Literacy for the Children of India’s Slums and Inner Cities

Children study English using the Ollie the Elephant books, at one of the slums in India where Charity United’s educational programs are in operation.

Can you imagine what your life would be like now, if you had grown up without any access to education? For millions of children around the world, this is the stark reality.  And there is nothing they can do about it unless we help.

In collaboration with charities and volunteers working in India and around the world, Charity United is providing education to children living in slums. We provide education and improve education quality in poor areas, with the aim of giving all children an equal opportunity for a good future.

Funds raised are used for materials, supplies, logistics, infrastructure, teaching, and training. They may also be used to provide food and essential survival needs for children and their families, concurrent to giving them the basic educations necessary, to provide them with a route out of poverty. The images you see on this page were taken in some of the slums where our educational programs are being implemented.  These are some of the children you can help with your donation.

Charity United was founded to make the human rights of the child a reality. It designs its charitable programs around the Convention on the Rights of a Child adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1989.

While Charity United grants attention to every right of the child, it pays particular attention to the right of the child to education, as covered in articles 28 & 29 of the Convention.

William Tucker, President of Charity United, works with a local tutor to educate children in a slum in India.

Roughly one billion people in the world live in slums. Most of these are children.

Charity United’s Slum and Underprivileged Project is primarily focused on education. Education is the route out of the slums and opens the door to a future. While governments make every effort to provide high-quality education to all children, we must recognize that this is a daunting task, and is, at times, overwhelming.  Charity United recognizes the responsibility of citizens in making human rights a reality, and thus seeks to lend support to this effort.

Through surveys of slums around the world, Charity United has located key areas in need of support, in accordance with Articles 28 & 29 of the convention.

Charity United has isolated section 3 of Article 28, raising literacy levels, as a primary focal point to bring about the needed change that will allow further education to occur.

Charity United, therefore, brings a unique literacy program to slums and underprivileged children in order to provide equal opportunity to both girls and boys who are not able to afford high-quality education in existing schools.

Sometimes, learning starts with drawing in the sand

How our program works

Our program works in several steps, and is designed while keeping the organic learning system of the child in mind. It has been specifically developed to be both cost-effective and easily executable in any situation.

It consists of several phases:

• Phase 1 teaches the child or student spoken English
• Phase 2 teaches the alphabet and learning to read
• Phase 3 teaches writing
• Phase 4 teaches how to use correct grammar

This sequence is never violated or mixed.

Children learning English verbs through mimicry exercises

Each step is completed fully, before moving on to the next. This follows the natural sequence of learning for any child. A newborn is not taught grammar, or to write. He learns the words for basic objects first, then action words (verbs that describe action) are introduced, then he learns to read, this is followed by writing, and finally, he learns grammar. This is the natural way we learn to speak. This is how language is taught quickly, easily, and perfectly.

Program Details

For a full description of the program, please click here.

How You Can Help

With proper education, we are making the rights of the child a reality and working together to create a better world and an end to poverty. With your help, we can make it.  The more support we receive, the more children we can help.