Khandel light, a registered Charity, was created in June 2000
by Dr Peter Gough, following his first visit to Khandel, Rajasthan.
Dr Gough formed a committee of ten volunteers providing a broad
range of skills and expertise, who felt certain that together
they could make a difference to the quality of life in this
desert region, one of the poorest in India.
The Need
Life in the community of Khandel, which consists of
25 villages with a total population of approximately 33,000,
is lived at
the margin. Here, villagers lack almost all of those basic
amenities considered essential and largely taken for granted
in the UK – clean water, basic hygiene and sanitation,
decent housing, medical care and (especially girls) access
to education. Situated in Rajasthan (in the north west of India
bordering Pakistan), successive droughts have led to crop failure
and consequent lack of employment, leading to poverty, ill
health and migration of the young to India’s cities – to
even worse deprivation.
Despite a reasonable monsoon in the
summer of 2003, six years of increasing drought have left the
villages around Khandel without access to clean drinking water;
the pumps no longer yield drinking water from 50 metres below
the ground – this in a climate where temperatures often
reach 45 degrees centigrade. Currently, water has to be bought
and is delivered by tanker. Historically, Khandel has received
very little direct help from either the state or national government.
There is neither provision of medical care, nor social support,
and inadequate education, particularly for girls. This all
conspires to perpetuate illiteracy, the low status of women,
child marriage and poverty.
The Villages
- Khandel
- Kanwrasa
- Kajipura
- Tyod
- Khantwari
- Sinodia
- Dodwadion ka Bas
- Moondwara
- Jaitsinghpura
- Jaitpura
-
Shyampura
Finances
If you would like to see our Annual Accounts, they can be viewed at the
Charity Commission web site
Khandel-light is a Registered Charity Number 1083200
|
