ASSIST India has been providing vocational training in Piduguralla, Andhra Pradesh, since 2013. In 2019, we started our third such project, which involves training another 350 underprivileged girls aged 14 to 18. The aim of the project is to raise the standard of living for these girls and their families.

Piduguralla is surrounded by several lime quarries, kilns and pulverizing mills where children work under hazardous conditions. Though some of these children are liberated from the work and placed in government schools, ASSIST has identified many such children who struggle to continue with their schooling. Most of these are girls, so this project is focusing on them. The project is not just focused on prevention, however: It has two aims: first, to help these girls return to school so that, once they graduate, they can find dignified employment; and, second, to help them avoid the scourge of child marriage.

The girls receive intensive training, lasting from three to six months, in trades such as fashion design, beautician and IT. Once they have finished their training, ASSIST helps them to find dignified employment or start their own business.

Partnership ASSIST stopped in 2022
The GSRD Foundation decided to stop collaboration with ASSIST based on findings of an audit report into the organizational governance of ASSIST over the past two years conducted by a third party.