Every year, 80,000 children disappear from the streets of India. Children from poverty-stricken families are often forced to contribute to the family’s income. Single parents or relatives who take in children after the death or disappearance of their parents often lack the resources to send the children to school or to provide sufficient supervision. Without care, the children spend their time on the streets, frequently in search of work. Here, they are particularly vulnerable to falling into the hands of traffickers and being subjected to child labor or abuse.
GROWING UP IN SAFETY
In four family communities, Usthi provides vulnerable children and adolescents with a safe environment where they can grow up in a child-friendly manner. Connected to a local school, the children’s homes offer the children access to high-quality education. Vulnerable children and adolescents find security, community, and prospects for a life of self-determination here. One of the residential communities specifically takes in children whose mothers work and live in the red-light district. In the children’s homes, these children can grow up and learn protected from the dangers of the sex trade, without losing contact with their mothers.
To prevent further cases of exploitation and violence, a prevention campaign is conducted alongside the children’s homes and women’s shelters.
**Impact of the Project through the Story of Priya** Priya was one of the first girls to be taken in by one of the Usthi-supported children’s homes in Hyderabad. In 2016, she successfully completed school and transitioned from the security of her residential community into an independent life. In 2022, Priya graduated from university and began her career at a well-known Indian IT company. Her income allows her to support herself and stand on her own two feet. “Today, I dream of fulfilling my wish to become an IAS officer.” Priya has ambitious goals for her future. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the highest central public service in India.
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