Karawara Issues

Children Issues         

            Education is the key to a child’s future and in many cases children are denied access to the resources necessary for proper development. Children in Karawara do not have a place to enhance their learning process. Many go to school, but do not pursue quality higher education because they have no interest in the education process. The schools do not provide children with a creative learning environment to express their thoughts and feelings. They are crammed behind desks and taught to read out of textbooks. Children need to develop intellectually through a variety of learning techniques; creativity being a key factor to this.

            There is also widespread gender discrimination in education. The people do not prefer their girls to go to schools. 80% of the total girls who go to school have not studied above middle school. This is a staggering figure because these young girls have almost no chance of finding meaningful work later in life. Males and females should have equal opportunity to their futures. This project envisions creating an environment for children where they can develop and link themselves to others; an important need of the children. Various factors hinder this growth and development. Children have no platform or forum to express and exchange their views and ideas. Neither the children nor their parents are aware about child rights. The level of participation in village development and decision making is limited. There are neither spaces nor opportunities for children to develop their self awareness within families and community.

Youth Issues

            The Karawara youth are at a perilous crossroads in their lives. They do not possess the education or applicable skills to have a successful career in the future. Many youth stop their education after the tenth standard and leave for Kuwait to pursue labor work and low incomes. They see these jobs only in the short term to earn money and fail to see the long term picture. There are few opportunities presented to this youth and this continues the cycle of poverty and poor education. Youth lack a general understanding of social issues, human rights, and political awareness. All of these increase the pre existing tensions between Hindus, Muslims and tribal religious groups. Many of these problems can be directly correlated to their poor education background and lack of opportunities for future advancement.