SAKHYA: Cambridge friends of India


Projects sponsored by Sakhya


Projects sponsored in 2022-23
      AAROHI (Uttarakhand): £300.00. AAROHI is a not for profit community organisation that serves several rural Himalayan communities. Amongst its various areas of work it runs a school called AAROHI BAL SANSAR (ABS) for children from such communities. ABS needed replacement of its existing drinking water purification system, which currently serves 150 students and 15 teachers at the school. Sakhya provided funds to buy a new water purifier and additional replacement cartridges at the school. Other areas of collaboration with AAROHI are being considered.
No projects could be sponsored between 2020 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Projects sponsored in 2018-19
  1. Jan Chetna Manch, Bokaro (Jharkhand): £542.00. Jan Chetna Manch (JCMB) is a non-governmental organisation based in the backward villages of Chandankiari and Chas blocks, in the district of Bokaro of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. It runs a 12 bedded Women’s Health Centre in Chamrabad which suffers from intermittent power supply. Sakhya donated £542 to JCMB to acquire a mini-generator set which would ensure that power is available round the clock in the Health Centre.
  2. South Orissa Voluntary Action (Odisha): £300.00. South Orissa Voluntary Action (SOVA) is a non-profit, secular organization working for the past two decades in undivided Koraput Districts,one of the poorest districts in Odisha, India. Cyclone 'Fani' was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the Indian state of Odisha since the 1999 Odisha cyclone leaving behind a trail of destruction. SOVA is heavily involved in the rehabilitation effort and applied for financial assistance to purchase poultry sheds for farmers whose standing crops were destroyed. Sakhya donated £300 to this very worthy cause.
Projects sponsored in 2017-18
  1. The Veruschka Foundation (Maharashtra): £514.05. Following the culinary efforts with The Cook for Change Challenge that also benefitted from Sakhya’s patronage; Veruschka Foundation launched the Culinaris Cookery course to empower individuals with developmental disabilities. The course provides a 6 month accredited diploma in food and beverage production with the aim to provide employment opportunities upon succesful course completion. Sakhya has supported 4 budding chefs from our 2017-18 batch of Culinaris Cookery Course with funding of Rs. 42,530. Read more about what the Veruschka Foundation do here.
  2. Water Education Program (Manipur and Assam): £537.47. As part of the wider Education Program funds for providing a few modern water purification systems and implementation of water conservation and filtration system for immediate relief to families who are affected by the presence of chemical and pathogenic contaminants in their potable water.
  3. Human Development Foundation of Sikkim (Sikkim): £192.77 to supplement the educational support provided by HDFS to 300 orphan children at their shelter and children’s village. Funding is to cover purchase of educational equipment such as school stationary, microscopes and allied equipment (slides, etc )
Projects sponsored in 2016-17
  1. The Veruschka Foundation (Maharashtra): £600 to support The Cook for Change Challenge - an effort to empower organisations working for the cause of developmental disability and encourage their ability to cook. The competition organised by The Veruschka Foundation saw 18 individuals with developmental disabilities showcase their culinary skills with the promise of 6 of them receiving professional training and their respective organisations receiving financial support to improve resources. Read more about what the Veruschka Foundation do here.
  2. Association of Social health in India (AASHI) (West Bengal): £341 to provide for the cost of buying two automatic sewing machines and materials to be used for training residents at a short stay home near Kolkata for destitute girls.
  3. Sumna Bidyani (Himachal Pradesh): £80 towards a joint scholarship (co-sponsored with Dr Eyal Maori) for a 12yr old girl from Dharamshala to cover her school fees (for a year). This scholarship will enable her to continue her formal education.

Projects sponsored in 2014-15
  1. Padakshep (West Bengal): £500 for two scholarships and academic support to underprivileged school and college students in West Bengal. (Receipt)
  2. Daudnagar Organization for Rural Development (Bihar): £419 for rehabilitating 5 severely malnourished children by providing supplementary nutrition for six months.
  3. SnehaHasthaalu Foundation (Andhra Pradesh): £500 for providing bicycles to 15 school-going girls for their Cycle-to-School programme. (Feedback)

Projects sponsored in 2013-14
  1. Padakshep (West Bengal): £500 for two scholarships and academic support to underprivileged school and college students in West Bengal. The two beneficiaries were Amit Karmakar and Siddhartha Hazra.
  2. Mobile Creches (New Delhi): £350 to provide nutritional, educational and health support to 20 young, vulnerable children of poor parents at temporary construction sites in the National Capital Region. Report
  3. Digambarpur Angikar (West Bengal): £500 to fund the construction of a semi-permanent, low-cost crèche building in the Sunderban coastal region of West Bengal.
  4. Guria (Uttar Pradesh): £296 to acquire a computer in one of their field offices in Ghazipur, UP to more effectively monitor and respond to incidents of child trafficking over the border from Nepal to India.
  5. Chitrangada (West Bengal): £300 to fund a water purifier for drinking water and a computer in a shelter for protecting and nurturing girls aged between 6 and 16 that belong to neglected or deprived sections of the society. Feedback Report.
  6. Brishti: £150 contribution to a fund to provide educational support to a 4-year old thalassemia patient for 5 years. Letter from the Head teacher confirming her admission.

Projects sponsored in 2011-12
  1. Sahyog Sansthan (Rajasthan): £293 for construction of a check dam with a village community in Rajasthan.
  2. Apnalaya (Maharashtra): £285 for sponsoring a 1-year study class for 25 students from slums in Maharashtra.
  3. Ghosaldanga Adivasi Seva Sangha (West Bengal): £300 for buying books, maps appliances and other educational materials for the Rolf Schoembs Vidyashram in Shantiniketan, West Bengal.
  4. Social Organization for Voluntary Action (SOVA) (Orissa): £300 for alternate livelihood training programmes for tribals in Dhenkenal district, Orissa.

Projects sponsored in 2010
  1. Kajila Janakalyan Samity (Midnapore, West Bengal): £400.00 donated towards the cost of books, playing material, drawing material, cultural instruments and yoga materials sufficient to equip 2 of their child care centres (CRCs).
  2. ASSIST (Prakasam and Guntur, Andhra Pradesh): £115.20 for sponsoring a borewell for 25 families.
  3. SAHARA (Andhra Pradesh): £146.00 for constructing a rain water harvest unit in a drought-prone village.
  4. Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha (Sunderban, West Bengal): £400.00 donated towards the cost of buying 3 new computers to equip BTS’ computer literacy centre for unemployed youth and children. (Project proposal).

Projects sponsored before 2010
  1. Sruthi: A community development project in a fishing community along the Andhra Pradesh coast mainly aimed at fostering non-formal education, vocational training for women, health and sanitation. The amount funded - £ 1500.
  2. Kajila Janakalyan Samity: Extension of a previously funded project (during 1998-99) towards the construction of a school building. The amount funded - £ 1500 in 2002 followed by £250 in 2005 towards maintenance.
  3. Unnayan: Development of micro-irrigation system in Balasore district for villages in cyclone affected Orissa. The amount funded - £ 1100.
  4. Sathguru Narahari Sang: Free medical camp and eye operation. The amount funded - £ 750.
  5. Prime Ministers Relief Fund: proceeds of a gala dinner (£1000) donated towards the PMRF in aid of the 2004 Tsunami victims in coastal India.
  6. Swanirvar: A rural NGO committed to self-reliance that operates in the village of Andharmanik, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The amount funded - £ 250 in 2005 for use in their primary education programme.
  7. Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha (BTS): a rural NGO working in the Kultali Island in the Sunderban delta region of West Bengal that aims at addressing local education, and healthcare issues. £800 donated in 2005 towards the purchase of books and teaching aids for the various schools assisted by BTS in sixteen Kultali villages.
  8. Door Step Schools: provides primary education to children at construction sites in Mumbai using schools set up mobile vans. Funded £250 in 2005 towards buying books and educational aids.