Where We Work
Both Goodwill’s Tribal Outreach Programme targeting 27 villages and our residential home for primary aged children at Thandigudi are located within the Palani Hills areas on the southern tip of the Western Ghats in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, south India. At a height between 800 to 1,000 meters above sea level, the area is cold and damp throughout most of the year and electricity supply is often infrequent.
This is mainly a coffee and spice growing region and as a result, is totally dependent on its agricultural produce.
Historically plantation owners have been the main employers of tribal people, but now even this poorly paid casual work is dwindling, coffee plantations are being dug up and lands are being sold.
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The area is populated by Palayer and Pulayar Tribes, as well as low caste labouring and small farming communities, these very poor communities are often far away from schools and the majority are totally uneducated.
