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Story Publication logo July 16, 2013

KISS: Fighting Poverty with School and Sport

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English

A unique residential school offers education and sports to aboriginal children who might otherwise...

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A screenshot from Simone Ahuja's audio slideshow. India, 2013.

Simone Ahuja first heard about the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences through rugby. A team from the school made it all the way to a tournament in London – and won.

KISS is a rare school in a rural part of India. It provides free education for Adivasi children, most of whom would be unable to go to school otherwise. KISS focuses on language, culture and religion, while also providing a rigorous and team building sports program. Created by Achutya Samanta, KISS now hosts 18,000 pupils and is supported by a local university that sends a portion of its students' tuition to help fund KISS students' tuition and expenses.

While this business model is working remarkably well, other parts of aborigine India are still suffering in poverty. Simone Ahuja and Fred de Sam Lazaro traveled into the hills to remote Adivasi communities where there is a scarcity of food and endless work. While communities such as these still struggle, expanding programs like KISS seem to be the solution.

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