India-Bodhgaya
Hotel & Hospitality Training Center in Bodhgaya
In collaboration with Agragami India, its local partner, and the EHLsmile Association, a non-profit organization created in 1996 by a group of EHL students (Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne), IFPD set up a hotel & hospitality training center, which allows underprivileged youth to access training and employment in the hotel and restaurant industry.
The Bodhgaya Hotel School (TBHS) is a social venture, which re-invests 100% of the profits of its commercial activities to sustain the poverty reduction programs focusing on health and education implemented in the surrounding villages.
The goals of the project are manifold and complementary:
- EProvide youth with the opportunity to access the labour market and reliable employment;
- EMeet the needs of hotels and restaurants in Bodhgaya by providing them with a qualified workforce;
- EProvide responsible tourists with an opportunity to participate actively in the socio-economic development of the area by staying at TBHS.
Launched in: 2017
Location: Bodhgaya, State of Bihar, India
Local Partner: Agragami India
International Partner: EHL Smile
Support for Childless Women in India and Nepal
In collaboration with the Graduate Institute Geneva and the University of Geneva, IFPD participates in a research project on the issues linked to infertility – and associated stigmatization – in underprivileged areas in India and Nepal.
IFPD and its local partners are responsible for the data collection in the areas where they currently implement projects (Delhi, Bodhgaya, Kathmandu) to better understand the social stigma behind childlessness.
The project is financed by the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS).
The objectives of the project are to:
- EExamine infertility as a public health issue with its cultural, social, technological, and policy dimensions
- EEnvision possible actions for better access to prevention and treatment
- EAdvocate on this issue with government representatives
Launched in: 2016
Location: Bodhgaya, State of Bihar, India
Local Partner: Agragami India
International Partner: IHEID, Université de Genève
Children’s Activity Centers in Bodhgaya
The education program in Bodhgaya focuses on setting up and managing Children’s Activity Centers (CACs) in the project area.
To sustain the CACs it in the long run, IFPD and Agragami have started to partner with governmental schools, and to run CACs within school premises so that all children coming to school can take advantage of the facilities of the CACs.
The activities at the CACs are manifold:
- ECACs allow children aged between 5 and 14 years to develop their reading skills, imagination and self-expression.
- EFacilitators at the CACs play an important role by inviting children to read aloud, to enact or tell the stories they particularly liked, and to draw and make craft items related to these stories.
- ECACs also provide inputs to children regarding personal hygiene, and organize outdoor games as well as parent meetings.
Launched in: 2015
Location: Bodhgaya, State of Bihar, India
Local Partner: Agragami India
Agribusiness in Bodhgaya
200 underprivileged households have been selected in the project area to learn how to increase their income through activities in the field of agribusiness.
The agribusiness activities include:
- EKitchen gardening
- EMaize, rice & potato cultivation
- EMushroom production
- EPiggery
- EDetergent production
Launched in: 2015
Location: Bodhgaya, State of Bihar, India
Local Partner: Agragami India
Health Education in Bihar
Health education focuses on increasing the quality of health services and facilitate access to these services.
The project combines three main lines:
- ECapacity building and supportive supervision of government health workers to increase the quality of services delivered by them;
- EEmpower the community to ensure the delivery of services, which it is entitled to, through liaison and advocacy with government agencies;
- ECommunity education for the adoption of healthy behaviour and the utilization of services provided by the government.
Launched in: 2015
Location: Bodhgaya, State of Bihar, India
Local Partner: Agragami India
Sanitation Program in Bodhgaya
A pilot program is being conducted in one of the 17 areas covered by the project implemented by IFPD and Agragami India in the surroundings of Bodhgaya; the program will subsequently be replicated in all project areas.
The objectives of the sanitation program In Bodhgaya is to raise awareness on:
- EHygiene
- EWaste management (collection and segregation of garbage)
- ESafe drinking water
- EThe building and proper use of toilets
Launched in: 2015
Location: Bodhgaya, State of Bihar, India
Local Partner: Agragami India