For some children, going to school is much more than just education.  This is about the free meal that fills an empty stomach.  This is about having a uniform that doubles up as the only good set of clothes they own.  This is about escaping the drudgery and pain that accompanies living below the poverty line to a place where there is food to eat and there are games to play – a place where you don’t need to be older than you actually are.

Parents of these children aren’t exploiting the system of education that (barely) exists in most parts of India, but actually use this as a means to continue living – a means for food they cannot otherwise provide, clothes they cannot afford and often times shelter they otherwise do not have.

With the average daily-wage labourer (who makes up most of the Indian economy) unable to provide for a family that seems to grow faster than India’s GDP, options for daily living seem to dwindle almost daily.

Here’s where we come in – The Ashoka Tree aims to bridge the gap between those who have so many toys that they wouldn’t know if one went missing and those who have none and count the sticks and stones outside as toys instead.  With a little effort from people who care, we have managed to form a team of like-minded folks who work together collecting donations of clothes, books and toys for the ‘unseen’ India – the India where an extra set of clothes are considered a luxury and books merely a dream.

The Ashoka Tree is a Registered Charitable Trust that has been working in the early childhood education sphere for nearly a decade. What began as a simple endeavour to provide children across India with books and toys is now a full-fledged NGO that continues to conduct workshops on art and language, provide nutrition kits for children with malnutrition, supply clean drinking water in areas where there isn’t any access to such, and even build libraries and bathrooms aside from child-proofing unaided play schools. Working in collaboration with the central government’s Integrated Child Development Scheme, The Ashoka Tree aims to ensure equal rights to read, play and live for children across the country.

The Ashoka Tree works with anganwadis across 5 states in India, working to ensure all children have equal rights to read and play as well as working with mothers of children through the anganwadi, giving them a safe space to speak, collaborate or work together for healthier, happier families.

The Ashoka Tree is an NGO that works in the early childhood education sphere, with both children and mothers from an otherwise margnialized section of society that remains unseen in India.

Some of our main projects involve:

1. Athi-Sundar Libraries - setting up community libraries in angnawadis across India with books for both children and adults alike.
2. Infrastructure & childproofing Anganwadis - from helping with drinking-water supply to mosquito-proofing and building toilets.
3. Reading/writing/art/dance/craft workshops for children in anganwadis
4. Healthcare and welfare camps for women and children thhrough anganwadis.
5. Nutrition & hygiene kits for women and children through anganwadis.

A land filled with so much wonder and beauty, there is unfortunately a large section of India that remains unseen today. In a post-pandemic world, where jobs are scarce and education seems to have taken a backseat in the race for survival, The Ashoka Tree aims to get children through a good preschool structure so that they don't just go to school later, but actually stay there and continue on to graduate.

Working with women and children in an otherwise marginalized section of society has given us hope that there can be a better life for people if each of us helps, one crayon at a time.

It's literally all hands in deck in India today, where the cost of living seems to only keep rising while unemployment keeps pace. We do what we can to keep our next generation safe - help them stay in school, where the foundation of good pre-school education will last a lifetime.