The bamboo walls were still wet from the last night’s rain and even the structure of the huts appeared incomplete, but the children at the educational facility of the Raina Prayas Project at Bawana could barely wait to move into their classes. Promoting the slogan "Bringing hope to children worldwide”, the Robin Raina foundation has taken another step towards helping the underprivileged. A new initiative started by Prayas, one of the most respected and established charitable organization in Delhi and Robin Raina Foundation of Atlanta, was inaugurated today at Bawana by Robin Raina. The program has been named as Raina Prayas project.

The Bawana slums clusters are plagued by problems like poverty, illiteracy, un-employment and lack of hygiene. In an attempt to provide an opportunity for the children to look beyond these slums, Raina Prayas joint venture, has decided to take care of more around 400 kids in this slum through education, books, uniforms, health care, and extra-curricular activities. In addition, there is a daily lunch program which provides the children with their only nutritious meal of the day.

Moving in the right direction to bail out the underprivileged, Raina Prayas project requires government support in terms of land or a building around the Bawana slum area to establish better infrastructure to further improve the program. With the right encouragement from the government such projects can go a long way in rehabilitating children from the slum clusters.

Set up in Atlanta, the Robin Raina foundation has been setup by a Non-Resident Indian Robin Raina, who lives in America but still has his heart in India. Robin Raina had carved an extremely successful career in America as the Chairman of multi-million dollar publicly traded company in the United States, but still had a feeling of wanting to contribute back to his countrymen back in India. He decided to set up the foundation to help underprivileged children around the world, with a special focus on India. The foundation's focus today is to make a difference in the lives of children - who are underprivileged, handicapped, blind, mentally challenged, sick or in need of urgent medical help.

Speaking at the inauguration of Raina Prayas project, Mr. Robin Raina said “One of the hardest things is to see parents of sick children who have been unsuccessful to secure the medical help their child needs, for want of money. I can feel the pain associated with such helplessness. This troubles me greatly. We can make a difference in the lives of such people and impart happiness to their families.”

The Foundation is intended to bring hope to children at high risk of becoming street children. How? “By offering education to children with no other access to education and by offering the chance to learn a profession which will help them to escape exploitative labor, so that they can look after their lives properly. It is infinitely satisfying to rescue a street child and give them a home, a hope and a future. “Mr. Raina told press. Starting the charity foundation for a noble cause, Mr. Raina has already personally contributed $100,000 this year towards the cause.

Mr. Raina told press that he wants to improve the current infrastructure with a better building with better facilities. “We want to increase the number of children to around 500 within few months. Currently the program has been started in Anganwadi style; however, with we intend to develop the facility manifolds. I would request the government of Delhi to also help us in this regard.” said Mr. Raina.

The Bawana project will function with the support of a dedicated team that includes a project coordinator, two supervisors and a group of around 10 teachers and volunteers.

About RainaFoundation

A 501(c) charity, Raina foundation has been setup to raise funds for work to be carried out to empower children who need help around the world. The foundation's focus is to make a difference in the lives of children - who are handicapped, blind, mentally challenged, sick or in need of urgent medical help and underprivileged kids who need education.

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