Project Shanti thanks all donors who support us in helping people to help themselves. We are happy to report that the Shanti shop is doing well in one of the project areas funded so far and in September 2022 the women’s self-help group even opened a Shanti hotel! After 7 years, we can transfer the project work in the slums and in the red-light district to the project managers on site.

Through your donations, the local helpers were able to build up their own network at the municipal level with doctors and the Indian authorities. In the future, local organizations and donors will continue to work on continuing the self-help groups as well as the training and education center.

But our help in Shanti’s birthplace does not end there: In December 2021, Shanti and Tom visited the renowned organization Pratham in Aurangabad. It provides training places and further training opportunities in the hotel industry and crafts, especially for disadvantaged young people. We plan to initially select 20 young people from Parbhani in order to give them a chance of basic vocational qualification through Prathma in Aurangabad, 240 kilometres away.

Another new project area in Parbhani will focus on supporting families who have to move with the whole family from their home to the harvest fields to cut sugar cane. The children are torn from their school and everyday life. They live under adverse conditions in tents in the fields. We want to help these children locally.