Barakat’s initiatives in India are based in the Bhadohi district of the north Indian state, Uttar Pradesh. This area comprises neighboring districts of Mirzapur and Benaras, known as the “carpet belt” of India. This region has traditionally been home to the carpet-making industry of 
India, with approximately 80 percent of Indian-made carpets (both for export and domestic sale) manufactured and sold by businesses based here. These efforts are coordinated by our local subsidiary NGO, Barakat Society India.
Like many regions that are host to cottage industries, Bhadohi is steeped in poverty. Poor families, most of whom cannot afford school fees, are likely to send their children to work in order to gain additional income rather than send them to school. In addition, the quality of education at local schools is often so poor that even parents who are willing to send their children to school would rather send them to work.
Because of this trend, more than 90 percent of the students in our schools are first-generation learners in their family, and at least 90 percent of the students come from families that live below the poverty line or just above it, taking jobs that provide a small daily wage but no health insurance or liability coverage.
Women in this area also have few opportunities for education. While some of them can earn a meager wage through a small business, most of them are illiterate and unable to improve their business, which would provide more income for their family and, in many cases, allow them to send their children to school.
