Adivasi-Tee-Projekt

Adivasi-Tee-Projekt is a non-profit association based in Kamen, Germany working on education, community development.

The Adivasi-Tee-Projekt (legally Adivasi-Kooperationsprojekt e.V.) is a German association based in Kamen that promotes education for sustainable development and partnership with Adivasi indigenous communities in the Gudalur valley of the Nilgiri Hills in southern India. Founded as a tea project in 1994 and registered as an association in 1998, it is recognised by the tax authorities as charitable. Its work is carried out largely by volunteers across Germany together with one managing educational coordinator. Activities include seminars, lectures and workshops, school projects and teaching materials in German and English, educational tours with Indian speakers, learning trips to India, and fair trade sales of Adivasi products such as tea. Through its partner, the Adivasi-Netzwerk AMS, it supports development work in around 300 Adivasi villages, with around 22,000 Adivasi involved in the network. The association also runs online language tandems between young people in Germany and Adivasi in Gudalur, and organises interreligious devotions with Adivasi. Its funding comes from individual donations, which cover about 20 to 30 percent of its educational work, and from foundations and public grants, including via ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL with funds from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project is run by the Adivasi partners and Indian specialists on the ground; the association itself is not operationally active in India.