The legacy of the caste system hinders the future development of children and young people – especially in the lowest caste of "untouchables".

The Shanti Bhavan School Home was founded in 1997 by Dr. Abraham George, an Indian-American businessman with the aim of breaking this "vicious circle of poverty". The "Best We Can Be" school is located near Bangalore and is home for children and young people aged between 4 and 18 years. With the support of Primavera, the children receive an all-encompassing school education from qualified teachers.

In the meantime, the first pupils of the school have graduated from the best colleges and found good jobs with well-known companies.

Since 2014, Primavera supports 250 children and teenagers.

Homepage: Shanti Bhavan

Aishwarya Trust finances life-saving heart surgeries for children born with a heart defect. These surgeries open up the perspective of a normal, self-determined life for the children. Without such a surgery the children have a very short life expectancy of only a few years.

The affected families from the Bangalore slums are fighting for the necessities in their everyday lives. Hence, such a surgery with an estimated cost of 1200 EUR repre-sents a huge financial burden for the affected families and is impossible for them to pay on their own.

This day care center cares for approximately 60 children and adolescents ranging between 4 and 18 years with physical and mental disabilities such as Down syndrome, Cerebral palsy or Autism. The children are treated medically and therapeutically. Depending on their abilities, they are taught and fostered in small groups. This includes speech and music therapy as well as sports activities.

Integration into a normal school is rarely possible. Therefore, the aim of the school is to teach the children simple everyday skills such as eating, going to the toilet and regular body hygiene. Consequently, the children learn to cope better with their daily lives and get more self-confident.

Some of the adolescents can be taken over into supervised working relationships. The institution does not receive any state aid and depends on donations and voluntary payments from parents.

The desire to help children in need prompted MC Venugopal to establish the "Shree Ramchandra Graameena Vidya Vikaasa Trust" in 1990. The aim is to improve the health and education of children from families below the poverty line. "I started teaching a few students in a small shed in the 8th phase of JP Nagar (area in Bangalore)" he recalls.

In the meantime, the small class in a shed has become a school for 255 pupils. Primavera has set up a computer laboratory as well as a medical camp. In addition, the daily distribution of nutritional drinks to all schoolchildren was started with the support of Primavera.

Despite the bitter poverty, the mostly shattered family circumstances due to e.g. alcoholism or violence towards children at home, the school succeeds in setting an antipole. Providing good education and a safe place to live often bears fruit in developing the children into independent personalities with a chance to break the cycle of poverty and take control of their lives.

Ashirwad is the special school run by Coimbatore Spastic Trust. The school is specifically designed, staffed and resourced to provide appropriate education for children who have special needs, due to severe learning difficulties, physical disabilities or behavioral problems.

With a holistic learning concept and ongoing assessment of measures in close alignment with the parents, Ashirwad aims at continuously improving the development of the children. Moreover, older children have the opportunity to receive vocational training and acquire skills which enable them to live a more independent and fulfilled life.

Navkshitij is a residential workshop that accommodates 64 mentally disabled children and adolescents from the villages of Marunji and Aswali.

The project also includes a school for children with special needs. A total of 14 children benefit from this school.

Furthermore, the complex also includes an autism unit, which accommodates and supports 10 autistic people.

The project creates a world that offers mentally disabled people a life full of happiness, dignity, warmth, excitement and joy. The objective of the project is to help them be an accepted part of society.

The Spastics Society of Karnataka is a Non-Government Organization (NGO) dedicated to the welfare of persons with neuro-muscular and developmental disabilities. The society provides a comprehensive package of diagnostic and intervention services to persons with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities and Learning Disabilities.

This project supports 20 adolescents with pre-vocational and vocational training. The training enables the disabled adolescents to find a job and contributes to the future welfare of each individual.

5 students are learning photocopying, stapling, spiral binding and lamination, 4 students can do the above mentioned skills with the support of the instructor. The rest of the group are under training for various skills according to their abilities.

The Deepa Academy is a free and residential primary school for visually impaired children in the Chamarajnagar district of Bangalore. The academy is home to 45 visually impaired children from different rural areas of Karnataka who receive support in terms of education and general development. Free medical services are included in the portfolio.

In addition to the regular subjects, skills in further languages, economics or social science are taught. The students regularly participate in various cultural and sports activities and take part in annual excursions – both education and amusement are guaranteed.

I support a girl (ISAG) is an initiative project started by the organization CHILD in 2015. The objective of this project is to support girls who are infected and affected by HIV.

With the support of this initiative, the girls receive proper education, which opens up a path for a brighter future. Moreover, ISAG enables the girls to fully focus on their education without any distractions and to experience a happy childhood.

In addition to school support, extra-curricular activities are organized regularly – such as a Diwali celebration, for which all girls received new clothes and sweets.

This project provides improved teaching facilities, various activities as well as nutritional meals for tribal students of the Hon. V.P.U. Ashram School Waghera in Nashik. The school is a boarding school whose mission is to provide quality education to its students. Because of the high engagement of teachers, the children can improve their knowledge of computer, music, arts and sports.

The students of this school shine with their excellent performance in various areas such as education and sports like Judo. Three students were selected for the "pre IIT & Medical Education" at the international college Vagad Space Academy.