Interview with AIC: The Fight to Educate India's Orphaned Street Kids

When Slumdog Millionaire burst on to the scene, bringing the plight of street children in India to the big screen, Liz Sholtys was no stranger to the problem. Liz spent her last two years of high school living in India, and like anyone who has visited India, she saw street children everywhere — at every intersection, in every railway station, every tourist spot — 18 million in total across the country. As Liz told me in a recent interview, "In the railway stations, I saw five-year olds inhaling chemicals, seven-year olds bartering for heroin, preadolescent girls and boys selling their bodies and children of all ages rounded up to be taken to the children’s prison."

What was it that ultimately pushed her to get involved? "More than anything else," says Liz, "witnessing the bodies of children being hauled away by police officials after they had died of drug overdoses changed me as a person and solidified my desire to work with this particular population."

When she went off to college in 2004, it would have been easy for Liz to put her passions on hold. Instead, she founded the Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC) in Pune, India. Inspired by her experiences and frustrated by the lack of effective, holistic programs for orphaned street children in India, Liz rallied six friends and set off to open a home for these vulnerable children. What started as a small home for three children has since grown into an international organization serving the needs of hundreds of children and approximately 1,000 community members from nearby slums.

Now AIC has the chance to win $250,000 to support their programs, and they're asking for your help. Right now, AIC is competing in the Chase Community Giving Contest, which will award $5 million to 200 charities based on a public vote. The charity with the top vote will get a whopping $250K. Four runners up will get $100,000, and the next 195 top charities will win $20,000. (Voting ends on July 13 — less than a week away.)

I caught up with Liz to find out more about her organization and why she thinks we should vote for AIC. Here's what she had to say:

What makes AIC different than other children's homes and community projects?

AIC is dedicated to the holistic care and individual needs of each child, which makes us quite unique. Whether through our Residential Program, which acts as a permanent home and family to a group of twelve children, our Education Outreach Program, which provides education, food, clothing and extracurricular opportunities to street and slum children, or our Health and Community Outreach Programs, which offer health care, literacy, microfinance and community development projects to the slum communities that these children go home to at night, we are constantly working to ensure that all needs of every child in our programs are met. In many ways, it would be much simpler to offer one type of service (such as education), but we have chosen a multifaceted approach because we believe that it is the only way to truly effect change for these children.

What have been some of your biggest challenges and biggest successes over the past five years?

It has been absolutely incredible to be a part of AIC from its inception to the organization that it is today. We have certainly had our share of hurdles and setbacks along the way, of course (it seems like there's always something that comes up and has to be dealt with in this line of work!). But our greatest successes are definitely the children themselves. Perhaps I'm biased in saying that they're amazing, inspirational little individuals, but it's true. They have come so far and have such incredibly bright futures ahead of them. Our oldest, Akash, one of our first three children, was awarded a scholarship to attend the Phillips Exeter Academy summer program in the U.S. Five years ago, he was selling newspapers in the railway stations, sleeping on the ground outside a temple, and did not speak, read or write a word of English!

What will AIC do with the money from Chase if you win?

With $20,000, we can pay for all of the school-related expenses for the 200 slum and street children in our Education Outreach Program for an entire year. This includes school tuition fees for both public and private schools, exam fees, uniforms, shoes, sweaters, lunch boxes, textbooks, notebooks, stationary, art supplies, backpacks and so many other things.

With $100,000, we can add a library and a fully-equipped computer lab to our Education Outreach Centre, re-outfit our new Early Childhood Education classroom with the most up-to-date learning materials and educational toys for our young learners and have enough money left over to run our Education Outreach Program (which includes paying a teaching staff of 15 and providing two meals per day for all 200 children in the program) for the entire year.

And with $250,000, we can actually build and start our own accredited school, complete with residential facilities for the 200 slum and street children in our Education Program!

So how do supporters place their votes?

Readers who want to vote for us (thank you!) need to log into Facebook (unfortunately, there is no way to vote if you are not a Facebook user) and visit this link. You'll need to (1) "like" Chase Community Giving by clicking on the small thumbs-up sign in the top left hand corner; (2) click the green "Get started to vote" button; (3) Click "Allow" to let CCG access only your basic information (there are restricted privacy settings that you can apply if you wish); and (4) click the green "Vote now" button. Sounds complicated, but it actually only takes a minute of your time. Once you submit your vote, we'll be one vote closer to winning up to $250,000 for our children in India; don't forget to spread the word!

Change.org has developed a network of 'Changemakers,' high-profile leaders working for change in our various issues. But we love to celebrate the unsung campaigners on the front lines, as well. Do you have any advice to other readers who are looking for small-scale ways to make a difference?

Start by becoming involved with a nonprofit to donate your time — it's a great way of getting a better feel for what you're passionate about, which needs exist and how others are trying to address those needs. I found that drawing upon my early experiences — both positive and negative — working with nonprofits in Pune and elsewhere gave me a much stronger point to start from when I decided to found my own organization a few years later. And if you do decide to branch off and start your own initiative to fill an unmet need, don't listen to anyone who tells you it's not possible! You'll undoubtedly encounter challenges along the way, but the journey is so incredibly worthwhile.

Liz's story is further testimonial to the fact that we can all make change, no matter how young, overwhelmed, busy, or broke we might be. Sure, we can't all go out an start our own orphanages right now — but for starters, we can place our votes and help Liz and AIC win big with a few simple clicks. They're up against some pretty tough competition, so please take a minute or two and vote for real change in the lives of a some extraordinary kids.

Photo courtesy of Liz Sholtys