CHILDREN

In the Gangetic Plain of North India, there are 70 million children under age 15. An incredible 35 million of them are destitute. At best they grow up malnourished, with no hope of ever rising out of poverty due to lack of education. They face a future of debt and oppression. At worst, girls are sold into prostitution or they become beggars on the street. The solution is to bring these children into a safe and loving environment. This we are doing through Blue Haven Children’s Home. However our vision is to expand Blue Haven to a SELF-SUPPORTING project with 200 residential orphan and semi-orphan children and an international-quality school for 500 children. Please see the full Project Proposal HERE.

BLUE HAVEN CHILDREN’S HOME

Launched in July of 2005, Blue Haven Children's Home is located in the heart of the Gangetic Plain, in the city of Lucknow, population 4 million. We have 32 beautiful children, ranging in age from four to twelve. The children are from as far away as Ladakh, deep in the Himalayan mountains. We also have some children from Varanasi, who would otherwise have grown up a beggars on the streets or as temple prostitutes. 

Three of our girls the day they arrived at the children's home (back row) compared to a few weeks later!  We call this our "Transformation photo."

Alok, the director of our work in this area and his wife Ricky oversee the Children's Home. A couple from Nepal are the live-in caretakers. They themselves were very poor and couldn’t provide for their two children, but now they are bubbling with joy as they care for the children and see their own sons receiving good food and schooling. We also have two young ladies who are well educated who ensure the children are learning both English and Computer skills. These once hopeless children now have a bright future and a loving family.

Recent videos of the Children:   

Songs and dramas in a village  **  Christmas dinner at KFC

     PLAN FOR LARGE-SCALE CHILDREN'S HOME

CLICK HERE to view/download the proposal for the large-scale Children's Home

THE NEED

In the Ganges River Plain area of North India there are an estimated 35 million destitute children. They are malnourished, have no opportunity to get an education, and are exploited in child labor and prostitution. Their parents are oppressed by the more educated classes, and have no way of escape. There are very few institutions or programs which are addressing this massive problem. Those that are addressing it are limited by the funds they receive from the West.

THE POSSIBILITY

Were these children brought into an environment where they have a loving family environment, good food and an excellent education, the cycle of poverty can be stopped. From a generation of hopelessness, we can raise up a generation of glowing children who will bring honor to their country and who will no longer live in poverty.

CURRENT WORK

We currently conduct informal education programs in 79 villages serving approx. 19,000 underprivileged children. We also care for AIDS patients and children of HIV positive parents, and operate an orphanage of 32 children (see photo). These children’s lives have been completely transformed. Once half starved and abused, now these children are aglow with joy and life. They attend an excellent school where they are also learning English. They even have their own little computer lab and are learning the essential skill of computer operation and typing. Seeing the transformation in these lives has left us with only one option: To do this for thousands more children across this needy land of North India.

THE PROBLEM

It would be a difficult task to raise from Western sources the ongoing financial support necessary for the monthly upkeep and schooling of thousands of children.  Therefore, we need to create a self-supporting prototype facility, which can then be multiplied across India and across the world…

THE SOLUTION – SELF-SUFFICIENT PROJECT

We propose to construct and operate a self-sufficient, non-profit relief facility. The facility will include children's home for orphaned, semi-orphan and other destitute children, and a school and industrial center. Widows having AIDS and children/orphans of HIV positive parents will be included. The facility will be located in the suburbs of Lucknow City, a metropolitan state capital in the densely populated Gangs River Plain between Delhi and Calcutta. Thus we will accommodate highest-risk children from both urban slums and from remote villages.

Children's and Widow's Home and School - The home will accommodate 200 destitute and orphan children, providing them a bright future and a loving family. The school, providing a world-class education to 500 students by the 5th year, will generate about 50% of the funds necessary to maintain the children. 

 Industrial Center – Provision of vocational training to young men and women will cover remaining costs. Older orphanage children will also learn a marketable skill. Examples of the types of vocational skills include carpenter, electrician, tailor and computer repairman. Widows housed in the facility will produce handmade items which will either be sold in the city or exported abroad, thus covering any remaining operational costs.

OUTCOME – within 5 years maximum, the following goals will be attained:

• A world class, fully enrolled, energy efficient school serving 500 students.

• An environmentally friendly, as well as self sufficient residential facility accommodating 200 orphan children including AIDS orphans, and widows including HIV positive widows. 

• Vocational training providing skills training for older children and generating remaining funds necessary for the support of the facility.

Photo - A common scene in North India: A malnourished girl who should be in school, forced into caring for her infant sibling while her mother toils in the field or carries bricks for a construction project.

 In one of the most densely populated and impoverished areas of the world, a prototype facility will be in place that can be multiplied to stop the cycle of poverty throughout the nation and the world. There will be no further need for outside funding of this Project.  

CLICK HERE to view/download the Proposal for the large-scale Children's Home