Mercy And Grace Charitable Trust

The projects of the Mercy & Grace Charitable Trust, Andhra Pradesh, India

Help educate the children of the poorest of the poor and lead their parents to a self-sustaining income.

In Andhra Pradesh in south-east India, the average income per family is only USD 80-100 per month and most people own neither land nor houses. They work in the fields and fish ponds harvesting for the upper caste landowners and landlords.

In close cooperation with Human Care & Education e.V., Mercy and Grace runs three schools for the children of the poorest, who would never be able to attend school in the current situation in India. This enables them to break the vicious circle of poverty, lack of education, lack of work and persistent poverty. The schools are open to children of all religions and world views and are not – as in most other schools in India – restricted to Hindus.

Madhava Rao, the founder and trustee, gave up his job at a state bank in 2000 after 27 years. As he was previously responsible for microfinance projects in the Andhra Pradesh region, he knows the people who live in remote villages, belong to the lowest class – mostly illiterate – and have no access to state schools.

Since 2001, both Madhava and his wife Nirmala have been working full-time for Mercy & Grace to help the poor and needy. He started with the money he saved from his monthly salary and collected for the needs of the charity projects. Both are the key people to love, care and concern for the children.

What motivated them to start this mission? Unfortunately, they are childless themselves, which has strengthened their commitment to the welfare and development of street children, neglected, abandoned, half-orphans and the poorest of the poor children, as well as those suffering from the cruel rules of child labor. Their concern for the welfare of children is known to many people here. Many children and families have already received their help.

In order to enable the parents to pay the school fees – at least partially – (this is also a question of dignity!), Mercy & Grace trains the mothers of the pupils to become seamstresses (Sewing Project). With the sewing machines provided and a good education, they can make a significant contribution to their livelihood. In addition, they are at home when the children come home from school and can therefore take care of the children instead of toiling in the rice fields until late in the evening.