Golden Avatar Trust

Providing opportunities for academic and cultural education in line with the traditional values of the community for the positive growth of the identity of each of the children and their families.

We have hope but
we need your help

Golden Avatar Trust is a community project that functions in
West Bengal, India which aims to provide support, education
and love to those in the greatest of need. We seek to
inspire children who are in the greatest need of hope
to make a better today and a better tomorrow.

Our Mission

• Golden Avatar Trust was founded on the tenet that a community which values education and respects women can change its course for the better.

• The goal of Golden Avatar is to provide an opportunity for an academic and cultural education in line with the traditional values of the community for the positive growth of the identity of each of the children and those whom they live with.

• Golden Avatar is built around the children and what they need - children are encouraged to give their feedback on the syllabus and the wider aspects of Golden Avatar and are actively encouraged to give suggestions to bring the school forward.

Education Initiative

We aim not only to educate them but to transform them into empowered, self-directed learners, with the capability to lead, able to face the challenges of life. We believe that this can be achieved by providing a full education—not just in academic subjects but also in arts, music, dance, sports, martial arts, vocational training and farming. In a nurturing and family-like environment, students who pursue studies which they find interesting and meaningful are bound to perform well and gain confidence. This empowers them to change their lives.

Empowering Women

On the horizon for Golden Avatar Trust is a community project to help women in need, whether they are facing issues of domestic abuse, lack of education, lack of financial aid, lack of medical and maternity aid, social stigmatism. Quite often where a family has a boy and a girl, they will educate the boy and look to marry the girl to another family as soon as possible.

Vocational Training

The children who have come through have inspired us with this initiative. All the current school teachers are former students who have obtained or are attaining teaching diplomas and are choosing to remain part of the Golden Avatar Community. This is not an option for all students and the need for some children to have practical skills to take to the outside world has been identified as very important. Children have the options of learning sewing, computer skills and farming, with the aim of developing skills for employment post their Golden Avatar days.

Education and Pursuit of Talents

Spotlight on The Golden Avatar School that offers greater opportunities for kids to pursue learning and growing with others.

The Challenge

In any part of the world, one of the biggest factors widening the gap between the rich and the poor is a lack of equal access to education. When children are denied an opportunity for education, they are denied a lifetime of opportunities. Ongoing cycles of poverty, alcoholism, domestic abuse, social stigmatism and discrimination are all intimately connected with this fundamental inequality. In addition, because of their situation, the community can abandon their culture, in this case a culture which has existed for thousands of years, as they lose hope in their way of life. In West Bengal, India, we find some of the poorest and most neglected children in the world, facing challenges which include child destitution, prostitution, drugs and crime.

The International poverty line is an aspirational goal for these people. It is here that Golden Avatar Trust operates to try to make a difference for a few. The parents of the Golden Avatar children have not gone through the education system themselves, given they are the children of refugees fleeing Bangladesh during the war of 1971, the children by default become the most educated people in their families. Constantly raising the ceiling of the children’s potential, being able to manage relationships with the family and the wider community, whilst keeping them grounded and connected to their culture, is a unique challenge Golden Avatar faces. The main challenge is the lack of a school building. The previous school building was destroyed in a flood in 2015 and whilst we have bought new land in a higher area, we are currently looking to build a new school building on this land which will also function as a community centre which we can use to house guests (from overseas) and provide employment to the families connected to the school, including the children when they graduate. This is a priority for Golden Avatar to address.

Explore our Work in West Bengal, India

Situated along the expansive river Ganges, along the richly enclaved India-Bangladesh border where the Ganges creates the largest river delta in the world. About 100km upstream from the relatively young city of Kolkata, Nabadwip is at the confluence of two differently coloured rivers flowing side by side before the smaller greenish Jalangi gradually gives way and disappears into the golden Hooghly. Now we have arrived in Nabadwip.

Nabadwip has been said to resemble a lotus; its divisions, resembling petals, are segregated by many streams and rivers into nine parts—hence the name Nabadwip, which means 'nine islands'. It was the seat of the ancient Sen Dynasty and was the centre of learning and philosophy in medieval India. Alluvial deposits carried by the great flow of the Himalayas have gradually shifted the landscapes of West Bengal, yet the main township of Nabadwip endures after a dance from East bank to West over several centuries.

The story of Golden Avatar Trust is one about giving back the kindness
that one has received by helping others.

Would you like to be a part of our small yet relevant steps to change?

You can donate any amount to our program funding and be assured that the money you have shared will go to a visionary cause. Our core activities will never be possible without the help of our donors, and we will continue to be the bridge between the countless kind people in this world who are willing to extend some help to children and women victimized by the inequalities of the society.

Golden Avatar Trust is here to turn your financial help into a lifeline to our recipients. If you intend to donate, please do not hesitate to contact us through our email address posted here on our website. We will be happy to provide you with more details about our operations through electronic mail or through a video call, whichever way you might prefer.