Wort und Tat

Class Sponsorships

Breaking the cycle of child labour

Child labour! In Central Europe, most people are already aghast at the idea of having children do hard physical labour. Anybody letting this happen is quickly labelled a “bad parent”. In India, hundreds of thousands would carry such a label: about 15 percent of children between five and 14 years have to work to improve the family income - in stone quarries, in carpet factories or on cotton fields. But only in very rare cases parents are indifferent or act out of ill will. In general, they are driven by sheer hardship and the worry that they might starve to death.

It is a merciless circle: the parents have no school education. They want to survive and need every Rupee they can get. However, learning to read and write and to do sums does not put food on the table. As a result the children have to work to help the family survive. However, reading, writing and even simple mathematics would be an escape route as this would give young adults a good chance to find work on the Indian labour market.

wortundtat operates a school near the stone quarries of Yeleswaram, where the children of stone quarry workers go to lessons. Many of the older pupils used to work in the stone quarry themselves. Today, they can do an apprenticeship or go to university. “Godparents” from Europe finance the school education, whereby the sponsorships are not aimed at a particular child but at a place in a certain class. Once a year, all Godparents receive a photo of the class they support. Why have we adopted this method? Here are some answers:

  • They are no conflicts between the pupils because all children receive the same support from their sponsors.
  • If a sponsor decides to terminate his sponsorship, somebody else can take his place.
  • The sponsorships are not very expensive to administer and to manage.

You can give children the gift of a chance!

Would you like to take over a class sponsorship for at least € 18 € per month? If so, please contact us: info@wortundtat.de or telephone +49 201 86 76 699. We will send you all relevant information and documentation.

It only takes € 18 per month to help.