Kallathupatty Children's Library

Meet Our Team!

Hello, we are Projects with Underserved Communities: Team India 2021-22. We are a group of  5 passionate engineering students from UT Austin working to design and construct a children's library in the rural village of Kallathupatty located in Tamil Nadu, India. We are excited for this incredible opportunity and hope to use our technical knowledge to make a difference in the world. We are dedicated to learning and enhancing our social work skills to help serve the needs of others. 

Kallathupatty Children's Library #KCL

We are partnering with an Indian non-profit, CASA (Church's Auxillary for Social Action), to help empower a community by working together to build a children's library. Tamil Nadu's economy is heavily agriculture-based and has high levels of poverty in rural areas. This along with many other factors leads to the practice of child labor being very prevalent. In order to reduce child labor in Tamil Nadu, CASA has implemented the "Child Labour Free Zone" program. CASA's website states-

"Abject poverty and lack of livelihood opportunities cause a trickle-down effect on the mental and physical growth of children, as they drop out of schools to work as labourers. CASA ensures overall development of these children in the two states by giving them an opportunity to study again and resume their education at CASA’s Bridge schools – thereby ensuring child rights and creating Child Labour Free Zones."

By providing the children with an education and their families with financial support, CASA hopes to end child labor in India.

The community in Kalathupatti village has donated a plot of land and requested the help of CASA to build the library. Currently, these students do not have a set location to meet. By building the library, it will provide a centralized location for classes and educational materials storage. Additionally, the library will serve as a multiple-purpose center for other individuals in the community to gather and connect to the internet. 

We Need Your Help!

Our goal is to work with the community of Kalathupatti to provide a safe learning environment for the children in the village. The estimated cost for the project will be $15,000. All of the money raised will only go directly towards costs for the library. We will be using the funds to purchase building materials, hire local contractors, and seek technical and cultural advising. Additionally, all donations are tax-deductible, as all donations go directly through The University of Texas at Austin. This is your chance to help empower a community and make a real difference. Any amount helps make this project a reality and can change the lives of many in Kalathupatti. Please donate today and share this page!

*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.