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A Practical Solution
More testimonials from Farm India
“My husband’s sudden death was more than I could take. My health did not allow me to work all day at the farm to make enough, which demanded me to send my two girls to join me at the farm. The water buffalo and the pair of goats we received from Sanma has truly blessed my family, replacing the income my children would have made at the farm! Now they can go to school! Now they have a childhood! My girls take good care of our animals. This has changed our life! Thank you!”
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A thankful widow, Kerala, India
“I was able to send both my girls through high school because of this water buffalo.”
-A grateful father who owns just one water buffalo
Sanma’s Farm India is more than just providing a small farmer the seeds he needs, or providing a poor family a water buffalo and a pair of goats. The program replaces the income of poor families forced to send their young children to work at farm and factories for 12-15 hours each day. These children are deprived of a childhood, and a basic education.
Farm India empowers a small farmer with information he needs, and offers freedom and hope for a child laborer and his or her family.
A comprehensive approach
Like no other program, Sanma’s field representatives personally visit the families, ensuring the well being of the child and health of the animal. Veterinary medical camps are conducted periodically to guarantee the health and productivity of the animal.
Sponsor a pair of goats: $55/ pair » Sponsor Now
Sponsor Water buffaloes: $300/ animal » Sponsor Now
Here is a recent story:
Four year old Anjali’s father died to some illness two years ago. In order to meet their needs her mom Rani started working at the local farms. Anjali’s seven year old brother who had to stay home to watch over young Anjali. Her brother’s schools came to an end. As it is the case with many other boys, her brother too, started going to work at the farm to help his mom and watch Anjali. Her brother was soon to become a child laborer.
Sanma’s Farm India program field representative Mr. Timothy found Rani and her family as a suitable beneficiary to receive a pair of goats. Today Anjali and her brother take care of their goats while their mother works at the farm. When the mother returns from work, Babu, Anjali’s brother attends the Read India classes in his village, enabling him to be a student, and a child.
With 13 million children under the age of fourteen working full time, India is home for the largest number of child laborers in the world. They do not experience a childhood. Sanma’s Farm India program replaces the income the child laborer makes with animals that generate income for the family. Most cases a pair of goats or a water buffalo will produce enough to replace what the child would make toiling up to sixteen hours at the farm or factory. The program allows the child to be released back to school, without a financial crunch on the family.
Of the estimated 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 who are economically active, some 50 million to 60 million between the ages of 5 and 11 are engaged in such intolerable forms of labor.
To grasp the scale of the numbers, imagine a country as populous as the United States, in which the entire population is made up of child laborers. Then imagine further, within that population, an underclass of children more numerous than the citizens of France or the United Kingdom, working in conditions that cripple their bodies and minds, stunt their growth and shorten their lives.
No one would tolerate such an abomination if it were visible and concentrated in one place. Yet we continue to tolerate it in a hidden and dispersed form, to our collective peril and shame. |
