08 July 2008

Udayan Ghars

As part of their mission to serving the underprivileged youth of India, Udayan Care has established several Ghars, or Homes for orphaned children. They are set up with a “family-like environment” and aim to function as the primary residence for these kids as they mature to adulthood.

Most of the children living in these homes have passed the ideal adopting age (3 years old) and all come from living on the streets in and around the New Delhi National Capital Region. They arrive at these homes via government involvement or through the efforts of other non-government organizations. There are currently 4 Homes for girls and 3 Homes for boys with one more of each in the planning stages.

The homes are placed in middle class neighborhoods both for stability and isolation, but also to provide them access to good environments to play as well as to be near good schools and such.

Each home has two caretakers, which is usually a live-in couple who are responsible for being the primary care givers as well as 2-3 mentors who are directly involved in all facets of the Home operation and care of the children. There are also countless volunteers who drop in roughly on a weekly basis to spend time with the kids and provide extra support and encouragement.

Which leads me to me. My role in all of this is to supplement the quality care already being offered to these kids and to do as much english work with them as possible. They have english courses as part of their school routine, but they still need a lot of attention as far as proper speaking, grammar and conversation are concerned. It is quite interesting, actually, to be in a position where I am charged with something so simple and I really hope to be able to embrace this fully.

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