Manav Sadhna’s programs have always blossomed organically, to meet the evolving needs of the community. We began our initial community-building efforts fifteen years ago based on our interaction with Tekro community. The first project started when we found more than 280 children, who instead of attending school were engaged in street labor such as shoe shining and rag picking. This inspired our non-formal education initiative. The second critical issue in the community was heath and illnesses. Therefore we started a community clinic about 13 years ago. In the beginning the clinic would flood with an average of 120 to 150 patients.  We had to expand our medical and technical staff to meet the endless need. After 13 years of
committed service in the fields of education, health and sanitation,  we have begun to notice the difference; it is very difficult to find young children not enrolled in school anymore. Moreover, we actually had to let go of one doctor because the number of patients who need to visit the clinic has decreased by nearly 75 percent. We believe that this number is directly correlated to improved health and increased awareness in the Tekro. This gradual and sustainable impact on the community has inspired us to create more community centers in the different slum areas across Ahmedabad.

Our philosophy on community development centers on the people. Our projects are always tailored specifically to the needs of those that they are involving—the members of the communities themselves. They last as long the community feels a need for them. The most important component of our programs is that they all hinge on empowering communities by building strong and healthy relationships between the
community members.

 Manav Sadhna has taken the lead on creating community centers in various parts of the city based on the individual requirements of each community. Every center is unique, as each community it is built in is also unique.