About Us
Friends for Hope e. V. is Friends for Hope e. V. is committed to disadvantaged children and young adults, in western Rajasthan in India, with the aim of giving access to education and training in order to enable them to have a self-determined future.
The unconditional claim of the association is to implement only sustainable solutions. Education, as well as health care and nutrition, are an essential foundation and particularly effective.
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Since the association was founded in 2014, more than 1000 children and young people and their multipliers, i.e. families, friends, village communities, etc., have received support, in educational and training projects. In addition, investments were made in numerous other projects.
Who we are and
how we work
Friends-for-Hope e. V. is a non-profit, non-denominational and ideologically neutral association based in Munich. The association was registered in 2014 under the number VR 205774 in the register of associations of the district court of Munich.
The honorary board, chaired by Thomas Thirolf, includes Dagmar von Tschurtschenthaler, Mrinalini D'Costa and Nga Le. The association currently has 23 members and numerous volunteers of all ages.
Friends-for-Hope e. V. personally accompanies all projects and is regularly on site in Rajasthan, India. The Barefoot Colleges and educational institutions are visited two to three times a year in order to understand their needs on site and in close consultation with the village communities, coordinators, teachers, parents and children, to identify support needs and to develop sustainable solutions.
An almost daily exchange with the project leaders via digital media enables the association to be close to current events and to act quickly, purposefully and emphatically and to be able to help and advise promptly.
What we take care of
We are committed to the poorest of the poor, regardless of gender, ethnic group or religion.
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With the Barefoot College, our strong local partner in India, we develop and implement sustainable project concepts that aim for consistent, long-term solutions. These are not only important for the children and young people and employees, but also involve the region and its villages with their inhabitants, changing them positively in the long term. The local village communities are therefore involved and integrated. Thus following the principle of helping people to help themselves.
Education, Nutrition & Health
Learning to read, write and do arithmetic is completely new for many of the school children. They are often the first generation in their families to receive an education. The basis for this is an adequate, balanced diet and appropriate hygiene.
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They learn everyday skills. They participate in the children's parliament and learn about co-determination. They attend sewing courses while at school, and being trained as carpenters or electricians. This secures them work in their villages after school - an immensely important step in preventing the existing rural exodus to the big cities and thus a very likely life in city slums.
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Children and young adults thus become self-confident people who perceive themselves as effective. They carry this into their families and village communities. They act as role models for future generations and display prospects for a life beyond poverty, heteronomy and discrimination, passing on hope and effectiveness.
Training
1 year - 1 new life.
One year means a new life here. For the first time there is access to education. About 90% of the students in our school projects manage to transfer to a state school after just one year. A path that would be impossible without that laid out from the night schools and via the boarding school. So far, more than 300 students have received access to education through our association. These bring about positive changes in more than 2000 people - in families and communities.
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Girls are a special key to change here. When girls and young women recognise the value of education, they send their own children to schools as well. They are specially encouraged by us.
Nutrition
Malnutrition cases in India are still high. The corona pandemic has exacerbated this situation. Chronic malnutrition in children affects cognitive development and growth and affects the immune system.
To counteract this, the school children receive a local product produced at Barefoot College: Amritschura - a nutritional blend of locally available products to prevent malnutrition.
Health
In addition, there are usually poor hygienic conditions, which lead to diarrheal diseases and thus make food intake even more difficult. Here, too, much-needed educational work is being done with the help of hygiene workshops.