G.I.V.E.: Go, Invest, Volunteer & Educate
Mukti Village (USA) & Mukti Volunteer Village (Canada) partners with professionals, students and volunteers to bring freedom to children of sex workers in India. Non-resident Indians living in North America founded the initiative in 2013 after witnessing first-hand the dire needs of these children in slums and red light districts across India.
Progress towards freedom in underway in 2017. We are grateful to the Peel District School Board educators who are convening on different Saturdays in March to formulate pre-assessment tests and lesson plans to help with the education of Indian children as the key to freedom (mukti).
The challenge before us is clear. The Annual Status of Education Report in 2016 surveyed 562,305 children in the age group 3-16 from 17,473 villages, covering 350,232 households in 589 rural districts in India. They found in 2016 that the proportion of children in Grade 3 who are able to read at least Grade 1 level text is 42.5%. In Math, 27.7% of Grade 3 children could do a 2-digit subtraction. 24.5% of children enrolled in Grade 5 could read simple English sentences. This number has been virtually unchanged since 2009.
Education has never been so important. There is an ongoing need at Mukti to create lesson plans for both English and Math. If you are a teacher with the heart to invest in education, we could use your help. Likewise, if you have a heart to serve on the ground in India, we have opportunities to GO and volunteer. Please contact us to learn how you can get involved!