Siddi Community Centre

The origin of the Siddi (Africans in India) goes back over 800 years ago. The Siddi presence in India can be traced to times when African navigators navigated merchants and militia entering India. However, the majority of Africans arrived in India as enslaved peoples. The Omani Arabs, the Portuguese the French, and the British were responsible for taking Africans to India. Today there are about 30,000 Siddi in Karnataka They have limited access to basic needs such as healthcare, employment and education.
 
We had never met a Siddi or heard of them before, I was introduced to Ramanth, a social worker, at an event organized by World Of Wellesley. Ramnath is working to build a community centre in his hometown.