Bombay Urban Industrial League for Development – BUILD – is an autonomous ecumenical organization, founded in 1973 as a part of the
Industrial Mission of the Church of North India; Mumbai Diocese. From the very inception it formed as an ecumenical body of Protestant Churches and included Roman Catholic Church also into this ecumenical fold. Originally the management body consisted of members drawn from Church of North India, Methodist Church of India, Marthoma Syrian Orthodox church, Scottish Church and Roman Catholic Church.
In due course of time Marthoma Syrian Orthodox Church and ScottishChurch developed their own mission centers and withdrew from the management. At present the Management consists of members drawn from Church of NorthIndia, Methodist Church of India, and Roman Catholic Church.
Initially BUILD started working with the unorganized workers living in the slums of Mumbai who were on constant threat of eviction and lacked civic amenities or any infrastructures. Work started with a small set of programmes for the women and children by providing health care, balwadis/ day care centers for the children. Later awareness programmes among men, women and youth about housing, sanitation, employment, slum eviction, and their rights on shelter, livelihood and dignity were imparted. Thus the scope of intervention enlarged to issues of justice concerns and built up community organization through education, conscientization of the poor and pressurizing the government to take up slum improvement programmes. Convinced that change cannot be brought about by external factors or by the benevolence of the privileged, but only by the struggle of the under-privileged themselves, BUILD has from its inception worked through organised action by the poor to change the exploitative and unjust structures that deny them their basic rights.
BUILD is a pioneer social action group in the country with systematic study circles, training programmes, research, documentation, publication and a strong grass root leadership and a mobilized community. BUILD became an inspiration and instrument in promoting, establishing many social action groups, forums in different States of India as well as training and promoting many social activists who later became prominent leaders at the national and international level. More....