Dhokerjara is situated around 255 km northwest of Kolkata in the Jharkhand state of India. This village is home to primarily to the Santal people group and has around 180 families and 800 population. Education is a major challenge in this region. According to recent government data, the literacy rate is around 49%. Access to clean water for drinking and agriculture is a struggle, and farmers depend heavily on rainwater to grow anything. Community health is also another problem. Almost every family has malnutrition, diarrhea, skin problems, and diseases like malaria.

One of the great successes of our work in this region is starting a school and education program. The village wants to expand upon these efforts to increase educational opportunities. The village and surrounding communities have started an initiative to lay a 2km water pipeline from the nearest body of water. When completed the community will have access to water year-round for agriculture and filters for daily use and drinking water. TCD lessons are also providing regular training on health and hygiene.

Shri Ambra village is located near Dumka town of Jharkhand with a population of roughly 120 families. This is a Santal village with a very low literacy rate, and because of the low understanding or value for education, most families don’t send their children to school. Most families are farmers and labor jobs in nearby towns and other states during the off-season which makes education more difficult. The village also needs help developing solutions for clean water and training about sanitation, hygiene, and community health and wellness.

Our goal of our work in Sri ambara village is to bring people out of poverty and give them new hope of fulfillment and self-dependent. We’ve started to develop TCD committees for the village to solve the challenges they’re facing, including: bringing drinking water into the village, providing door to door health outreach and training, among other programs.

Chandrapura is a small village in the Jharkhand state of India, with roughly 150 families. Many of the families own land; however, because of organizations providing grants and relief programs they have become dependent on others. The most affected in many villages in extreme poverty are the women and children. GHNI has jumped in to take on the challenge to bring lasting change through their unique TCD approach.

We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of our predecessors with ongoing non-sustaining aid and short-lived solutions. The main issue we need to address through TCD is changing the mindset of the village from one of dependence to one of empowerment. We are working on forming village committees and training local leaders to become the future implementers of these and other projects. Their goals include lessons on health and hygiene and starting income generation and agriculture projects through goat and pig loans. We are excited about all these possibilities and more and look forward to others joining in with us to support this critical TCD project!

Khairbari village, home to about 200 families, is located around 84 km east of Siliguri Town, in the north part of West Bengal. The community comprises several different ethnic tribes including: Oraon, Munda, and Santal along with a few Nepali and Bengali families. The village literacy rate is very low. These people are living in acute poverty due to lack of regular income sources. Most families depend on manual labor to supplement insufficient crops for food or market from farming. Education will also be a major goal for us as most children aren’t participating in school.

Our goal of the TCD in Khairbari village is to bring people out of poverty and give them new hope of fulfillment and self-dependence. Our work will help the community establish sources for safe drinking water to curb disease and training on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Then we will work on income generation from locally available resources, improving living conditions. Education for the children is another important goal that we will be working on by helping establish rooms for children to board in while they are pursuing school.

Binodpur is a beautiful village situated in the bay of Bengal. Since it is located close to the sea in Sundarbans, it is prone to natural calamities throughout the year. Every year this village struggles through cyclones and flooding. Natural calamities are the biggest challenge here. Farmers are the most affected as they lose their crops and sometimes even lives. Farming and Fishing are two main sources of income in Binodpur village. GHNI is ready to help with training and assisting the village address these issues among others and bring hope to the community.

Our goal for TCD in Binodpur village is to see a visible change. The village is working toward installing several borehole wells for a stable supply of clean water. Our trainers have been working to increase community training and awareness about the importance of filtered water, balanced diet, health, and hygiene. The community is also ready to enlist help from the local government to assist in infrastructure projects like toilets and sanitation, schools, a clinic, and a dam to help resist flooding during the monsoon season.