- Name: Jackfruit Project
- Location: Washington, DC, India
- Needs: Children Needs, Furniture, Children Needs Assistance
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The Jackfruit Project pairs resources in India and the U.S. to support the girl children of the Snehi Bhavan home.
Fourteen girls live in the loving home of founders Matthew and Sajini, along with the couple's own son, in Melukavu, a small town near Kottayamin the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Prior to the founding of this project in 2007, Sajini and Matthew relied on Matthew's laborer's wages and local donations of food to keep the home running.
But they are unable to continue supporting such a large group single-handedly. As the girls grow older, they are in need of support and mentoring beyond what they receive at the home.
Paula Buck, professor at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, is the president and founder of the Jackfruit project. When Paula Buck first visited Snehi Bhavan the girls were without the most basic of needs, but since that time life has become better for them.
There still is a tremendous need for resources; the girls are dalits ortribals and come from abusive backgrounds, a number of them have mothers in the sex trade.
The girls need food and shelter and an education that will provide them with independence and self-esteem. Dalit is a self-designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as low caste or untouchables (outcastes). While the caste system has been abolished under the Indian constitution, there is still discrimination and prejudice against Dalits in South Asia.
The short term goals are:
1) to provide each girl with a healthy diet, including fruit and vegetables
2) to ensure the ongoing education of each girl by covering school fees
3) to offer the older girls extracurricular classes focussed on buildingself esteem and confidence
4) to provide each young woman with a mentor who will help her explore possibilities for her future
5) to improve the physical facility of the home, which is, at present, quite primitive.
The long term project is the purchase of two acres of rubber trees to enable Snehi Bhavan to become self-sustaining after just one year of production.
