The ‘Adivasi’ people are the highly marginalised tribal indigenous people of India. They have suffered greatly in the past from many different types of discrimination. Recently the tribal people have been pushed to the outer regions of the forests as their land has been taken from them by cash crop plantations such as tea and coffee.

These developments have restricted the tribal people from being able to access the natural resources that they once relied upon for survival. As a result , they have withdrawn from the wider community and almost all the tribal community are living below the poverty line.

Levels of ill health and poverty have increased due to a lack of education and economic resources. The high poverty rate has forced children to leave school when they are as young as ten in order to work and earn money for their families.

To address the various needs of the tribal people in the Nilgiris region, this project has a number of different focuses. Starting with the establishment of pre-schools, the project was then expanded to include self-help groups for women, vocational training, youth clubs and health care.

Through the self-help groups, the tribal women are becoming empowered and learning to be self sufficient, giving them less chance of being exploited by people outside their community.

Downloadable Resources:

Project Sheet