INDIA
A
Brief History of
The
Boys and Girls Homes
The
Boys Home started on the first visit to India when Pat
and another traveller were concerned to know that the established
home was to be closed because of withdrawal of funds. A
sponsorship scheme seemed the best way to take on the funding
and for several years the home continued, with funding from
the UK, but little input in to how the home was being run.
A
change of staff in late 1998 led to a lot of unhappiness
being expressed by the boys and eventually, despite Pat's
attempts to act as peacemaker, the situation deteriorated
so severely that the boys (when one of them was beaten)
had a riot. The response from the organisation was to expel
all of the boys. In fact they were taken to the vicinity
in which they had originally lived and were left.
One
of the Manager's of the organisation was so concerned about
the boys, many of whom did not have a home to go to and
were now on the streets, that he contacted Pat. This led
to her going to India at 24 hours notice and with the Manager,
Jacob, they were able to track down the boys (it took several
days) and to rent a temporary building to house them. The
organisation that had been caring for them did not want
the boys back and so Pat registered her own charity in India
(it was the only way that she could rent buildings) and
Jacob resigned to work with the newly formed Trust and to
care for the boys.
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This
Trust registration gave much more security to the projects
and also enabled Pat
and Jacob to start work with children in bonded labour. It
was their mutual concern for these children that had previously
cemented their friendship. The drop in centre for these children
ran successfully for 4 years
The
new Trust also started a Girls Home! This was also tried under
the umbrella of another organisation, but the severely restricted
lifestyle that this organisation wanted to impose on the girls
was unacceptable, so another building was rented by Pat and
Jacob and our own home started. This has been running successfully
since 1999. The Trust appoints its own staff and has total
responsibility for the children. The emphasis is to offer
unconditional love, to value each child as the unique individual
that they are and to do all in our power to help them to fulfil
their potential and their own ambitions. From those original
boys (in fact one of the instigators of the "riot"),
we have had our first graduate; many others are now in full
employment. Pat started a training scheme with the small hotel
she has stayed in since her illnesses; this has led to 4 boys
becoming qualified chefs.
Sponsorship
continued from the UK, they were the same children, but the
funds were, from 1999, now paid to the new Trust. Currently
all of our children, boys and girls, are sponsored. £10
monthly covers their food, clothes, accommodation, school
requisites and staffing of the homes. With the opening of
our new complex in 2008 we plan to double our capacity and
will be looking for new sponsors!!
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Update
May 2008
Our new complex is now under way, and our Boys and Girls will
be moving to Mavelikara in May 2008
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Pat
and Jacob have rented 3 buildings for the boys and girls over
the last five years but now, thanks to a large cash injection
from Norwich Diocese's Lent Appeal (2006), we have been able
to buy land and plan for larger homes, a small school, and
other facilities in Mavelikara.
The
land and buildings for the new complex are registered in the
name of our charity in India and in the long term will
be given to the local churches. This is our biggest asset.
As foreign charities or individuals cannot own land or buildings
in India, someone, or some individual, would have to do this
for you, and as such would be given ownership.
This
is open to abuse, as we have witnessed. What it means in a
nutshell is that those assets can never be realised by the
charity that pays for them. You are totally reliant on the
honesty of the people you have to trust to buy the land for
you. In our case our own India charity owns the land and
buildings that we are erecting and therefore they are totally
secure and remain our assets. We have also made it clear
to the local community that in the long term the buildings
and land will be "signed over" to them, managed
by our local trustees and local churches
Read
about Mavelikara
and the new Boys and Girls Home
or
click here to go to the main India page
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