Constructing the future of the India of tomorrow

Care & Share: a better future for the generations of tomorrow

Care & Share Italy is an NGO which has been active for more than 25 years in India. It was founded on the basis of a desire to provide help and assistance to vulnerable, marginalised children in the poorest areas of the country. Thanks to a combination of distance support and educational projects, more than 1,700 children now have access to high-quality schooling, with the opportunity to continue their studies to university level.

Defending the right to education means guaranteeing a positive future for the generations of tomorrow, especially in India, which is home to around one-third of the world's poorest people. Indeed, according to estimates by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 42% of Indians live on less than 1.25 dollars a day. This makes India one of the countries with the highest number of people living in poverty in the world.

Defending the right to eduction also means reducing the gap between rich and poor; India has one of the highest globally. In the last twenty years, the average wage of the richest 10% of the population has been 12 times more than that of the poorest 10%. This economic inequality has a strong impact on society, especially on its youngest members. We only need look at the fact that in India, 1 child in every 3 lives below the poverty line.

These troubling facts are precisely what has led Care & Share Italy to concentrate its activities in Andhra Pradesh, one of the most densely populated states in India. It is an area mostly made up of rural and marginalised villages, where the houses are falling down and the sanitary conditions are precarious to say the least. Andhra Pradesh is one of the Indian states with the highest number of HIV sufferers, many of whom are children.

Why we chose to help Care & Share

A combination of geographical and emotional ties drew us to the Care & Share initiative. India has been our second home since 1997, the year in which we exported Carraro's production to Pune. For this reason, we are well acquainted with the complex reality of the Indian subcontinent.

Tomaso Carraro was one of the first to promote this not-for-profit organisation, of which he is now Chairman. Initially on a personal basis and then through the company, he has supported a host of Care & Share projects, and has visited a number of local initiatives in India. One of the most recent visits dates back to last February, when Tomaso laid the foundation stone of a new school in the village of Dekapuram, as well as distributing food and health kits to 300 HIV positive children from Vijayawada.

The Care & Share projects

The Care & Share association runs three projects, dedicated to schooling, housing and health. The first of these is focused on helping the adivasi, the original inhabitants of India who have historically suffered discrimination, and who live in some of the most isolated pockets of the country. Most adivasi do not have access to education, because they lack school structures and teachers.

Care & Share thus decided to intervene, supporting a number of educational projects. The organisation engages in a wide range of activities, building schools, toilets, libraries and cafeterias, delivering teacher training, providing school materials and raising awareness within the population of the power of education.

Mangoes Home is the second Care & Share project, a structure which offers food and accommodation to 20 orphans aged between 16 and 18 years. The goal of the home is to provide a safe place for those with a history of abandonment and abuse. The young men and women staying in the facility also receive psychological support and financial assistance in order to enable them to attend college and university, with a view to helping to make a change in their lives..

In addition to the Mangoes Home, Care & Share has also set up a number of government-supported centres to offer free services to poorer women and children. The Anganwadi Centers  provide healthcare to pregnant women, new mothers and newborns, and nutritional support and recreational and educational activities for children.

All projects can be supported by a donation, whether small or large, to enable the association to continue to improve living conditions in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Care & Share is not the only organisation supported by Carraro - discover our commitment to Amici della Musica.