Supporting Academic and Health Assistance for Youth Outreach and
Guidance
Welcome to the web site of the Sahayog
Foundation, a U.S. based non-profit, charitable organization
established to provide support for the educational and health needs
of rural poor in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Our members and
supporters share the belief that providing aid, support, and encouragement
to those in need can help make the world a better place. It also gives
us an opportunity to better understand and participate in the close
relationship we have as members of the world family.
Our Goal
The long-term goal of Sahayog and its supporters is to create an environment
whereby disadvantaged rural youth in Chhattisgarh can improve the
quality of their lives, either within their traditional village environment
or in a location they choose to live in and grow. We believe that
improving the educational and health environment in the region for
these youth will help them to obtain the knowledge, tools, and opportunities
to further them on the road to realize their dreams, whatever they
may be. In order to do so, we have instituted a variety of projects
and goals. To find out more about these, please click on the “Projects”
link in the column to the left of your screen.
Who receives
our help and why?
Although Sahayog would like to be able
to help all the disadvantaged youth in the region, we realize that
we have to work with our available resources. Since one of our first
steps has been to work toward diminishing the problems of poverty
and overpopulation in the region, our initial efforts are being
directed toward assisting rural girls from poor families between
the ages of thirteen and eighteen, because they are typically the
least educated in the region, become mothers the earliest, and have
the most children and most health problems. These factors tend to
perpetuate both poverty and overpopulation.
In the 1970s, the percentage of girls from poor families who attended
village elementary schools in the region was about 10%. Efforts
by the central and state governments in recent years have led to
a marked increase in the availability of educational opportunities
in the rural areas. Nevertheless. the percentage of girls from the
poorer sections of the community who attend elementary school has
only increased to about 30%, with a much smaller number continuing
on into secondary school. The cause for this low percentage is two
fold: First, many poor families do not view academic education as
being important in the lives of their daughters; second, most girls
reach puberty at the age 12 to 14 years and are then considered
marriageable according to local custom. In rural India, the marriages
of young females are typically arranged within a year or two of
puberty. As a consequence, such girls often have their first child
when they are only fourteen or fifteen years of age, and may end
up having as many as eight children. Thus, keeping girls in school
is important not only to help them get an education, but also to
help postpone the beginning of childbearing. Studies have shown
that the longer females remain in school, the fewer number of children
they tend to have.
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