COUNTRY / PROBLEM
India is a country in South Asia, inhabited by 1,3 billion people, which makes it the second most populated country in the world after China. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Indian economy in 2017 was the sixth largest in the world in terms of GDP. India is also recognised as one of the fastest-developing countries in the world. Nonetheless, it faces the problems of poverty, undernourishment, and an underdeveloped healthcare system.
ORGANISATION
Urmi Basu is a social activist and the founder of the New Light organisation, which helps children who come from the most excluded social groups in Kolkata. The organisation’s headquarters are located in a red-light district of Kalighat – a place where prostitution, extreme poverty, and crime are omnipresent. It is there that Urmi Basu opened, among other places, the Creche Cum Shelter, the first of its kind. By financing the education, medical care, and providing children in need with free meals, New Light gives them a chance for a better future. The organisation has also created a network of open community centres, schools, and boarding houses for 250 children from the vulnerable families.
PROJECTS
The Kulczyk Foundation supports the following New Light facilities:
- Creche Cum Shelter,
- New Light Syamatara,
- HTS Starfish,
- Soma Home.
