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News, Pray, Remote Area Education (India)
June 21, 2023

Project overview 

In 2015, UnitingWorld supported our partner church, Church of North India, Diocese of Eastern Himalayas, to build a small school in a remote mountain village in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, enabling boys and girls from neighbouring hills to access good and affordable education.  

The area is steep jungle-covered terrain, with families mostly eking out a subsistence livelihood. To get to school, children previously had  to walk up to four hours through jungle tracks. The dropout rate was very high, especially amongst girls. Young people were at high risk of human trafficking as they sought livelihoods in low-skill jobs. 

We now support this school to fund post-graduate training for their teachers, to enable the school become accreditated for government subsidies. We also contribute towards operating costs, so that they can provide affordable, high quality education for children living in this remote region who cannot afford high fees. 

Training for the teaching staff is progressing well and most staff members have now successfully completed their teacher training degree. Students are excelling in academic as well as extracurricular activities and are actively participating in inter-school events and competitions held in Kalimpong. 

In addition to a global pandemic, challenges this school community face include a staggering remoteness, lack of access to health services and facilities and an systemic poverty. Floods and landslides regulalry disrupt transport, and the staff are sacrificing their own career opportunities to stay and teach at this school. 

Together, we are helping our partners address these issues by strengthening the school and local services. 

Since this project started, attendance at the school has increased from 117 to 193. Thirteen teachers have been employed and classes have increased to Grade 12. 

Current year 

Getting students back to school after the pandemic has been a challenge but there are currently: 

  • 162 students from Grade 5 to 12 
  • 25 new students took admissions in Class XI (Grade 11) 
  • 16 new students joined the school for classes V-IX   
  • The school received 100% pass results in West Bengal Higher Secondary Examinations and 10 students passed with first division in the examinations. 

We also helped develop a Diocese-wide child protection policy that applies to churches, youth groups, Sunday schools and schools. School staff have all participated in workshops, enhancing the school’s understanding of child protection, disability inclusion, education and project management. 

UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe and International Program Manager Shreshtha Kumar visited the school in April 2023 to meet the school staff, management committee members as well Diocesan officials to discuss the key priorities for the project.  

The meeting with the School Management Committee (SMC) highlighted several achievements of the school, however, the teachers /staff members also made UW aware of the salary related challenges that pose barriers to staff retention. UW has brought these matters to the attention of the school Principal and these aspects are being taken into consideration in the annual planning process. 

2023-24 plans  

The next financial year brings a new phase of the project. During UnitingWorld’s visit, the discussion with students’ guardians/parents highlighted some interesting priorities for the school to consider. Community insights will be important to consider in the planning for the coming year.
Some of these insights included:  

  • More opportunities for extracurricular activities (music, sports, dance etc) to expand children’s career horizons. 
  • More education on substance abuse prevention  
  • Parents also requested more emphasis on career counselling sessions to prevent children from getting into daily wage work.  
  • Improved spoken English and computer literacy skills for students to improve their career/employment options. 
  • Some parents emphasised the need for more awareness on gender equality messaging, so that girls don’t feel the social pressure to marry early, and are able to pursue their goals and aspirations after gaining quality education.  

Prayer Requests 

  • The Diocese has been without a Bishop for some time. A new Bishop is likely to be elected soon, however in the absence of a Church leader most administrative burden has been managed by the Secretary and Treasurer of the Diocese. Please pray for a smooth transition and a spirit of unity in the Diocese.  
  • The pandemic and climate change issues have increased precarity for farming families in the region. The tea gardens are becoming unprofitable with climate change, and this has further aggravated poverty and unemployment for the tea garden workers. 
  • These socio-economic factors are pushing many families to migrate for work, and this has resulted in an increased risk of trafficking over the last couple of years.  
  • The school’s principal, Deena, and the Diocese project manager Sanjay, as they work together to support the Diocese, staff, students and their families.  

Thank you once again for your partnership in this life-giving mission! 

Mardi Lumsden, Donor Relations Manager
MardiL@unitingworld.org.au  

UnitingWorld 

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by
News, Social Empowerment for Excluded Castes (India)
June 7, 2022

Right on the India-Pakistan border, there’s a village of about 600 people. They’re hard-working and creative but overlooked by government for basic services like clean water and education. Families struggle to provide enough food for themselves, and education and employment opportunities do not come by often.

During India’s Delta wave of COVID-19 last year, the lockdowns were crippling for the village.

Those who were day labourers lost their jobs. Families despaired that with schools closed, their children would fall behind in their education, closing off a vital path out of poverty.

Our partner, the Church of North India through the Amritsar Diocese, stepped into the breach.

They got special permits to travel to the village to find out who needed help and why. And they set about casting their stones across the water to create ripples of change that continue today.

For one family, the project workers were a lifeline.

Ranjit and her two sons were struggling to find enough to eat, elder son Yash (pictured) had no work and younger son Patel was finding it almost impossible to keep up with his schooling.

Three years earlier, Ranjit’s husband had died, leaving the family without income. Ranjit is partly paralysed and has never been able to work, and there was no way for either of her sons to contribute because of the lockdowns and job losses.

Ranjit’s youngest son Patel had been invited to attend an education centre run by the Church. Education workers followed him up and discovered that his family had no food or medical supplies, and no source of income. They first provided immediate assistance: meals, information about the pandemic, masks and soap.

After providing emergency relief, CNI sat down with Ranjit to find out what they could do beyond just a band-aid solution.

They helped her to access a widow’s pension, something Ranjit had been trying to do on her own for three years without success. They were also able to get support for her sons: continuing education assistance for her youngest Patel through the study centre, and an employment opportunity for her eldest son, Yash.

It’s just one of thousands of examples of how your support makes lasting ripples of change alongside our partners.

CNI staff returned to the village recently to check in on how the family and others there are doing. Ranjit and her sons told them they’re feeling grateful for the support and hopeful for the future.

“We are very thankful to the Church and project staff who have been so kind to me and my family when we were in so much trouble,” Ranjit says. “I had tried so many sources to get the pension but everything failed. Now we have both education and income to help run the family.”

Click here to read more about the impact of this project.

Across the Pacific, Asia and Africa, this is the approach our partners are taking to transform their communities. They seek out the most vulnerable. They sit with them, learn about their lives and build relationships. If they can find a way to help, they go about leveraging skills and resources to make a long-term impact.

Throughout COVID-19 and other disasters before it, our partners have stayed at the frontlines, risking their lives to serve communities fighting fear, starvation, economic ruin and disease. They have lost leaders, friends and family to COVID-19, but despite the adversities they were able to impact the lives of 464,495 people across our programs last year.

Right now is an especially powerful time to stand in solidarity with our partners and support our shared mission.

As a partner of the Australian Government, we can access funding each year to implement poverty alleviation, gender equality and climate change projects overseas. But we need your help to do it.

We have committed to contribute at least $1 for every $5 we can access in government funding, which means right now your gift goes up to six times as far helping us extend the reach of our programs.

You can help us create more ripples of change by giving a gift today. Together, our impact spreads far and wide and changes lives in so many ways.

Click here to donate now.

Photos by CNI project staff

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by
News, Pray
April 29, 2021

India’s COVID-19 surge has overloaded its struggling heath system and is causing thousands of deaths per day.

Our Uniting Church partners, the Church of North India (CNI), are not immune. Battling to keep people fed as a second lockdown wreaks havoc, and spreading critical health information to help beat the spread of the disease, they’re on the frontline of the response in their communities.

“The ‘Corona ‘Tsunami’, if one could say that, has left all of us paralysed,” Bishop Khimla of the Diocese of Durgapur told UnitingWorld.  “There is immense suffering as the medical and social infrastructure struggles to cope with the pandemic. The Church has also lost many ministers, both Pastors and Bishops.”

Project Officer Sanjay Khaling was recently hospitalised after contrating COVID-19, while several staff of the Durgapur Education and Social Empowerment project have contracted COVID-19 along with family and friends.

Despite the dangers, the church continues to serve the community as best they’re able. Bishop Samantaroy of the Amritsar Diocese said the church is working on immediate interventions including free distribution of cooked food, dry rations and hygiene products like masks, sanitiser and soap.

Schools have been closed across the area, so girls attending the hostel project in Amritsar have gone home to their villages for at least a month and possibly two. At the Amritsar Social Empowerment and Education project, study centers will continue in each village and the team are doing what they can to support people remotely.

“There has been a drastic rise in cases every day here in Punjab,” Project Coordinator OP Prakash said this week.  “In some [rural] villages people have tested positive but the situation seems under control.”

While this team has experience from last year’s lengthy lockdown, the pandemic is reaching new heights in other areas.

The Eastern Himalayas Education project has had to close the school and move all activities online. Teachers are navigating the difficult task of teaching online while resourcing children who have little or no access to internet or devices.

“We are assured that UnitingWorld continues to be with us in spirit and prayers and believe that this too shall pass,” Bishop Khimla said yesterday. “We very much appreciate your prayers.”

UnitingWorld is supporting our partners to divert project funds to their COVID-19 responses where needed. Donations will be very gratefully received to support their work.

Click here to donate online.

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by
News
April 28, 2021

India recorded 323,144 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, amid a surge that has overloaded its struggling heath system and is causing thousands of deaths per day.

UnitingWorld and the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) have reached out to our partners in the Church of North India (CNI) based in West Bengal and Punjab. UCA President Dr Deidre Palmer and UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe have written to Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy to offer prayers and solidarity during the crisis (read full letter).

Our partners are responding to the outbreak at the community level through existing projects, diverting resources to help prevent the spread of disease and aiding vulnerable people impacted by the economic fallout. You can help. Click here to donate online.

Our partners have sent some updates below.

West Bengal

West Bengal this week registered its highest single-day spike of 15,889 cases pushing the tally to 743,950 on Tuesday. The death toll rose to 10,941. The number of active cases currently stands at 88,800.

At the Eastern Himalayas Leadership project we support, project officer Sanjay recently contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalised but is now feeling better.

The Eastern Himalayas Education project has had to close the school and move all activities online. Teachers are working from home, navigating the difficult task of teaching online while also resourcing children who do not have little or no access to internet or devices. They have been communicating via WhatsApp and leaving printed worksheets in safe places for students to collect.

Several staff members of the Durgapur Education and Social Empowerment project have contracted COVID-19 along with family and friends. The project is continuing as normal with added precautions, personal protective equipment and limited interaction.

Punjab

The number of new COVID-19 cases has passed 7,000 per day in Punjab and a daily curfew from 6pm to 5am has been introduced until 12 May. The state has recorded 339,000 total cases and 8,400 deaths.

Schools have been closed across the area, so girls attending the hostel project in Amritsar have gone home to their villages for at least a month and possibly two.

At the Amritsar Social Empowerment and Education project,  schools have closed again so study centers will continue in each village and the team are doing what they can to support people remotely. UnitingWorld Project Manager Dan Maddingham has been in contact with Project Coordinator Om Prakash (OP) this week.

“There has been a drastic rise in cases every day here in Punjab… in some [rural] villages people have tested positive but the situation seems under control,” said OP.

“The Church is doing well but all religious places are remaining closed until further notice and there is a complete curfew and lockdown on weekends.”

Yesterday the Australian Government announced an aid package for India.

Please stand with the people of India and our partners as they lead and support their communities through this this crisis. Join us in prayer (UCA Assembly National Consultant Rev Dr Apwee Ting has written a prayer for India in English and Indonesian Click here to read) and donate as you are able.

UnitingWorld is continuing to support our partners to divert project funds to the COVID-19 response. Additional donations will be gratefully received to support their work.

 

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by
News, Uncategorized
February 10, 2021

Do you remember Paramjit, from Amritsar in India?

We bought you here story a few years ago as part of Lent Event. Watch it here!

A mother of four and the sole provider for her family, she was struggling to put food on the table until our partners, the Church of North India, offered her training to work in one of their education centres.

Paramjit grabbed the chance with both hands – and life dramatically improved. But where is she now? 

India has been through the throes of one of the world’s most serious outbreaks of COVID-19, and many families in the Amritsar region have relied on the church to bring them food during the lockdown. Over the past months, cases have dropped and work has now resumed where possible. Schools are back. And Paramjit? 

“Life is so much easier than it was five years ago, even though the pandemic has made things difficult for so many,” she told us. “I’m still working, my husband is around to support the family, and we are all happier now.”

It’s fantastic news considering everything they’ve been through.

“The Church has always been there for the community, not just spiritually but spreading information about the importance of education and helping children right through to graduation,” Paramjit told us. “During the Pandemic, they were there to help people survive with food, masks and sanitisers.”

Paramjit says her greatest hope is that she might be able to continue to reach people in the villages, and that others would have the same opportunity as she has had. She’s determined to use all the support she’s been given to help others.

COVID-19 threatens 150 million people just like Paramjit with a return to extreme poverty. Help us keep the good news stories coming – get on board with Lent Event this year and help our neighbours stay strong www.lentevent.com.au

 

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by
News
November 17, 2020

Australia’s recent experience of lockdowns, home schooling and economic downturn have been tough. How do these things play out in places where cases of COVID-19 continue to grow? We talked to one of our partners, Om Prakash (OP) in Amritsar, India, to find out.

UW: What’s the situation in India at the moment OP? We’ve been hearing that maybe the cases have peaked?

OP: Yes, we feel a little hopeful. We had up to 90,000 cases a day a few weeks ago but numbers have dropped in the last two weeks. The rate of testing is still not high enough though and we are very worried about winter coming.

UW: What’s happening with the lockdown? How much has opened back up?

OP: Pretty much all parts of society are open again except for colleges and schools. This is a big danger period for us with shops and malls operating again, but still many people don’t wear the masks, and it’s hard to enforce. But there has been such an economic impact, we can’t afford the lockdown. Many, many people have no work, no income, no food.

UW: What government services are available to help people survive and recover?

OP: Workers and other vulnerable people registered with the government have been allowed a small pension during the pandemic. Two payments of 3000 rupees ($A57.00) have come through. But the problem is that most people are not registered. There is very low awareness in the community of the social services that are available, and people don’t know how to go about getting registered.

UW: That’s a huge challenge! How has your team responded?

OP: Even before the pandemic, we were running education workshops with communities to help people get registered for support. We still do that but we have to be smart and careful about social distancing. We do more door-to-door than in groups, and we use posters and social media. Our main practical impact right now is in education. School is online, but most families don’t have a smart phone to use for their children – there might be only one in each family. Our study centres are allowed to open even though schools can’t and so our staff are helping children who wouldn’t otherwise have access online to keep up with their schooling. Government teachers are in contact with our staff to provide resources; we’re even helping students sit their exams this way. Without these centres, so many children would have lost almost a year of their education, maybe even more.

UW: It’s an incredible role to play – and the church has also been providing income generating opportunities for parents?

OP: Yes, we started with sewing masks and women were gaining skills and some cash to buy food. We have a huge order about to go out to a Motorcycle Rally we have planned for the city to raise awareness about COVID-19 safety protocols. But we have also been helping women make and sell paper bags – plastic bags were due to be made illegal last year right across India because of the environmental impact, but that didn’t end up happening. We’re still committed to providing an alternative and an income opportunity at the same time.

UW: OP, your team’s commitment and innovation is really inspiring! We’re praying for you all.

OP: Please pass on my love and thanks to UnitingWorld and to the people of the Uniting Church in Australia. We are very grateful for your prayers and your investment in our work.

 

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Project Updates, Social Empowerment for Excluded Castes (India)
May 29, 2020

The Church of North India Diocese of Durgapur have pivoted their ongoing community development work to supporting vulnerable households identified through the project.

Throughout May, 2,000 households in urban slums and rural communities were provided with food packs containing rice, pulses, potato, salt and oil, as well as hygiene supplies that included masks and soap. Our partners are also working on printing materials that promote government-authorised messages on COVID-19. In Amritsar, 4,000 masks have been made and provided to the community and service sectors (many people are working in very populated markets). 562 vulnerable families in have also been provided with emergency food packs that include soap for regular handwashing.

Summary:

  • 2,000 households provided with food and hygiene packs including masks and soap
  • 4,000 masks made and provided to the community and service sectors in Amritsar
  • 562 vulnerable families provided with emergency food and hygiene packs.

Thank you for your support!

Our partners will continue to serve their communities throughout this crisis and beyond.
Donate now to support their work: www.unitingworld.org.au/actnow

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Education Support for Girls (India), News, Project Updates
April 16, 2020

Jaya is a 13-year-old girl from a small village of 300 people in rural Punjab, India.

Her father died when she was four and her mother couldn’t afford to raise her, so she left Jaya with her grandmother. Jaya’s grandmother works as a cook, and over the years it became increasingly difficult for her to look after a growing child by herself.

Jaya began studying in a local government school, but the standard of education was poor and when she returned home there was no one who could help her with homework or give her care and attention. With the absence of proper health and hygiene conditions in the village, she often fell ill.

In 2017 our partner church connected Jaya with the girls’ hostel project we support, which was set up to help vulnerable girls access high quality education, accommodation and care during the school term.

When Jaya arrived, she was poor in health and lagging way behind in her studies. Spending time with other girls in the hostel encouraged her to stick to her studies until they started to improve. Each year, her grades have gone up, and she now loves having the time to be able to play outdoor games, dance, create art and participate in all the group activities at the hostel.

“Jaya is so loving and respectful towards others,” says the project manager Rev Samantaroy. “Her health has also improved due to the monthly medical check-ups and regular health education sessions at the hostel. She now dreams of becoming a policewoman when she grows up.”

Jaya’s story is an example of how, with proper care and nutrition, access to quality education and a loving environment, young girls can explore their true potential and work towards their dreams.

Thank you for supporting this life-changing project run by our partners in India.

 

UnitingWorld is the international aid and partnerships agency of the Uniting Church in Australia, collaborating for a world free from poverty and injustice. Click here to support our work.

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News, Social Empowerment for Excluded Castes (India)
April 8, 2020

In a letter to national and international partners, the Bishop of the Diocese of Amritsar, The Most Rev. P. K. Samantaroy has outlined the impacts of the national 21-day lockdown in India and how the Church of North India (CNI) is responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

 

Dear Friends,

As of the morning of 30 March 2020, over 700,000 people worldwide have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and 34,000 people have died due to the virus. The staggering numbers are rising every minute.

Not only has the pandemic brought illness and death for many, but preventive measures like curfews and lockdowns are posing other humanitarian concerns such as loss of livelihood, hunger and starvation.

“I fear that hunger may kill many like us before Coronavirus,” said a street vendor in Delhi. His fear and desperation are shared by the majority of the country’s poor who have been the most hit due to the current 21-day nationwide lockdown in India. Most people who work as daily wage labourers live hand-to-mouth and are therefore unable to afford buying food and medical supplies in advance. In Punjab, we are already receiving reports of riot-like situations in the villages.

Realising the urgency of the situation, the Diocese of Amritsar has already constituted a COVID-19 Relief Operation to reach out to the poor and needy. We are working closely with the local congregations and our project workers, as well as the district administration, to identify those in dire need. Food material is being mobilised through local grocery stores and distributed at key centres in Amritsar and the surrounding border villages.

The Church cannot see its people die either of Coronavirus or hunger. I urge you to support this relief effort generously through whatever means is available to you.”

Unless we act urgently and support the weaker sections of society, our world will collapse under the siege of this pandemic. Your help in this hour of need can save a family from hunger, starvation and illness.

May God bless you and keep you safe!

The Most Rev. P. K. Samantaroy
Bishop, Diocese of Amritsar, CNI

 

The Church of North India is running a domestic appeal for funds and in-kind donations of food supplies, and has also asked for international assistance. UnitingWorld has diverted India project funds for this quarter to support their emergency response and will continue to do this into the new financial year on an ongoing basis until the crisis is over.

Key activities for the COVID-19 relief effort:

  • Providing food packages to families connected to CNI’s community development projects, especially for daily wage laborers who are now unable to work.
  • Helping to amplify government messaging on COVID-19, including health and handwashing awareness, prevention measures and information on how and when to get tested.
  • Conducting door-to-door visits (while practicing spatial distancing) to families connected to the project, to ensure they have what they need during lock down.

Please pray for our church partners and support the relief effort as you are able.

Click here to donate.

UnitingWorld partners in India are cooking for vulnerable people during the COVID-19 lockdown

 

UnitingWorld is the international aid and partnerships agency of the Uniting Church in Australia, collaborating for a world free from poverty and injustice. Click here to support our work.

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Blogs
September 26, 2018

“But I still can’t get over how much God loves us, you know?” he says.

The distant softness in his eyes make me realise that the wonder of this truth has struck him before, but each time has the power to move him deeply.

I’m not in some exotic foreign land, connecting across cultures. I’m in the suburban Sydney home of an old friend, listening as he regales me with tales of his youth. In his twenties, he and his wife answered a call to practice medicine in a remote village in India, with two kids under two. A hospital raided by hyenas. They are now in their eighties, but the love of God burns brightly in them and they are faithful supporters of UnitingWorld.

It reminded me of the first time I went to India. I met Christians there who despite being less than one percent of the population and from the most socially marginalised castes, were extremely active in a range of social ministries. They ran schools, hospitals and fought human trafficking. And their leaders stood out for me. They felt a sense of urgency about their faith that I didn’t. Many of them came to faith in their teen years or young adulthood, and they still spoke with a sense of wonder of their discovery. They used phrases like “before I knew Christ” and “when I came to know Jesus” as if of a watershed moment of transition. When they spoke of the gospel, it sounded like this amazing, powerful, dangerous thing they couldn’t believe they’d discovered and couldn’t wait to share. They were not fresh converts, but seasoned leaders of the church.

The Christians I met in India assumed that people just didn’t know that God loved them, and that it was their job to fix that. They remembered how abruptly and miraculously God hijacks your life and sets you on a different path, and they just took it for granted this is what God wanted for everyone. Living in Australia, surrounded by people who live as if Christianity has been tried and found wanting, I have allowed myself to forget the truly radical and earth-shattering nature of the truth that I believe.

We belong to God. We are truly beloved just as we are, created in God’s image. We’re precious – of infinite value. There is grace enough to heal all our brokenness. Love enough to fill all our longing. This is what Jesus came for, lived for and died for – so that we could know this truth. And we don’t just believe it for ourselves but believe it for every other person near and far.

So we cannot rest while poverty, oppression and injustice keeps people from knowing God’s love for them. Because the love of God is not just a message to be heard, but a reality to be touched, tasted and lived; made tangible by the actions of God’s people.

At UnitingWorld, we often wonder how we can better share the life-changing stories we encounter, better inspire people to join in the global movement of transformation that is the story of God’s church at work. I’m convinced now that if I am to follow God’s call to act, I must again and again awaken the shocking recognition of who God has called me to be – a beloved child of God.

So, as I thank you for your faithful support, I also wish for you a moment of wonder and awe. That you can pause and say, “I still can’t get over how much God loves me” and let that incandescent truth set you on fire.

-Sureka

Dr Sureka Goringe
National Director
UnitingWorld

 

UnitingWorld is fundraising to support our transformative partnership with the church in India, where poverty holds so many people back from their God-given human dignity. We’re aiming to raise $115,000 to help our partners provide education, shelter, pastoral care and HOPE in some of the most difficult areas of rural India.

Your donation will make a huge difference in the lives of the resilient and determined people we work alongside. Click here to donate now.

(Top pic: Dr Sureka Goringe and Dr Deidre Palmer with delegates at the UnitingWorld Southeast Asia regional workshop on gender justice)

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