El Shaddai Charitable Trust is an ISO certified NGO in Goa, with several projects in the areas of education, child protection, women empowerment and advocacy for the rights of children, especially the marginalised and those from the streets and orphans in Goa.
As part of their work, they run formal and non-formal schools across Goa, and outreach programmes in slum schools. Here they focus on adult literacy (especially for women) and remedial coaching for dropouts and dilenquent children.
Their outreach is also designed to empower women in areas of reproductive health, family planning, the dangers of child marriage and the rights of the girl child. They work with families in slums and underprivileged communities in Goa, including Mapusa, Calangute, Vasco, Margao and Chimbel to create awareness and bring about change in the lives of the families. Their work also includes vocational training for youth and women in these communities to enable them to gain financial stability and through that empower them.
As an NGO based in Goa, El Shaddai works primarily with street and slum children using a four-tier approach to change, and over the years has expanded its base in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Till date the NGO has reached out to more than lakhs of children in Goa and the neighbouring states, given vocational training to 40,000 people and helped in educating over 70,000 children.
Started in 1997 in Mapusa, Goa, El Shaddai was founded as a non-profit, under the aegis of two socially conscious individuals, their co-founders Matthew Kurian (Managing Trustee) and Anita Edgar. Goa, on the west coast of India attracts a large number of tourists from across India and worldwide. As a result, many families from poorer regions in India migrate to Goa in search of better employment and futures for their families. Matthew and Anita were disturbed by the plight of the children from these migrant communities.
Their first school – Shanti Niketan, was started in 1999 in Saligao, in north Goa, in a small house with over a hundred of children. Today, it is located in the village of Assagao with its own campus. The school focuses on providing non formal education.
With the growing numbers and contribution, El Shaddai started sending hundreds of children to Formal schools. Considering the economic situation of these children, El Shaddai employs an integrated development approach on the child, family and community. El Shaddai mainly gets its funding from individual donors, sponsors, and corporate partners.
