CRHD is an Ecumenical Christian, non-governmental organisation with charitable status in both the United Kingdom and India.
Our projects are for all; we do not exclude anyone on the grounds of caste or creed.
To that end, we are committed to nurturing and sustaining inter-faith dialogue, reducing extreme poverty, and creating opportunities in the Raichur area (Karnataka state, southern India) by supporting educational development programs.
For 20 years, CRHD has provided education to hundreds of children and women in Karnataka state, India.
We strive for a holistic approach towards human development, for those who are politically oppressed, considered social outcasts and economically exploited.
Although India is considered to be one of the fastest developing countries, millions of natives still struggle in abject poverty. This is the case for most of the rural population, which largely consists of Dalit residents.
Dalits are routinely discriminated against purely based on their caste, despite such actions being criminalised in 1990. National policies and laws designed to empower the Dalit population have done little to prevent this ‘casteism’.
Dalits rarely own their own land, and their settlements lack essential services and resources. A lower standard of education - compared to the general population - along with a disregard for Dalit rights by higher castes, greatly reduces the Dalit quality of life.
Ideally, employment at all stages would be available to every Indian, regardless of caste or religion. The harsh reality is that even with an increase in Dalit literacy and school attendance, they still comprise nearly half of all school dropouts. Rural Dalits in partichular become limited to ‘undesirable’ jobs, with appalling pay and benefits.
Clearly, education can be a valuable and necessary tool in transforming the socioeconomic status for the underprivileged in India.
To realise this mission, CRHD opened its first education centre - the Kids Paradise Nursery School - in 2002, in the rural South Indian village of Turukanadoni.
This was quickly followed by the opening of the Higher Primary School in 2004, which currently runs up to the British School equivalent of Year 8. All 170 pupils come from local Turukanadoni families.
Sadly, most of them live below the poverty line, with 95% of the parents being illiterate, and thus limited to farm or labourer work.
The project has since expanded to include a Women’s Tailoring Centre, which opened in 2004.
The centre provides impoverished young women and mothers with seamstress qualifications and literacy classes, thus increasing their employability in India's thriving textiles businesses or other industries.
The milestones that CRHD has reached thus far are thanks to the grace of God, and the tireless work of our teams in the UK and India. Their fundraising efforts have changed the lives of many. We hope to continue our progress with the school and the tailoring centre, and potentially increase our intake for both of these institutions.
It is our dream to eventually achieve the following:
Raise capital for the construction of an education centre in Raichur.
Build a student hostel for less privileged young people.
Set up an agricultural project.
Provide a training centre for Christian teachers and pastors.