Journey So Far

ACT was set up in August 2000, when two of the founder members lost their daughter “Aarushi”, an event that fostered in them an urge to do something for the development of the girl child. With encouragement and support from family members & close friends, and conviction to help the marginalized members of society, this NGO was registered.  Our first activity undertaken was to enable access to basic education to children of migratory construction workers. With the completion of the construction activity, these workers would go back to their villages. To support children of such workers, who did not have access to schools locally, we rented one premise in Kishangarh village, Delhi and appointed a teacher to work with us. Her tasks were to identify and motivate non-school going children and teach them basics. We worked there for close to 2 years with about 20 children.

During this period, we also got involved in other activities such as helping the blind children in Mehrauli, Delhi and offering scholarships to poor and meritorious children in villages near Modinagar and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

In November, 2007, we expanded our operations by signing an agreement with Bal Vikas Dhara (BVD), an NGO, for empowerment and development of marginalized communities with special focus on women and children. As part of this initiative, we have been running centers in two slums - Rangpuri Pahari and Israel Camp, Vasant Kunj - for motivating families and preparing their children to get admission to regular schools. We also support them with availability of teachers after school to continue to solve their educational challenges. Other developmental activities, such as educational visits to monuments, picnics, street plays on important social issues, and celebration of important festivals, are also carried out with them.