THE END OF A JOURNEY: CELEBRATING GAJAPATI'S TRANSFORMATION

Why is World Vision's partnership with Gajapati coming to a close?

World Vision partners with communities like Gajapati in India for an average of 15 years before phasing out support and transitioning to a new community to offer them the same opportunity for transformation. Gajapati has undergone huge change since World Vision first began working there in 1994. Once struggling to meet its most basic needs, today the Gajapati community is ready to take ownership of their future development, marking the end of a rewarding journey with World Vision.

Issues faced: Water, health, education, empowerment

How has Gajapati been transformed?

Thanks to the support of 4500 compassionate New Zealanders who have sponsored children in Gajapati, the lives of 52,000 people in 252 villages have been transformed over the past 17 years. Below are some of the exciting milestones that this support of World vision has helped the Gajapati community to achieve.

Water and health

Before:
Villagers often had to travel great distances to find sources of clean and safe drinking water. Many suffered from poor health, with high death rates from diseases such as malaria.

Now:
More than 2400 families, including almost 4000 children, now enjoy access to clean and safe drinking water after the installation of 102,219m of pipeline to villages and the renovation of traditional water sources. Since this water project, there have been no more deaths from diarrhoea.

No new cases of malaria have been reported in the last four years due to an effective malaria intervention programme.

Education

Before:
Poverty, illiteracy and long walking distances to school led to a high dropout rate in secondary schools.
Now:
Thanks to significant improvements in the education system, more than 5600 children in Gajapati are enrolled in school, up from 542 in 2002. Over the past year, 1006 high school pupils, 445 of whom were girls, successfully sat their exams.

More than 230 children from 65 remote villages are now able to stay in boarding hostels so they can attend secondary school in other areas.

Empowerment

Before:
Local tribes relied on basic agriculture, with most villagers living below the poverty line. Few opportunities existed for them to train and upskill.
Now:
Concrete dams and irrigation channels have been built to provide farmers with essential water for their crops. High-quality seeds distributed through local farmers' cooperatives have also boosted agricultural production.

World Vision has supported the community to establish 500 community organisations, including approximately 300 self-help savings groups that assist members to run small businesses. There
are also 67 child protection committees and 57 children's clubs to care for children's well-being.

How can I get involved to help another community like Gajapati?

While World Vision has completed its programme in Gajapati, we desperately need your support to help thousands more children and their communities on their development journey towards self-sufficiency. Click here or call us on 0800 800 776 to find out how you can sponsor a child and bring lasting hope to many lives.

Emergence of Hope

Villagers lay some of the 20,000 bricks needed to build a home.

The 15 families in the small tribal village of M. Rugudising in Gajapati used to live in abject poverty. Today, however, the village is a fine example of what a community can achieve with a helping hand.

Thanks to World Vision sponsors, a dam is providing water for growing multiple crops, including a coconut and banana plantation, while a fishery pond has opened up a new fish-farming enterprise. With the availability of water, the villagers have also been able to make bricks, which they've used to build homes for all the families.

"Today when you visit M. Rugudising, it would be difficult to believe that these communities once didn't have access even to two square meals per day. Now M. Rugudising has become a role model for others. It was a journey of impossible to possible." Subhransu Nayak, Gajapati Programme Manager

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