Every day our Dalit Education Centres are preventing the human trafficking and slavery of children in India, bringing freedom and hope.

Anusha* is the oldest of four children in her family. Like many other Dalit families, they struggle financially. Her father Babu* is a daily wage labourer – which means he has no guaranteed income. He gathers with other labourers on the street corner every day waiting to see if he will be hired. When they could not even afford a daily meal, Babu begged his relations to help them, but they were in the same situation. That was when Babu decided he had no choice but to sell Anusha.

This is a crisis facing many Dalit families. At the root of their poverty is the heritage of thousands of years of discrimination and oppression because they fall outside the caste system. They are untouchables, outcastes, considered to be less than human and even lower than animals. The result is that many end up trafficked or in slavery. Daughters may be sold to brothel owners or child beggar gangs. Family members are more easily enticed by offers of good jobs and good wages from traffickers, only to find themselves trafficked for sex or domestic servitude. If the family borrow money, they may end up trapped in bonded labour.

Hope out of despair

In this case, Anusha’s future was looking bleak. Then Babu met staff from one of our Dalit Education Centres in Andhra Pradesh. They tried to convince him to send his daughter to the school. Initially he objected as he thought it would increase his financial burden. When he realised that the cost was negligible, since Anusha’s education would be sponsored, he changed his mind. Anusha joined the school in 2003. Three years later when a new school building was opened, Babu, translated by Anusha, thanked the school and its funders at the ceremony.

Having risen to the position of house leader in her school, Anusha graduates next year. Her dream is to become an Administrator Officer, which is a powerful position in the Indian administration. “I am so inspired by the commitment of the school staff that I want to serve poor people and children like myself in my community”, she says.

Free A Dalit Child for less than 50p a day

For only £15 a month, you can give children like Anusha an education through our Free A Dalit Child sponsorship scheme. Our schools are a response to the request of Dalit leaders to provide a quality education in the English medium, from a worldview of dignity, equality, freedom and every individual valued. English is the language of opportunity in India – the language of higher education, of government, of international trade. We have 107 schools across India, providing education for 22,000 children. These schools rely on people like you sponsoring the pupils’ education to deliver this programme.