Update: Moved to a new place in Ejipura (not far off National Games Village, Koramangala) itself: Ambedkar Educational Trust, No. 7, 6th Cross, R.A Road, Ejipura, Viveknagar Post, Bangalore- 47 [direction map]. The contact numbers remain unchanged.
A visit to any orphanage tends to evoke contrasting emotions: the joy of being around innocent, playful kids and the pain at their plight. Unfortunately, all three of our visits to the AET children’s home kindled more sympathy than joy. The kids were really fun to be with, but we were too preoccupied with the lack of facilities available to them – a consequence of the lack of funds at the organization’s disposal. The determined caretakers have continuously been pumping their own money to keep the ship afloat, but much more is needed.
Basic details:
Name: AET (Ambedkar) Children’s orphanage or New Life Children’s home
Number of kids: 30
Premises: A very small 2 BHK, rented at Rs 6000 a month
Schooling: The kids go to a nearby, English medium, private school. The yearly fees range from Rs 6000 to 8000.
Staff: The founder Ms Kalpana has hired 3 people for child care/household work.
A few unpleasant observations:
- Too crammed at the time of sleeping
[Click on the image to enlarge it] This small room holds 10-12 children in the night! As per our crude estimate, it may not measure more than 14 X 9 square feet. Two other similar-sized rooms accommodate the rest. The kids sleep on the floor, on mats [There are no mattresses].
- Little room to play
There is precious little space available inside, as illustrated in the image [Click to enlarge] and they are not allowed to play outside, as the neighbors/owners can’t put up with their ‘noise’. To add to the kids’ woes, the place is very poorly ventilated.
- A sub-optimal kitchen practice
Since the LPG (gas) stove they possess has no burner big enough for some of their needs, they also employ a kerosene stove, which increases the expenses as well as carbon emissions.
- Most importantly, too much to pay and too few donors
Including the rent (6k), school fees (over 2 lakh per year for all 30 kids), ration & kitchen expense (~10k), staff salaries (6-7k), medical costs, electricity & water bills, cloths, stationery, shoes, occasional transport and misc expenses, their monthly expense is often as high as 45 to 50 thousand rupees. AfaIk, they receive no recurring or corporate donations. Kalpana (an ex-nurse) and family have been running the entire show from personal money, scattered contributions aside.
How can you help?
- Their situation is crying out for donors who can commit monthly (recurring) contributions. See if you can be one. Check with your company and contacts, too. Of course, this doesn’t undermine the importance of one-time/sporadic donations. Either way, you can donate for one or more of the following:
- School fees for one or more children (~7000 per child, per year)
- Monthly ration/kitchen expense (~10k)
- Rent (6k)
- A spacious home [May take a while to be realized]
An additional option if you know me/Sejal: You can route the money to us, asking us to buy them ration and/or other specific items. The orphanage is reachable in five minutes from our house, on foot.
- Adopt a child! Obviously, I am only talking in financial terms. Actually, full adoption for some kids may be possible and is being looked into.
- Stationery items, cloths (warm and normal), toys, umbrellas, etc. – used and un-used – can be contributed, after consulting Ms Kalpana. There also exist other non-monetary ways to chip in:
- You can install bunk beds (3 to 5 beds built one above the others) in one or two rooms, so that there is less crowding and at least some kids are spared from sleeping on the floor.
- Get an LPG (gas) stove with a big burner, suiting their needs. This will cut back their kitchen cost as well as in-door pollution.
- You could visit the place on weekends to help the kids with their studies or simply to spend some cheerful moments with them. It should be very much possible to arrange for a day-long picnic, etc.
How to Donate?
Apart from handing over cheques/cash, you can also opt for transferring funds online. You may contact me or Kalpana for the account details.
Contact Info:
9342646667 (Ms. Kalpana, the founder)
9741375746 (Ms. Geetha)
Filed under: General Musings | Tagged: Bangalore, childrens' home, Ejupura, orphanage, Viveknagar
Have they tried Childline, and asked them if they can help.
Am just thinking out aloud, but cant they collaborate with other NGOs like Ananya, and Jagriti who have bigger setups and see if they can accommodate their model or send the children there.
For one thing, I guess that Ananya is very efficient and their expenditure on each kid is very less. Further they rely on NIOS, to give cheap and effective education. In addition to learning all the gardening and other vocational enriching skills.
Am not sure if all the options are workable, there would be lot more issues, I am sure, but I would wish if someone evaluates this options as well.
Cheers. Will anyways try to spread the word. Link on NGOPost.
I may be wrong, but why does this organization/orphanage does not give kids for adoption? I believe if the children of this orphanage are available for adoption, this organization will not have to struggle much for funds. Because bringing up these kids certainly involves a lot of money.
I will certainly contribute to the orphanage. I hope more and more people come forward.
Cheers,
Alka
If possible , Could you put up a bank account No. Those who want to transfer the money can do it and mail you what exactly what to do with it .
Can a small amnt of 1k be useful frm my side ?? .. i am a RA in cvit .. so, cant help much in the current situation :( .. if its useful, how do i send it ?
@Goli: Please tell me how childline can help here, as well as details on the collaboration possibilities with Ananya, etc.
@Alka: I and seju discussed with them about the adoption possibility. They are not opposed to the idea, but are presently unaware of the procedure for this. Many children have one parent or some extended family. So, at best, you may find 6-8 kids legally eligible for adoption. But, it’s definitely an excellent idea for you or a friend to urge them to explore this and guide them through the process.
@Anonymous: yes, I somehow missed that. Will put up that and any other way of donation shortly.
@hellboy: Great to see this from people who are still studying. Any amount is useful, 1k for sure. Please give me sometime for the ‘how’ part. I will edit the post with it. In case I forget, please email me on pulkitparikh[at]yahoo[dot]com
Thanks Pulkit for your response. When we meet up with the people at the orphanage at EGpura we will definitely discuss it with them.
Regards,
Alka
[...] AET: An orphanage in Bangalore [...]
Pulkit,
From your article, the biggest cost item is the school fees.
QUOTE
school fees (over 2 lakh per year for all 30 kids)
UNQUOTE
Why not enroll kids in Govt school? Is it not an option at all?
Govt takes care of tuition fees in that its free completely . Need to check out on this.
If there is need for augumenting the education (due to poor teaching facilities), probably that can be done right?
This might bring down the cost significantly.
It also helps kids get free lunch. I have personally eaten lunch in one of the Govt schools. It indeed was good (nutritious) interms of vegetables & quality. But not sure how much (quantity) food the children are given daily and if its sufficient.
Is Govt school not good enough for kids when a tight situation is prevailing?
I will contribute some money. Let me know your bank details so that I can do net-xfer.
-Praveen
@Praveen: They told us that they want to ensure a reasonable quality of education, so given the present standard of teaching, they are not keen on govt schools.
Do you want my bank details or those of the orphanage?
Pulkit,
Pls update your blog post with the direction map to AET Orphanage:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111748551681950391258.00046eb924f06088f146c&z=19