Bodhgaya

Bodhgaya is in the Indian state of Bihar, one of the poorest and most economically underdeveloped states in India. The problems of poverty, landlessness, conflict over land tenure, inadequate health care, high infant mortality, inter-caste violence, crime and illiteracy hinder development at all levels. Bodhgaya is also a primary Buddhist centre, being the place where Siddharta Gautama sat under the famous Bodhi tree and achieved enlightenment, and as such the town attracts considerable Buddhist pilgrims and visitors mostly for the short winter season of two months.

Built in February 1999, Alice Project Bodhgaya opened in 2001, nine kilometers from Bodhgaya in Barbatta area. The school teaches up to 300 children aged between 6 and 18, with 10 full time teachers. The hostel within the school provides residence for 45 students.

Most of the children come from poor village families with lives often brutalized by the desperate social conditions.