A child flies a kite in a garbage dump at Netaji Negar, Mumbai. Many REAP schools are located in the slums of the city. There are little to no options for young people here, aside from backbreaking child labor, or unsupervised play in a field of waste.

A young woman returns from a well with water for the village of Ohalpada, Dolkhamb, Maharashtra, India.

A child wades through the piles of trash looking for valuable materials in Netaji Negar, Ghatkopar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. "Children," Father Miranda says, "need to be students, not rag pickers." 

A woman lifts a bowl of dirt to dig a ditch in the village of Ohalpada, Dolkhamb, Maharashtra, India.

The train tracks of Kalwa, a suburb of Mumbai. Houses and communities spring up right next to the train tracks, causing a precarious life on the edge to center around these transportation hubs.

Students play a game of musical chairs with letters of the alphabet at the English Nursery in Samaj Hall, Shivshankar Nagar, Kalyan, Maharashtra, India.

Father Trevor Miranda greets and thanks women attending a Self Help Group meeting, an association of women who gather to organize and save money. The pooled money is often used to purchase economic resources to better the community.

English Nursery students pray and sing to start the morning in Samaj Hall, Shivshankar Nagar, Kalyan, India. Many of the REAP schools take in students with limited opportunities in life, specifically members of the “Dalit” caste, seen here.

Students sing nursery rhymes and dance in a window-lit a classroom in Dolkhamb Village.

Ranju Bisoi stands with her student as he gives an oral presentation to the class in Netaji Negar, Mumbai.

Many of the classroom activities center around spoken word, as it allows for memorization without the use of expensive texts, as well as practices another form of English communication.

A student uses bindis to count at the English Nursery in Samaj Hall, Shivshankar Nagar, Kalyan, Maharashtra, India

Patil Geeta helps her students in their English exercizes at Aamane Pada Z.P. School in Maharashtra, India.

Children eagerly raise their hands to be selected to solve problems at a study class in Ulhasnagar.

A student reaches up to solve a math problem during class in Netaji Negar, Mumbai.

Rural schools are an important aspect of the Reach Education Action Programme, as it allows young people in sparsely populated areas, especially young women, to remove themselves from the hard daily work of laboring on the family farm. This gives them an educational background they can use towards bettering their life and their families’, one far more advanced than working all day in an isolated village. 

A former student, a graduate who is now enrolled in college visits with REAP founder Fr. Trevor Miranda in the same type of classroom he first learned at in Bhaskar Nagar, Kalwa.

A student runs to a classroom in Ohalpada, Dolkhamb, Maharashtra, India. Attendance is rarely a problem at these rural schools, because many children come to class eagerly to socialize, and receive a free nourishing meal.

Women meet as part of their REAP group in Ohalpada, Dolkhamb, Maharashtra, India.

A 100 rupee note, is handed to SHG members in Ohalpada, Dolkhamb, India. The note features the face of Mahatma Gandhi, an inspirational political leader of India who advocated for women's rights and economic self-reliance during his lifetime.