Join our journey: help build a community center in rural India!

Meet Our Team

Hello, we are Projects with Underserved Communities: Team India 2020-2021! We are a team of seven engineering and social work students at UT Austin, working to plan, design, and construct a multipurpose community center in a rural village known as Siripudi, located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. In light of Covid-19, Team India 2019-2020 had to abruptly put a hold on the project. This year, our team will be working with the 2019-2020 team to resume where they left off and bring this community center to life! We hope that this community center expands the opportunities available to the families in the village and improves their quality of life. 

The Families of Siripudi

Siripudi is located in the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, India. Given its rural location, the nearly 78 families living in the village have limited access to healthcare, infrastructure, food supply, and educational opportunities. 

The villagers are socioeconomically ostracized and struggle to find continuous employment, let alone regular living wages. In addition, many people in the community are illiterate, and evening school sessions have only recently begun for young boys. Moreover, the people of Siripudi often have to travel upwards of 40 km for health check-ups and treatments given the lack of a nearby facility. Recently, the government has allowed nurses to visit the village, but the conditions in the villagers' houses are inadequate for proper medical treatment. Siripudi is also located along the coast and is regularly affected by severe weather. The homes within the community are flood prone and lack the stability to weather destructive cyclones. In fact, during these instances, villagers are often forced to evacuate to nearby villages and towns to seek shelter. 

Our Mission

We have partnered with the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action, or CASA, in order to help the people of Siripudi. CASA has been working to promote education, gender equality, and sustainable livelihoods across India for over 70 years. With programs in around 15 states in India, it strives to mobilize people to tackle the issues plaguing their communities such as food insecurity, disease outbreaks, child labor, limited educational opportunities, and resource-based conflict. We are very excited to be working with CASA on this project!

In the summer of 2021, our team will travel to Siripudi to build a multipurpose community center with the help of CASA! This structure will be used for community gatherings, rituals, medical treatments, and evening classes for school children. The space will be available for all villagers to use as needed, and when cyclones hit the coast, it will serve as a storm shelter for the villagers.

We Need Your Help!

We have committed to raising at least $28,000 to design and construct this community center for the people of Siripudi. Last year, you helped us raise nearly $23,000, but we still need your help! We need another $7,000 to hit our fundraising goal. All of the money from our fundraiser goes directly towards project implementation, such as materials, contractors, and maintenance. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our project. Any amount helps make this project a reality, and your donation can change the lives of many in Siripudi. Please donate today! Donations are tax deductible.

*All contributions through our HornRaiser page are considered charitable donations to UT Austin, and are tax deductible. The Tax ID number for UT Austin is 74-6000203.