Meet Vishal and Tika. They are two brothers from the jungles of India, who, despite devastating circumstances, can attend Toribari Primary School thanks to Asian Outreach India, who runs the school and subsidizes their school expenses.

Vishal and Tika are brothers who live in a jungle village in the Dagaling district, north-eastern India. Vishal is 12 years old and Tika is 9 years old, and live with their mother. A few years ago, their father became mentally unstable and committed suicide. This was a devastating situation for their family, as their mother had to provide for her young family all alone.

Today she works as a basic laborer, working in the forest and cleaning roads, for which she only earns about 270 rupees a week, which is almost US$6. But this work only lasts for 3-4 months of the year, so the rest of the time she collects firewood from the forest to sell on the side of the road.  The family live in utter poverty in a single room shack. They do not own any land on which to grow food and many times they go without.

Vishal and Tika’s mother can only afford to pay for one of them to go to school. Because of the poverty of their circumstances, Asian Outreach India pays for both children to attend Toribari Primary School, and covers all associated costs such as lunches and books. The boys both love school, enjoy all their classes and have made many friends. When they grow up they both want to be doctors. They now have the chance to integrate into the government school system at the end of primary school, where they will be able to follow their dreams and provide a better life for themselves and their mother.

Vishal and Tika are not a unique case. There are hundreds of thousands of Indian children that drop-out of school, or are unable to ever go to school, mostly due to poverty and illness. These children will stay in the poverty cycle into adulthood unless they have the chance to change their future through education. By partnering with us, you have the opportunity to give these children a 2nd Chance at life.