KNOW ABOUT US
Open Hands Education Trust is a non-profit organization and NGO working in Dadawan Village, District Aurangabad, Bihar State, India, since 2017. In 2024 Open Hands Education Trust became a REGISTERED CHARITABLE TRUST with the Government of India under the Indian Trust Act 1882. (Registraton Number 16472/2024)
Bodhgaya is located in the Northern India state of Bihar. The villages around Bodhgaya have been living in deep poverty for multiple generations. Bihar is known to be one of the poorest, most impoverished areas in all of India. At the same time, the town of Bodhgaya is also one of the holiest Buddhist pilgrimage sites in all of India. The Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya 2,600 years ago, and the Mahabodhi Temple and Bodhi Tree site in Bodhgaya continue to draw Buddhist pilgrims from around the world.
Open Hands Education Trust had simple beginnings. It started with a dream and a vision to help poor women, children and families who are living in deep poverty in rural Bihar - to have better lives.
In 2017 we began by setting up a free Sewing Training Centre in Dadawan Village, the village where Jhulan's wife Pratigya grew up. The goal was to improve the economic status of women and older girls, by giving them job skills through offering a program that teach them to become seamstresses, tailors and entrepreneurs. A second goal of this program has been to help the women to empower themselves, to gain increased self-confidence and to have more safe and secure lives, as they earn money to help support their families. It is recognized that many women in rural India suffer deeply due to imbalanced gender issues, and lack of education and job skills. This program continues to teach women and older girls the skills they need to improve their lives. As of 2024, well over 250 women have completed this training program and changed their lives for the better.
Founder Jhulan Kumar and his wife Pratigya
In 2018 a free school and education program for impoverished children (who were not in school) was started in Dadawan Village. Jhulan and his wife Pratigya became aware that the poorer children of the village were not in school, as their parents could not afford to send them. Instead - these children were working in child labour. So Jhulan and Pratigya started a "Youth Education Awareness" campaign in the village, to teach the value of education to both parents and children - and then invited the children to attend a free school. Over the years, the school has grown, as has the enthusiasm and gratitude of the poor village families. The children are very happy and excited to be in school, and their parents are very grateful that their children are receiving an education. As of 2024 over 80 children are regularly attending the free school. Giving them an education can change the course of their lives, and the lives of the generations that come after them.
Later, a village well and hand-pump were installed in the village through the Open Hands Education Trust. Dadawan village and surrounding area
suffers from long-term drought - and when asked, village elders and the men of the village chose a village well as an important service that Open Hands Education could offer the whole village. This well is now one of the only very deep and dependable wells in the area, providing clean water for many, many people. Additionally, village latrines and hand-washing stations were built in the village by Open Hands Education Trust. We subscribe to the World Health Organization's research that saying that clean water access, along with sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are the most important prerequisites of health for children and adults in poorer areas of the world. We want to continue to build more wells and provide more sanitation and hygiene facilities over time.
Other programs operating through Open Hands Educational Trust include providing warm blankets in cold winter months to poor elderly villagers, and offering financial support for poor children who have been orphaned - to enable them to continue with their education.
Our commitment to all who choose to work with us in helping the poor in rural Bihar - is to act with integrity and honestly in all that we do, and to offer transparent accountability about where donations go and what they are used for. As well, we will give regular updates on our website about how our programs and projects are developing.
We are deeply grateful for any donations that are offered to Open Hands Education Trust, and we will use them with great care to help the people that we serve. Canadian and Indian Tax Receipts are available for any donations upon request.
Nancy Carroll, Victoria, BC, Canada ( Social Work Consultant )
Nancy is a long-term donor, friend and supporter of Open Hands Education Trust. During a visit to Bodhgaya and rural Bihar a number of years ago, she was struck by the deep poverty of the area - and by the beautiful faces of the local children - who were longing to be in school, but stuck in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness. She wanted to do something to help, and through this process met Jhulan - who shared a similar dream of making education available to the poor in rural Bihar. She is very happy to be able to work with Jhulan and Open Hands Education Trust to help make this dream a reality.
Nancy is a Social Worker by training, with a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of British Columbia in Canada. She has worked for over 35 years as a social worker in hospitals, community clinics and social service agencies in Canada. She currently acts as a volunteer social work consultant for Open Hands Education Trust. Nancy is involved with both Open Hands Education Trust and the Canadian Charity Transform International (Canada). She is the contact person linking the two charities - which have formed a partnership. Nancy is looking forward to visiting India again in 2025 and spending lots of time at Open Hands Education Trust’s projects.
Board Member Details
