India: a safe haven for street children
Fact: Thousands of children are living on the streets of Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, India.
Aim: To help 2,500 children off the streets and into safe ‘drop-in’ shelters, where they can get warm food, counselling, education, training and the chance to return home.
Thanks to you: ActionAid helped 1,917 children to access these shelters and 1,491 children to return home in 2009.
ActionAid will continue to reach out to India’s most vulnerable children in 2010, with a special focus on helping girls.
Because of you, young people like Rajesh have access to a shelter providing food, clothes and friendship.
How far will your donation go in 2010?
- £15 could pay for two sets of clothes (summer and winter) for a street child
- £75 could pay for the enrolment and school fees for one child for one month
- £1,200 could pay for a basic shelter that can house 20 children
- £2,500 could provide two hot meals a day for 20 children for one year.
photo : ©Atul Loke/Panos/ActionAid
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Real lives
"I visited the shelter and got the chance to bathe with soap, use oil and comb my hair which I had not done for ages."
Read Rajesh's story now.
"If I was still on the platform, I'd be a completely rotten person."
Read Brijesh's story now.
India's street children
- UNICEF and Indian government figures suggest that between 11 and 18 million children work for low wages on India’s streets
- Street children face exploitation and abuse, and many get caught up in illegal activities
- They are often mistreated by police, who see them as criminals.
- Be part of our network
