by Peter Collins

Educate a child in India. Your gift will put a child on the road to self-sufficiency, while surrounded by the love of God, and immersed in Catholic tradition through the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Education is one of India’s most pressing challenges. Half of India’s 1.2 billion people are age 25 or younger, and literacy levels, while improving, could cripple the country’s long-term prospects.

Through Barnabas’s support of the work of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we have accepted the challenge to fund the private education of 21 children.  This challenge flows from our Mission Statement.

The children of the very poor—families at the bottom of the ladder—have scant chance of escaping the struggle of poverty and to live as their parents.  And if a woman is widowed, or separated from an abusive relationship, she lives by the charity of relatives and neighbors, because she has no means of income.  Her children most certainly will have the same life. Together we can attempt to break this cycle.

One possibility—some say the only possibility—of escaping a family’s poverty is through education.  Through education a child in poverty has the possibility of becoming literate in language and mathematics, the basic skills needed in nearly all jobs.

So, we appeal to you to prayerfully reflect on this need, and to donate as you wish. We need $350 per year to cover the cost of elementary and high school tuition, books, supplies, and required uniforms.  This is an impossible amount for poor Indian families, but very possible for many of us.  Only through your generosity can this mission be accomplished, one child at a time.

We appreciate your consideration of this challenge and your interest in the work of Barnabas.