India's Dalits

For the majority of India's 300 million Dalits ("Untouchables") and another 300 million low-caste people, very little has changed since the nation became a democracy over 50 years ago and declared equal human rights for all citizens. The reason is not an inadequate constitution, but a prevalent 3,000-year-old religious belief system that determines the value of an individual and what he/she can do in life based on the caste into which he or she was born. And from this caste there is no escape possible, regardless of what is achieved in life.

Illiteracy keeps millions of people on the Indian subcontinent steeped in desperate poverty and holds them prisoners to slave labour, debt bondage and exploitation by those in higher levels of society.

The Plight of the Dalit Children

The Dalit children are located among some of the most downtrodden people groups in Asia, where boys and girls face incredible disadvantages as they grow up. Often considered subhuman by society, these children have little understanding of their value in the eyes of a loving Creator. They are among the most poor and needy of Asia, children who go hungry every day. More often than not, poverty forces every family member—children included—to labour to provide the barest of essentials.

They are the street children roaming the cities. Treated with less concern and care than animals, they are the recipients of cruel abuse and angry beatings. It’s doubtful they’ve held a bar of soap, eaten an ice cream cone or cradled a doll. Survival is their only goal. They are the child labourers who toil in factories, coal mines, tea plantations and pastures. Their health is compromised; their growing bodies are crippled. Some are bonded labourers; others are enslaved to their tasks by family poverty.

Bridge Of Hope Centres

Bridge of Hope school programs are the shelter for these children - the prospect of a life filled with hope, dignity, purpose and joy. The Gospel message of Jesus is the motivating influence behind Gospel for Asia's work amongst the Dalits. It is the message of God's unconditional love revealed through the life of Jesus that is transforming the lives of even the most downtrodden and giving them dignity, hope and the strength to change the world around them.

When sufficient funds are available to the local Bridge of Hope centre (through donations or child sponsorship), a Dalit child can be enrolled into the program where they receive a quality education, a school uniform, medical and health care, a nutritious daily meal and most importantly they learn about the love of God.

Every Dalit child will be learning English - this is a language that opens the doors of opportunity and in itself can be instrumental in breaking the poverty cycle.

Click here if you would like to sponsor a Dalit child.

Click here to get more information about the Bridge of Hope program.