Challenges in Local India

In the poorest state of Bihar in India, many people in rural villages face severe challenges. They often cannot answer basic questions like the number of family members, their monthly income and expenditure, or perform basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. Most work in construction or agriculture as daily wage laborers, earning around 300 INR (about 500 yen) for an 8-hour workday. However, there are months when they can work for only about 15 days or not at all, leading to zero income. Their expenses are solely for food, with many families having an Engel coefficient of 100%. They often incur substantial debts at interest rates exceeding 10% during festivals or weddings. Heavy rains can lead to flooding, making it impossible to sleep inside their homes.

Such families and individuals are numerous in these villages. The challenges arising from a lack of education include being easily deceived due to limited access to external information and blindly trusting others, particularly when presented with seemingly lucrative offers. They pay bribes disguised as fees to bank employees or for official procedures without question, accepting it as a normal expense. In more extreme cases, some families indulge in drugs and alcohol, abuse their family members, and even sell their children to fund these habits. When faced with the choice of stopping this practice or reporting to the police, many happily choose to leave their children at orphanages.

Our mission is to focus on education in Hindi (the national language), English, and mathematics to enhance literacy and access to external information. We also provide ethical and moral education to prevent behaviors such as selling children or falling into drug and alcohol abuse. We aim to offer opportunities for sustaining life regardless of external circumstances, enabling even small, self-driven efforts.

However, challenges persist, such as a lack of qualified teachers for higher-level studies and a belief that education brings no tangible benefits. This can perpetuate the existing mindset that studying is boring, playing outside is better, or begging is preferable if education doesn't lead to better job opportunities.

The quality of education in public schools and some social initiatives is extremely low, with teachers often absent or engaged in idle activities. We aim to prevent this by utilizing online content and collaborating with online volunteers from within and outside India. Additionally, we plan to provide vocational training and job placement while keeping an eye on economic and political trends.