AID UK is concerned educating and raising awareness within the British south Asian community about the situation affecting the poor in India. It aims to seek the involvement of the South Asian community in tackling the issues that affect India and invites individuals/groups to look at what each of us can do about the situation affecting the poor in India. AID UK promotes the understanding that although we now may live in this country, as people of South Asian origin we have our spiritual and ancestral roots elsewhere.
It is about understanding that we are all part of a global village and we need to learn to be independent as well as interdependent. We now live in a world where the effects of what we do in this country can be felt in other countries and the other way round. For example, a British company operating in India will end up sending its profits back here thereby affecting the total amount of money that remains in India.

Why the South Asian Community ?
Our roots are in the Indian sub-continent. Through we all now live here, we continue to have an ongoing relationship with countries such as India. we travel to India for holidays, business, marriages, family, religious pilgrimages and so on. With the arrival of new technology we make contact with people in the Indian continent and across the world through computers, e-mails, videos, the media and so on. Many families continue to have very strong ties with the Indian continent and many send money back.
All this is positive and good. What AID UK wants to achieve is to build on these strengths and increase the active involvement of the South Asian community in issues affecting the Indian Sub-continent. Why?

• We have more opportunities here then our brothers and sisters in the India sub-continent.
• We have to maintain connections with our spiritual and ancestral homeland.
• To sustain our own Indian identity.
• To improve the lives of people on the Indian sub-continent.
• To continue our tradition of 'sewa' and service to others.

By helping others we help ourselves.

What Can I Do?
South Asian people in this country have a crucial role to play in the tackling poverty and helping to improve the quality of the lives of people in India by:

• Getting involved in international charities like AID.
• Influencing government policies affecting India.
• Buying more Indian goods and products.
• Choosing Indian products that have been purchased through fair-trade agreements.
• Influencing the policies of British companies that operate in India.
• Influencing British voluntary organisations that works in India.
• Sharing information and raising awareness about how to improve the situation in India.
• Working with Indian community organisation.

So you see it is not just about giving money all the time. it is also about awareness raising, educating, influencing, improving and empowering.
Click here to find out how you can get involved.