Laboni (pictured above with her mother) grew up in a typical rural village in West Bengal, India, where education is out of reach for many because families are too poor to invest in it.
Stuck in a cycle of poverty like this, going to school never seems as vital as the tasks of daily survival. Children grow up to help in the household or in the fields as soon as they are able; girls are married off young.
“My family was eager to marry me off at an early age,” Laboni now reflects. “It was not just because of my family but also according to our tribal culture; every girl between the ages of 13 and 15 should get married.”
Our church partner, the Church of North India-Diocese of Durgapur, saw the situation and believed that things could, and should, be different.
They supported Laboni’s education, and she became the first in her family to ever finish school. Today she’s pursuing her dreams: working on a university degree and hoping to return to her community as a teacher to inspire others to follow in her footsteps.
“The girls of my village [now] see me, and they are encouraged to study. I’ll tell them to go further,” says Laboni.
“I would urge every girl to stand on her own feet. We girls can participate in the development of our family, society and village.”
Thanks to UnitingWorld supporters and our partnership with the Australian Government, our partners also helped transform Laboni’s whole village and beyond, providing hundreds of families with income-generation support, training in agriculture and animal husbandry, and family health interventions.
The Diocese of Durgapur now runs 27 study centres currently supporting 420 children and a community development program working across 25 villages and two urban slum communities. Since they began the project, our partners have helped more than 2,000 children like Laboni with high-quality education support and career skills.
The wider community development work has grown to impact 1,698 households and 7,691 people with income-generation support, training in agriculture and animal husbandry, and family health interventions.
Laboni’s village is now a different place because of the love, hard work and dedication of our partners spanning more than a decade.
That’s why we believe this type of sustainable community development, led by local partners is the most effective weapon we have against poverty and injustice.
It’s an incredible blessing that we can play a part in creating such profound and lasting change.
You can play a role too. Your support can help expand this live-changing work in India and beyond. Click here to join our network of faithful monthly givers working together to build a more just and equitable world. Or find out more about this project here. |
This project is supported by the Australian Government
through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).