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Our 2020 Winter Trip is complete

Our small group of travelers have completed their 2020 India trip, visiting families in Delhi, Varanasi and Khajuraho. We'll have some great updates in our upcoming newsletter.  If you're not already subscribed to our Newsletter, you can sign up here.

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Vision
Our vision is inspired by the true “saint of the poor,” Mother Teresa, who said, “We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.” TIG hopes to improve the lives of as many individuals and families as our finances will permit.

TIG is a 501(c)3 Organization.

Families We Serve
The first two families supported by TIG were the families met initially, either by accident or providence, on that first trip in 2008. The circle of support has moved beyond these “first families,” but due to limited funds, not far enough.  The work began with a few families in two towns, Khajuraho and Varanasi, and has now expanded to include a family in Delhi.

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Education
TIG is currently offering full scholarships to over 30 children, mostly living in three communities: Delhi, Khajuraho, and Varanasi.  These children range in age from 3 to 15 years, and grade-wise from nursery school to ninth grade. The parents of the children have made the final decision as to which school their children will attend, usually, but not always, with input from TIG.  In Delhi the school is Sikh; in Khajuraho, Catholic; and in Varanasi, Hindu.  Religion cannot be taught as part of the school curriculum in India, but the cultural heritage of these faiths does give each of the schools a unique “flavor.”  The parents have chosen the schools, not because of a particular religious tradition, but because they felt that that school offered their children the best education.  On average a child can be educated—tuition, books, uniforms, transportation, and tutoring if it is needed (and it usually is)—for approximately $500 per year.

If you would like to support a child for a year, please contact us at TheIndiaGroupNYC@gmail.com or make a donation through this website.

We are committed to seeing the children we support through tenth grade (a number of secondary schools end with the tenth grade) and ideally through the twelfth grade. We would very much like to secure funds to increase the number of children we support.

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Health Care

TIG’s mission is to work with indigent Indian families in the areas of Education and Health Care.  Working to get these families adequate health care is a much more complex endeavor than is working with them to educate their children.  Education can be planned for:  There is a school with a set tuition and calendar.  On the health care front nothing is “set.”  TIG is not at a stage vis-a-vis our Indian families where we can provide them with “set,” planned, “preventive medicine,” though we have attempted to see that the younger children have received their childhood immunizations.  But by and large the limited medical funds we have go towards addressing illnesses and accidents.  We remain surprised at the number of requests we have for medical help, on the average three per month.

Because illnesses and accidents cannot be planned for, it is difficult, if not impossible, to create a budget that anticipates them.  All we know is they will come and, if the past is an indicator of the future, with great regularity. 

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Where We Work

Delhi

Delhi, in northern India, is the country's capital.  With a population of 20.5 million, it is a sprawling, sweltering city encompassing all India's diversity.  As is often or always the case, the urban environment is particularly hard on the poor and there are many of them in Delhi.

Khajuraho

Khajuraho is located in central India.  The 2001 census gives the population as 20,000.  It is quite rural and the caste system is alive and well.  Its main “industries” are tourism and farming.  The tourists come to see the over one thousand year-old erotic temples carved under the Chandela rulers.  

Varanasi

Varanasi, with a population of 3.7 million, is located in central India. Its main industries are tourism and the afterlife. Varanasi is one of the most sacred cities in all India because it sits on the banks of the most sacred body of water in India—actually considered a goddess—the Ganges River. 

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Photos from our Past Trips