BREDS

• Location : Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizyanagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Community Served: Children
• Focus: Education

Organization background

Bapuji Rural Enlightenment and Development Society (BREDS) is focused on improving the quality of life for the marginalized populations of Andhra Pradesh & Odisha. BREDS vision is to realize the Gandhian Dream of "GRAM SWARAJ" by building a network of autonomous village communities which are self-sufficient and self-reliant. The focus areas of the organization are:

• Sustainable Resource Management and food security.
  • Natural Resource Management, Watershed development, horticulture promotion and Natural Farming
    • MaaThota: Water and soil conservation, natural farming and community based asset creation (NABARD supported)
  • Farm & Non-Farm Livelihood initiatives and value addition of rural produce
• Child development and Mother & Child Care
  • Seasonal hostels for children of migrant workers, provide food and care during the night and send children to school to continue their studies. Facilities are also provided at worksites of migrant workers to take care of their children.
  • BREDS is nodal representative for the Government initiative ‘Childline’ that promotes child rights and security
• Rural marketing and enterprise development
  • Rural Mart is a retail sales centre where tribal products are sold to promote concept of local production and local market integration
• Rescue, Relief and Rehabilitation of Vulnerable communities
• Skill building and employability for youth and school dropouts

Project background

Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizyanagaram have been identified as some of the least developed areas in India. These regions have a large unskilled labour force and women are often seen as caretakers of the home. Illiteracy rates are high as most families are poor and getting a job is prioritized over educating a child. Adding to the fact that education is not a priority, access to education, poor infrastructure and the inability to get to school easily exacerbate illiteracy rates.

One way to improve education outcomes is to incentivize children and their families so the children attend school and complete their education. This is done by offering them scholarships for study.

GKF contributions to BREDS

• 2020: Scholarships for 10 students