Help me make a child have the dream education

I am raising funds for Make A Difference, an organization I have been associated with in close capacity for 5 years now.

Make A Difference (MAD) is a youth driven, non-profit organisation working to ensure better outcomes for vulnerable children in shelters across India. Our vision is that even the most vulnerable children in shelters are able to realize long-term outcomes equitable with middle class.

India is home to the largest child population in the world, with 400m children of which nearly 176m are considered to be in need of care and protection, including an estimated 31m orphans. Children at risk in India, whether orphaned and otherwise, often end up in shelters, which are under resourced and often focused more on basic needs than either childcare or longer-term progression. The result is that both quality of life and adult outcomes for children in this demographic are very poor, leading to cycles of poverty and abandonment. With inadequate educational qualifications, life skills, financial or emotional support to cope outside these institutions; children who have grown up in shelters often take up menial jobs, or get trapped into alcoholism, violence, drug abuse, prostitution or trafficking.

Make A Difference started back in 2006 to address this challenge. We support children from the age of 10 until they are 28 years through multiple programmes that focuses on life skills, emotional health, academic support, transition readiness and aftercare. Our long term aspirational goal is that all children in shelters across India are able to achieve a middle class outcome as adults. And we believe that we are able to make a difference in the lives of children we are currently working with as since more than 90% of children who have been through our programs have continued to pursue higher education (post 16 years) as compared with a more typical rate of 8%.

We work with 3500 children across 23 cities and have a volunteer network of around 3700 young leaders who are working towards an unified outcome. I firmly believe that every individual at MAD is working relentlessly towards better outcomes for children in shelters.

Over the last 5 years I have seen children who were supported by MAD get into some of the best law colleges and engineering programs in the country giving them an opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty and grow into holistic adults. I believe that it is the responsibility of every individual in the community to care for the vulnerable and hence I have started this fundraiser to reach out to the community to support us in our journey towards better outcomes for children in Shelter.

Please visit www.makeadiff.in to know more about us.

With Gratitude,

Swati Agarwala

Here's a quick update