VSO INDIA

- Approximately 828 million people in India live under $2 a day. - More than 40% of the population are illiterate, in Jharkhand this is actually more like 67%. - 36% of the world's poor are Indian. - 217 million Indians are undernourished.

I am fundraising for VSO who I will be going to India with in January for three months.VSO sends volunteers from all sorts of backgrounds to places that are suffering from poverty, war and natural disasters. VSO establishes a sense of cultural understanding across the world by encouraging partnerships and connections between volunteers from the UK and the developing world. What this means is that people from hugely different worlds, work together, to make the world a better place to be in!

I am going to Jharkhand, in rural NE India in January thanks to funding from the Department for International Development, which will allow me to see how the money I raise for VSO which will be wonderful as it will guarantee the money you donate is going to go to the best possible use.

In Jharkhand, I will be living in the local Rural Technology Park, and working with a grassroots Indian charity called NEEDS ( Network for Enterprise Enhancement & Development Support) within their three main programmes:

1) Developing Integrated Pest Management for Illiterate local farmers.
2) Women's leadership initiative, a film project. (This is one of the projects I am most excited about and convinced we could do something quite amazing. Would greatly appreciate any film expertise people can offer!)
3) Maternal health advocacy and campaign.
The money you donate will go straight into the hands of VSO, so please be generous and help them continue their work in fighting global poverty. VISIT MY JUSTGIVING PAGE AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES: JUSTGIVING