Our Crowdfunding Groups
Thank you so much for your donation! Your contribution not only helps six undergraduate students embark on the adventure of a lifetime but a much deserving community educate their youth and foster stronger bonds. We cannot thank you enough for helping us reach our goal.
Sincerely, PUC Team India 2024
Who are we?
Hello, We are the PUC India 2023-2024 team! We’re a team of six students from the Cockrell School of Engineering and the Steve Hicks School of Social work that are hoping to develop and implement a humanitarian engineering project for a community across the globe. As of right now, our team intends to partner with the Bellura village in Karnataka, India to implement a multipurpose community center. Our hope is that the community center is a sustainable and mutually beneficial solution that addresses the Bellura community’s need for a common space to gather, learn, and socialize.
The Community
Bellura is a small community in the Bidar District in northern Karnataka about 8 km away from the Bidar district capital. The population is about 2,700 people. Less than half of the community has steady employment, and the average daily wage in the area is only 300 Rupees (about 3.60 USD). About 136 families in the community are part of the scheduled caste, one of the most historically disadvantaged and excluded groups in India. We're working to make sure this multi-purpose community center is accessible and beneficial for everyone in the community.
Our project was started because the Bellura community reached out to CASA about their desire for a new community center. Currently, they don't have a communal building for gatherings or events. Additionally, the village's only two schools are inaccessible outside of school hours. This means there is no common area for children and teens to study, do homework, or play. With a new community center, we hope to provide a place that can foster education, empower creativity, nurture social connections, and inspire positive change.
Our Partners
This year the PUC India team will be working closely with the non-governmental organization CASA. CASA is a non-profit organization based in India with a focus on creating sustainable development projects to help people irrespective of caste, creed, language, and religion.
Since 2014, PUC and CASA have collaborated on 5 impactful projects throughout India including creating housing foundations for the Narikuravar community, building a childcare center in Nasampalli, constructing a community center village and the Packianathapuram village, and building a multipurpose learning facility in Sirupinayur. Most recently, the PUC 2023 team is in the process of implementing a community center in the J.J. Nagar Village. Read more about our past projects here: https://global.utexas.edu/abroad/programs/service-learning/projects-underserved-communities
Our Plan
This semester, we’re focusing on creating a community engagement plan and conducting a remote technical assessment. Our emphasis on community engagement this semester will help inform our design criteria to ensure the project solves the Bellura community’s identified needs. Next semester, we’ll focus on the design phase and creating the implementation schedule.
In May, our program will conclude with a 3 week implementation trip to the village to help bring the project to life. During the implementation phase, not only will we help construct the project, we’ll also be able to connect with the community in person. After we leave the country, we’ll remain in contact with the contractors, the community, and CASA to monitor the rest of the implementation. All donations will go to project costs including the cost of obtaining and transporting materials, the cost of our contractor’s labor, and the cost of our traveling technical advisor.
We need your help!
Changing the world is a slow process; it’s the small actions that add up to make the world a better place. Any amount of donation is appreciated, and 100% of all donations will go towards creating this community center. We are committed to raising $15,000. With your donation, you can help us directly improve the lives of a community in-need. Please donate today!
Wow! You must care a lot about our cause. Team India and the people of Bidar thank you for your incredibly generous donation.
The NGO we are working with is called CASA, standing for Church's Auxiliary for Social Action. They have been working to improve the lives of people in Southern India for 76 years.
The number 108 is the most sacred number in Hinduism, the most common religion in India, with almost 80% of the country's 1.4 billion population identifying as Hindu.
The Adayar Banyan Tree on Theosophical Society Campus in Adayar, Chennai, India and is around 450 years old. The Banyan tree is the national tree of India, with the Adayar Banyan located in the same city as CASA's headquarters.
India was declared independent in 1947 after almost a century under British rule
You just funded the entirety of our project! We are completely lost for words. Thank you so much! This is the entirety of the money we need to complete our project.
