india

Community Development Changing Lives

ABOUT INDIA QUICK FACTS

The vast and diverse Indian subcontinent has long been fought over. From Aryan, Full name:
Republic of India
Afgahn and Persian invasions to the British Raj, India has been under foreign rule
from the early 1800s until its independence in 1947. The subsequent division of Population:
the subcontinent into Pakistan and India has not been an easy one. Three wars 1.1 billion (UN, 2005)
over disputed territories have marred an otherwise successful bid for freedom
from colonialism. Capital:
New Delhi
India has a romance that is all together beautiful and terrible. Bollywood success,
Most-populated city:
majestic buildings, a large skilled workforce, economic reform and courtship by the
Mumbai (Bombay)
world’s superpowers – India seems to be on the rise. On the other side of the coin,
extreme poverty haunts the land as the world’s largest slums continue to spread. Area:
Communal, caste and regional tensions also mar Indian culture. Like new wealth that 3.1 million sq km (1.2 million sq miles),
lands next door to the most desperate of human circumstances, India struggles with excluding Indian-administered
unimaginable poverty amidst the country’s economic success. Kashmir (100,569 sq km/38,830 sq miles)

Major languages:
Hindi, English and at least
16 other official languages

Major religion:
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity,
Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism

Life expectancy:
62 years (men), 65 years (women)
(UN)

Monetary unit:
1 Indian Rupee = 100 paise

Main exports:
TEAR FUND IN INDIA – Asha Health Project Agricultural products, textile goods,
gems and jewellery, software services
Eleven slums housing approximately 2,500 poor families are perched precariously and technology, engineering goods,
across a thin strip of land between rail tracks and a car junk yard in West Delhi. chemicals, leather products
The Mayapuri Slum Health and Development Project, funded by TEAR Fund and
run by long-term partner ASHA, is a beacon of hope in this wasteland. GNI per capita:
US $720 (World Bank, 2006)
Where many women and children die from disease, poor hygiene and reproductive
health issues, TEAR Fund seeks to bring about a solution. ASHA’s project focuses
on building community awareness of reproductive and sexual health issues through
workshops, STI, TB and HIV/AIDS screening and family planning services.

ASHA is improving care for pregnant women by providing antenatal clinics, birth
kits and midwifery training for Traditional Birth Assistants. In the past year, significant
reduction in infant and maternal mortality has been observed due to these
precautionary measures.

Increasing access to basic quality health care services for approximately 10,000
people is another goal. Women’s empowerment groups and children’s clubs teaching
health education round out ASHA’s approach to taking lives back from poverty.

This is a NZAID match funded project. The funding is provided on 4:1 match
meaning the NZAID provides 80% while TEAR NZ matches 20% of the total funding
of the project each year.

Call to donate: 0800 800 777 or visit www.tearfund.org.nz

 Community Development Changing Lives

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
TEAR Fund community development works by empowering poor communities to find
their own solutions to issues. This significantly reduces overheads by operating through
local staff. We work directly with the poorest allowing us to identify and address the root
causes of poverty not just the symptoms.

TEAR Fund partners with indigenous Christian organisations who carry out the work
themselves. Assistance is given regardless of beliefs.

Tear Fund takes an holistic approach to all of its projects which takes the local community
on a journey of transformation through improved physical, social and economic
circumstances, and often on an individual level, spiritual change.

How community development transforms

• Physical – meets targeted need such as health
• Social – unites and empowers
• Economic – often creates opportunities for income generation

PEER EDUCATORS TACKLE IGNORANCE AMONG MAYAPURI’S YOUNG PEOPLE

Peer educators are active members of Bal Mandal’s
(children’s groups) in Mayapuri. Two girls, Poonam and Jaymala,
had launched themselves into all the Bal Mandal’s activities
with great enthusiasm and dedication. After attending Asha
workshops and sessions on adolescent health and social
development, they were chosen and trained as peer educators
to teach other young people about issues that are relevant
to them.
In a country where many of these topics are the subject of
much confusion and are often taboo, these girls have taken a
brave step by volunteering to tell their peers the facts about
sexual health, changes that people should expect during
adolescence and problems that people might encounter as
they grow up.
Poonam and Jaymala explained how children and young people
between the ages of 10 and 18 are usually happy to speak to
them and learn from them, as they are often confused or have
been misinformed, and are not willing to approach their elders
with any questions.
Three boys have been equally active in their roles as male
peer educators. In addition to educating their peers and
dispelling many myths, they’d got many children admitted to
school and spent a lot of time with a teenager, Mananjam,
who had been visiting prostitutes and using drugs. They talked
to him about the dangers of his behaviour and encouraged
him to get tested for HIV and various STDs.
The boy’s tests were all negative, but he was relieved to be
safe and started spending a lot of time at the Asha centre to
avoid temptation. Mananjam attended many classes while at
the centre and learnt enough to be a peer educator himself.
He can now spot teenagers with the problems he experienced,
and he is a very valuable member of the team.

CONTACTS:
National Office: Freephone: 0800 800 777
PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Facsimile: (09) 629 1050
Auckland 1150 Email: enquiries@tearfund.org.nz
New Zealand Website: www.tearfund.org.nz PROJECT PROFILES