About the Project
What is the Lucknow Project?
Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen - and it also happens to be the city where the Indian side of my family originates from. My family and I, with the help of the GraceCARES organization, started an educational/community empowerment initiative in villages on the outskirts of Lucknow, focusing on our ancestral hometown of Amethi.
Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and preventative disease that plagues children in the villages of India. Through the support of generous donors, and with the help of GRACE Cares, our initially small project has grown into a number of initiatives serving the entire community. Currently, the project operates across three schools: M. Jeevan School, Umm-e-Salma School, and the Noor-ul-Anwar Bazaar school.
WHO WE HELP:
Approximately 3000 school age students, 70/30 F/M across 3 schools in the area and the surrounding community.
WHEN:
Year-round, thanks to various teachers we have hired and community members we work with.
WHAT WE DO:
Provide basic English and financial education, maintenance of school facilities, annual health care clinics, community aid, and other tools for collective empowerment.
Community Initiatives:
In 2009 and 2010 the Lucknow Project began to look at community-wide empowerment as a means of improving the quality of life in the area, which would in turn lead to higher numbers of children being sent to school. The community initiative is led by a group consisting of 7-10 members from each bloc/constituency in Amethi and manages a small fund to help pay for marriages, funeral rites, birth certificates, hospitalization for critical illness, and other official ceremonies or emergencies, for those who cannot afford to do so themselves. Each area of the village will be equally represented through the group of leaders, to ensure appropriate and fair apportionment of the funds in this category.