: The Community being helped

The Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC) began in early 2004 as a small group of concerned, dedicated college students—friends working toward a better life for street children in Pune, India. Since the arrival of the first three children in June 2005, it has grown to house nine children in the residential program, and serve an additional twelve girls in its educational outreach program. AIC believes in investing as much as possible in each and every child, and for this reason has committed to remaining small, so that our children might grow up in a loving and supporting family environment rather than in a larger institutional setting. The outreach program is similarly structured, providing financial, nutritional, health and emotional support to twelve girls in the neighboring busti (slum) that they might continue their education and break the cycle of poverty.
In two short years, AIC has reached a crossroads, a time of intense transition. Because of size and geographic restrictions, our programs have outgrown their current facilities. Envisioning a time in which we might house as many as fifteen children in our residential program, we are currently transitioning our residential program to a larger and more permanent home. Additionally, our outreach program must move out of the space that it shares with the residential program and into a permanent space, which we envision as a Health Education and Resource Centre. Because of the needs of the girls in our outreach program, we have been deeply involved in a number of health-related activities, from basic hygiene education to screening and treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis, which we have found is extremely prevalent in the population of the busti. We have worked closely with the families of the girls in our program and the Indian authorities to ensure that as many people as possible have access to DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment—Short Course) therapy for tuberculosis, something which is guaranteed by the Indian government but not always effectively provided. Our Health Education and Resource Centre will greatly expand our capacity to provide access to essential medical attention and therapies in the busti, allowing us to offer education on a variety of topics, ranging from maternal and child health to nutrition and the recognition symptoms of serious, as well as referrals to and support through the local government authorities. We will work towards a time when children and adults alike will no longer die from highly preventable and treatable diseases, such as diarrhea, tuberculosis and severe malnutrition.