Education inspires the student.  Students inspire the world.

Over 75 million children suffer from malnutrition in India.  Over 100,000 orphans live in desperation throughout the streets of Delhi, India alone.  In January 2008 three University of Florida students decided that these problems were far too large to overlook.  Aiming to address these problems in a comprehensive yet sustainable manner, UF Children’s Hope India (UF CHI) was established  to bring about change through social enterprise underlined with business principles.  UF CHI  is a student founded, student run, non-profit organization.

UF CHI is not a traditional charitable organization.  Rather than focus on the inevitable waywardness of one time donations, we aim to alleviate poverty by empowering the very people who are impoverished.  Through our social business, education and microfinance initiatives (visit What We Do page) we provide sustainable solutions to meet the grave needs of impoverished women and children in India.

In August of 2008 UF CHI completed its first project, an education initiative in Delhi, India.  This project allowed our students to work closely with social workers, teachers, and community leaders from Children’s Hope India, one of India’s largest NGO’s, to run an educational workshop for over 140 children and orphans. We created a two week program that served as an interactive model consisting of five personal development modules: financial literacy, computer literacy, cultural awareness, English literacy, and the arts.

In August of 2009 UF CHI launched our new initiative:  a social business.  This project will provide Prayas India with the capital required to launch a small handicraft enterprise with a number of product lines. The revenue stream generated from their sales will go back into empowering the homeless and impoverished by providing the children of India with monetary resources to gain proper education and their families with an income.

UF CHI hopes to level the playing field of opportunity and improve the future of impoverished individuals, while also exploring the possibilities of achieving social equity on a grander scale.