CommonWeal Global

About us

CommonWeal is a volunteer-based charity organization in the Bihar region, and centered in Bodhgaya. Our aim is to provide education to underprivileged communities throughout the area. We employ a non-traditional approach using teaching methodologies that are simple, innovative and informal, placing special emphasis on equal-opportunity education and vocational training for girls and young women. We cherish informal, non-exclusive cross-cultural exchanges free from political affiliations and bureaucracy. As educators, we seek from students not just attendance and rote memory, but a sincere recognition of each one’s potential, autonomy and individual value. We employ a cadre of teachers with village backgrounds in order to both address the unique learning needs and disadvantages of village children, and to build a ground-up relationship with the communities we serve. This approach has met with great success in the communities we serve, with literacy rates in Shripur village (one of our primary and oldest projects) approaching 90%.

We have organized more than thirty projects over the last decade, focusing primarily on education and vocational training (crafts, IT, industrial), but extending also into village agriculture/infrastructure development and healthcare. Our ultimate goal is to develop within these village communities a sustainable upward momentum through mutual involvement and co-operation.