Project Partner: Edith Wilkins Street Children Trust
Location: Darjeeling, Northern West Bengal
Working with: 100 children

The Edith Wilkins Street Children Trust is a community based project providing over 100 street children a safe environment with access to healthcare and education.

Darjeeling is a city close to the border and is one of the main entry points where children are trafficked into India from neighbouring countries. There are an estimated 2000 children that are trafficked from Nepal across the border into Darjeeling. Our project responds to the very real dangers posed by this trafficking and works jointly together with a Nepalese NGO ‘Maity Nepal’ to tackle its  effects on children.

The project runs a Drop in Centre in the community for child labourers and children who have dropped out of school and provides a range of services. Here children learn about health and nutrition through participation in food preparation, planning for meals, and managing the kitchen at the drop in centre.

The fragile political situation of the area has created setbacks to attendances levels at the drop in centre. However the staff have adapted to the situation and are currently working on community outreach activities focused on connecting specific groups to the project.

Urgent outreach in Darjeeling is concentrating on children whose safety is most at threat, particularly child domestic workers and children who work in the tourist industry.

It is anticipated as this outreach expands the project will gain greater prominence in the community and local authorities will pass them referrals on individual children who would benefit the most from our investment in them.

Please give to help Childreach International continue to support Edith Wilkins Street Children Trust.

Have a watch of the video below. It's an interview with Emma, Director of the Edith Wilkins Street Children Trust. In it, she explains a bit more about the project and how Childreach International is involved.