FORTUNE- AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID

RURAL INITIATIVES BY NGO

SOS CHILDRENS VILLAGES, BAWANA,DELHI

SUBMITTED BYSUBMITTED TO: Prerna Jain Priyesh Saran Ms. Tulika Kiran Ronaq Iqbal Buchh Shivam Chandhoke Tarun Batra

Table of Contents

Topic
Who we met on our Field Trip Founders Profile About SOS Childrens Villages Initiatives taken by SOS Childrens Villages in India Meet an SOS mother Young Ambassador Programme Learning

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WHO, WE MET ON OUR FIELD TRIP

Dr. K.N. Pathak ( Village Director) Main Kanjhawala Road Bawana, Delhi-110039 Telephone: (011) 27752351, 27754411 Mobile: 09899146919 Email: sos_bawana2000@yahoo.com

FOUNDERS PROFILE
Professor Dr. Hermann Gmeiner was born on June 23, 1919 in Vorarlberg, Austria into a farmer's family. His mother died when he was very young and his 16-year-old sister Elsa took the mother's place for her younger brothers and sisters. As destiny would have it, she became the role model for Hermann Gmeiner's idea of an ideal SOS mother. In 1946, Dr. Gmeiner began his studies in medicine with the goal of becoming a pediatrician. At the same time, he was also engaged in youth welfare work and was exposed to the plight of the youth and children in a war-ravaged world. He was particularly moved by the condition of destitute children, and realized that providing them with just the basic needs was not enough. He felt only a proper home with a caring mother and company of siblings could ensure the vital physical, mental and emotional growth of a child. The SOS concept was thus born with the simple idea of providing abandoned and orphaned children, a valuable substitute for their lost families. The various authorities could not understand the idea at the time, and Dr. Gmeiner's support came solely from friends, whose number gradually increased. He founded the first SOS Children's Villages in 1949, at Imst, Tyrol with just 600 Austrian shillings. Soon thereafter, he gave up all other pursuits and dedicated himself entirely to constructing more Children's Villages in Austria and many other European Countries. In 1963, after the Korean War, the first non-European SOS Children's Village was built in Daegu, Korea. In many other countries of the third world also the SOS idea was greeted enthusiastically. Soon SOS Children's Villages came up in other parts of Asia, Africa and South America as well. SOS Associations were founded in the then West Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland, to raise funds for the construction and maintenance of SOS Children's Villages in developing countries. SOS Kinderdorf International, the umbrella organization of SOS Children's Villages, was founded in 1960 and from then till 1984, Prof. Dr. Hermann Gmeiner co-ordinated the worldwide task as its President. He stood by the side of his successor Mr. Helmut Kutin, in leading the global effort till he passed away on April 26, 1986. In recognition of his lifelong dedication, he was conferred numerous honorary degrees and
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awards. He was an honorary member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, an honorary doctor of two Universities, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany among many others. But what he treasured the most and never forgot to mention, were the millions of people who contributed to the cause, people who understood his idea of offering the uprooted child, the security of a family. The first non-European SOS Children's Village was built at Degut in Korea, in 1963, after the Korean War. The SOS idea was also greeted enthusiastically in many other countries of the third world. Soon SOS Children's Villages came up in other parts of Asia, and Africa and South America as well. SOS Associations were founded in the erstwhile West Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland, to raise funds for the construction and maintenance of SOS Children's Villages in developing countries. SOS Kinderdorf International, the umbrella organization of SOS Children's Villages, was founded in 1960 and from then till 1984, Prof. Dr. Hermann Gmeiner coordinated the worldwide task as its President. He stood by the side of his successor Mr. Helmut Kutin, in leading the global effort till he passed away on April 26, 1986. In recognition of his lifelong dedication, he was conferred numerous honorary degrees and awards. He was an honorary member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, an honorary doctor of two Universities, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Federal Republic of Germany, among many others. What he treasured the most and never forgot to mention though, were the millions of people who contributed to the cause, people who understood his idea of offering the uprooted child the security of a family.

ABOUT SOS CHILDREN VILLAGES INDIA

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SOS Children's Villages take action for children as an independent non-governmental social organization. They respect varying religions and cultures, and work in countries and communities where their mission can contribute to development. They work in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and promote these rights around the world. With the SOS Children's Village concept, the organization pioneered a family approach to the long-term care of orphaned and abandoned children. The concept is based on four principles.

1. The Mother: Each child has a caring parent.

The SOS mother builds a close relationship with every child entrusted to her, and provides the security, love and stability that each child needs. As a child care professional, she lives together with the children, guides their development, and runs her household independently. She recognizes and respects each child's family background, cultural roots and religion.

2. Brothers and Sisters: Family ties grow naturally.

Girls and boys of different ages live together as brothers and sisters, with natural brothers and sisters always staying within the same SOS family. These children and their SOS mother builds emotional ties that last a lifetime.

3. The House: Each family creates its own home.

The house is the family's home, with its own unique feeling, rhythm and routine. Under its roof, children enjoy a real sense of security and belonging. Children grow and learn together, sharing responsibilities and all the joys and sorrows of daily life.

4. The Village: The SOS family is a part of the community.

SOS families live together, forming a supportive village environment where children enjoy a happy childhood. The families share experiences and offer one another a helping hand. They also live as integrated and contributing members of the local
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community. Through his or her family, village and community, each child learns to participate actively in society.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY SOS CHILDRENS VILLAGE BAWANA, DELHI

1. CHILDRENS VILLAGE

At the service of children in need and a beacon for SOS Work for the last three decades is SOS Childrens Village, Bawana. It is the second childrens village in India, started in 1974. Situated at the North West outer region of New Delhi amidst green, rural agricultural surroundings, Bawana is now witnessing transition to urbanization and industrialization.

SOS Bawanas infrastructure, spread over 7.6 acres encompasses 19 family homes, a kindergarten, dispensary, community centre, village store, residence for co-workers, library and a well equipped computer lab. The Childrens village has recently gone into rain water harvesting in a big way to augment its water resources.

The SOS Childrens Village, Bawana is a home to 206 Children, 123 girls and 83 boys. The Village Kindergarten takes care of 36 children, 21 from the local community and 15 from the Childrens Village itself. A well qualified teacher and helper instruct the children through the play way method. A recently started Childrens Club is active with diverse interests and activities. With quality education and childrens growth potentials in mind, children are studying in well known public schools and colleges in the vicinity.

2. SOS YOUTH FACILITIES

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49 boys stay at the Arunodaya and Sopaan Youth Facilities while 27 girls grow up in security and a learning environment at the Girls Facility. SOS Bawanas youth have opted for a wide range of careers, some becoming journalists, nurses, social workers and management professionals, etc. Many are settled abroad. The village is proud that 174 of its children are now married and well settled.

3. FAMILY STRENGTHENING PROGRAMME

SOS Bawana is reaching out to 302 underprivileged children from 121 families living in nearby slum areas, bringing light into their lives through community based programs. 25 children are being provided with scholarships to pursue job oriented courses and 5 new self help groups have been formed to generate self employment , micro credit and entrepreneurship.

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Responding beyond the SOS Children's Villages core concept and activities with services for poor children and families living in the vicinity of the children's villages and neighbourhood communities is a key programme area of our work. In many cases the needs of such children though living in their natural families are marginalized. Even if they do have a home or a caregiver their rights are not fully met because of a host of reasons. Poverty, lack of education, the perils of a daily struggle to survive and lack of opportunities to earn a sustainable livelihood render these families incapacitated to take appropriate care of their children. This can then lead to acute deprivation, exploitation, abuse and abandonment of children thereby resulting in the violation of their most basic rights. As a result the growth, development and wellbeing of many children are severely affected. It is against this backdrop that the Family Strengthening Programme is being implemented with the objective of enabling families to move out of the vicious cycle of poverty towards greater dignity and self-reliance and a better future for their children. Taking a child rights based approach this programme attempts to assist and empower parents or caregivers in taking care of children in their natural families and communities. In the process it strengthens not only the families and their children whose upliftment it basically aims at, but also creates a vibrant network within the community that will last much longer and become sustainable in caring for the vulnerable families for a very long period.

At present SOS-India reaches out to 15,562 children and their families through the programme. It is being implemented at 31 locations in 20 states and supported by local partners and communities.

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SOS-India has undertaken this programme in response to the need of many children who are deprived of their right to a caring family environment and their basic material, emotional; health and educational needs are neglected because their care-givers lack the capacity or commitment to adequately care for their children. Our family strengthening work aims to empower families and communities to protect and care for their children, using a step-by-step family development planning process. The Programme reaches out to children under 18 years of age and their families and it is directed towards the family as a whole, including parents/care givers. While the vulnerable children are our target group and are the primary beneficiaries of the programme, their parents/care givers are also supported through the programme to develop their capacity to protect and care for their children on their own. A package of services is made available to the family including support for nutrition, health, education as well skill building activities. SOS Social & Medical Centres support the implementation of the programme. Families participate in the programme from the very outset of need assessment and family development planning. Awareness is generated in the community on child rights, hygiene, active participation in the governance and decision making processes so that the families generate a lot of self confidence to actively seek their rights and make their presence felt in the community decision making processes. The direct adult beneficiaries are encouraged to form self help groups and capabilities are generated with the help of government structures or experienced NGOs to provide them important skills to manage their own groups effectively and grow in the process. The groups also engage themselves in income generating activities after appropriate skill training is imparted. Those who already possess some skills are supported to start their own small businesses with help towards procuring start-up capital either through banks or through other micro finance institutions. Parents are also made aware of skills to manage the emotional needs of their children so that children grow up with care, love and respect within their families and communities. Children and a whole gamut of other stakeholders like Panchayat leaders, grassroots women activists, health workers, police, government child programming officials, teachers and parents are made aware of children's rights in the context of their development and graduation into responsible and socially skilled human beings. Children's emotional stress, their communication abilities, difficulties in teaching-learning transaction processes, digital awareness, age appropriate career counselling, participation in taking decisions for their career or furtherance of educational opportunities are also addressed with involvement of their parents, experts and organisations working on such issues. An active network of individuals and organisations is promoted at each place for protection of child rights and preventing rights violations. Elder children who can secure seats in government technical or vocational educational
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institutions or have the capability to pursue such courses are also encouraged and assisted to undergo training which will help them get into jobs or generate earning capabilities through alternative avenues in a time bound manner. This is seen as a quick family empowerment mechanism and has been consciously adopted in many locations. Partnerships are fostered in order to enrich the content and impact of our programme as well as to bring in durability and sustainability so that the response mechanism endures even after we conclude active support to the concerned families. The involvement of communities where the families live is seen as a key to the success of the programme and the families are encouraged to participate in community activities to establish their identity as an important and contributing section of the community. This serves as a powerful tool for long term family empowerment.

S.N Projects 1. 2. Anangpur Bangalore

Family Total Children 310 172

Children SHG Partnership Scholorship In Boys Girls Total School 514 458 972 879 4 5 162 178 340 300 1
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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Bawana Begusarai Bhakatpara Bhimtal Bhopal Bhubaneswar Bhuj Chennai Cochin Faridabad Guwahati Hojai Hyderabad Jaipur Jammu Kolkata Latur Nagapattinam Podicherry Pune Raipur Rajpura Rourkela Shillong Srinagar Thrissur Varanasi Visakhapatnam Total

116 351 140 56 201 153 239 114 245 59 224 88 152 103 95 187 367 636 104 90 86 102 473 111 105 232 151 259 5721

155 652 147 59 272 165 400 121 198 94 317 134 175 150 101 163 494 593 100 88 135 363 109 138 173 324 237 6733

155 543 155 61 237 168 362 119 223 60 290 122 187 161 118 149 550 657 103 94

310 1195 302 120 509 333 762 240 421 154 607 256 362 311 219 312 1044 1250 203 182 154 122 257 393 756 144 253 124 262 262 435 293 617 238 475 6726 13613

298 971 302 120 501 276 634 237 421 154 607 203 347 297 210 312 905 1246 195 181 154 256 770 244 262 426 556 460 12724

3 7 9 4 2 13

6 10 5 7 17 25

0 0 0

5 5 5 9 4 2 14 17 5 3 10

8 8 24 18 13 3 24 11

27

20

6 4 6 10 0

26

121 210

0 0 0 75

4. EDUCATION
Despite a major improvement in literacy rates during the 1990s, the number of children who
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are not in school still remains high. According to UNICEF, 20 per cent of children aged 6 to14 are still not in school. With one upper primary school for every three primary schools, there are simply not enough upper primary centers even for those children who complete primary school. For girls, especially, access to upper primary centers becomes doubly hard. These statistics present a grave picture of the condition of children in our country with respect to a childs Right to Education. The response of SOS Childrens Villages of India to the need for education is reflected in the many years of its work with children. In areas where we work we seek to establish educational and training facilities to create opportunities for children and their communities who might be otherwise denied on account of limiting life circumstances. Towards this goal SOS-India has set-up kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and professional institutes and vocational training centers. These educational institutions not only cater to children and youngsters under our care but also reach out to children in need from the neighbourhood. At present 6,600 students are benefiting for the educational facilities offered by SOSIndia.

Kindergartens
Kindergartens are established within the SOS Childrens Village facility. These are fully equipped with necessary teaching tools and infrastructure and employ a play-way teaching methodology. They provide pre-school learning services for children in the village, before they move into formal schooling. Since many of the childrens village facilities are located away from main town areas, this service becomes even more relevant. Moreover children come to SOS Childrens Villages from various back grounds some of them at school going ages and without any previous learning exposure. In such situations the kindergarten facility provides focused individual learning inputs to enable the children to be integrated into formal schooling. They also extend their services to children from needy communities in the neighbourhood of the childrens villages.

SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools

SOS-India set up SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools with an aim to provide quality education to children from Childrens Villages as well as deserving children from the communities. Apart from imparting excellent academic education, the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools located in Faridabad, Bhimtal, Varanasi and Jammu offer diversified exposure to more than
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2500 children. The schools endeavour to impart education in an atmosphere, where students find encouragement & motivation, achieve a harmonious blend of strong academic and personality skills and enjoy a great deal of participation in co-curricular activities.

SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary Schools

SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary Schools have been set-up with the objective of making formal primary education accessible to children in poorer communities especially those living in interior regions. The impact of these schools is visible in the constantly growing demand for admissions. Presently SOS-India runs 5 primary schools located at Anangpur in Haryana, Bhopal, Chennai, Palla in Mewat district and Bhuj in Gujarat respectively.

SOS-India runs Vocational Traning Centres

In addition to regular schools, SOS-India runs Vocational Traning Centres, which train community youth in general and SOS youth in particular in vocational trades. At these centres, young adults can learn a useful locally viable trade. They acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that will empower them for a sustainable livelihood option in their lives. The work of the VTC is thus of important relevance as a capacity building project for creating wider employment choices. Computer courses and Nursery teachers training, carpentry, tailoring etc. are some of the courses being undertaken by the vocational centers.

SOS J N Kaul Institute of Education

With an aim to fill the gap and cater to the need of qualified teachers in the state of Uttaranchal, the SOS J N Kaul Institute of Education was started at Bhimtal in 2005. The college is affiliated to the Kumaon University, Nainital and to qualify for admission to the Institute a student needs to clear the Universitys Bachelor of Education entrance test. At present the Institute has sixty students. The institute organizes various cultural, academic & literary activities for the holistic development of its student teachers. The institute is also assigned as a study center by Uttaranchal Open University.

SOS Nursing School in Anangpur Haryana

The SOS Nursing School in Anangpur Haryana, was set up with the objective of providing
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quality nursing educational courses for girls from our childrens villages across the country as well as the community. This residential school affiliated to the Haryana State Nursing Council is in its ninth year of existence. It offers two courses, an eighteen month diploma course and a three-year general nursing course and currently has 150 students on its rolls. The school has the enviable record of 100% placements with students getting placed in government hospitals and reputed private hospitals.

5. ADVOCACY
SOS Children's Villages of India constantly reaffirms its firm belief that every child needs the love, security and a nurturing environment that only a family can provide so that he can grow-up as a happy and stable individual capable of an independent and rewarding life. SOS Childrens Villages are established in different parts of the country in the pursuance of our vision and mission. SOS-India's forever growing work to reach out to children in need of long-term care remains the cornerstone and focus area in our efforts to help children.

Advocacy Initiatives
In order to make a significant contribution to national policy making processes, SOS India has become a member of several working groups on specific issues set up by the government both at the national, as well as at the state level. Member - Working group set up by Planning commission (WCD section) Govt. of India for putting forward recommendations for the Development of children for the 11th Five Year Plan. Member - Sub group on Child protection constituted by Ministry of Women and Child development for carrying out review, analysis and evaluation on child protection issues in the country and preparing a report making recommendations for the 11TH Five Year Plan. Member Steering committee on Women and Children formulated by the planning commission for the 11th plan recommendations. Member working group on National Guidelines on Foster care in the country set up by the
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Ministry of Social Justice and empowerment, Govt. of India.

Networking
Member - India Alliance for Child Rights (ICAR) NGO Network, which facilitates discussions and interest in child rights within civil society through NGO consultative processes that feed into national and international policy guidelines on children. IACRs deliberations have included contributions to the policy frameworks like 'The Commission for Protection of Child Rights Bill' in India, and to the 'UN Day of General Discussion on Children without Parental Care', organised in Geneva. Core Member - Child Rights for World Social Forum NGO Network, which works with children to help them to express their opinions on development, by promoting their participation and representation in the World Social Forum, a platform for exchange on the alternative paths to sustainable development and social justice. Through the aegis of this network, 300 children from NGOs across the country participated at the India Social Forum in 2006. In another example of this network's work, four children from SOS Children's Villages Bangalore and Bhubneswar participated in a children's consultative process, aimed at getting children's point of view on the bill on the protection of child rights. Member - Quality Institutional Care and Alternatives for Children NGO Network, which is actively involved in debating issues of alternative child care in the country.

MEET AN SOS MOTHER

Profession: SOS Children's Village mother Building up stable relationships and family bonds - this is the goal that SOS Children's Villages pursues, with the greatest demand lying on the SOS mother: She takes on the biological parents' tasks on their behalf and becomes the person the children entrusted to her
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care can relate to and rely on. At the same time, she is a childcare professional who, based on her educational knowledge, is able to approach the children and their specific life histories. SOS Children's Villages looks for women to become SOS mothers whose personalities and ways of dealing with life are such that the children can orient themselves to them. Through the relationship she builds up with each individual child the SOS mother passes on a part of herself to the children. She guides the children's developmental process and works together with the village director and the other co-workers in the village to promote each child in a best-possible way. Because of the demands that come with her profession she is always walking a tightrope between private and professional life, between family life and the organisation, always having to keep her balance. The SOS mother is paid a salary, she is given a family budget depending on the number of children entrusted to her care and runs her household autonomously. She is assisted by a family assistant, who is called an "SOS aunt" in many countries.

Who becomes an SOS mother?

In general, SOS Children's Villages looks for single women aged 25 to 40 who have completed at least eight to ten years of school education. The ability to take stress, mental stability, the ability to build up and maintain relationships as well as educational skills are as necessary as are knowledge in the field of housekeeping and the readiness to commit oneself to this profession and raise at least one generation of children in an SOS family. In some European countries there are also married
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women or couples working as SOS mothers. A particular strength of the SOS Children's Village is the fact that every country employs local people. This is of course also true for the SOS mother.

Professionalization
Right from the start Hermann Gmeiner had a vision concerning the role of the SOS mother. It was to become an independent profession. In 1978 the first international standards concerning selection, training and supportive networks for the SOS mothers were laid down. These are put into practice and continually updated by the national SOS Children's Village associations. These standards assure that the organization meets its responsibility to provide the necessary framework conditions in which the SOS mother can best fulfil her tasks. Training and further training of SOS mothers depends on the cultural, social and economic situation in each region and varies accordingly. The spectrum ranges from regional and national training centres to programmes organized in the SOS Children's Villages or in cooperation with other organizations. However it is organized, every SOS mother trainee completes two years of basic training. This is made up of at least three months of theoretical and twenty-one months of practical training - called on-the-job training. During the theoretical part the women are taught a wide variety of subjects covering the range of tasks of an SOS mother (educational and psychological subjects, housekeeping, nutritional science, creative methods, etc.). Qualified trainers add on to the women's previous experiences in life and learning, thus enabling them to develop further their personal as well as their professional skills. One of the standards in SOS-Kinderdorf International's personnel handbook states, "The SOS mother profession is continuously developed further". The SOS mother is offered a high educational standard as well as support and further training. The aim is that she continuously develops further her personal and professional skills, thus ensuring best possible care of her children and youths. Professions that require living and working within a family system are so far often not considered appropriately by national labour laws. Therefore today only few countries
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recognize the SOS mother's work as a profession. SOS Children's Villages aims at the recognition of the SOS mother profession and the recognition of SOS mother training programmes by educational authorities in all countries around the world to emphasize the status of SOS mothers as child-care professionals. Some SOS Children's Village associations have already achieved the recognition of the SOS mother profession in their countries and good practice examples give you an insight into their work.

Additional Support
Apart from the regular meetings with her superior, the village director, the SOS mother can also enlist other professional offers whenever need be. These include learning aids or leisure time activities organized by the educational co-worker, therapy sessions for the children or psychological counselling for herself. The village community is a network in which the SOS mother finds support and dialogue. When an SOS mother's working life nears its end, she can prepare for her retirement by having individual sessions or specialized seminars with other SOS mothers facing the same change in life. Furthermore, in countries in which there is no national retirement system, SOS Children's Villages supports those women who worked as an SOS mother for at least fifteen years and who have reached retirement age, by paying them a monthly pension. The women may also enlist the possibility of a permanent residence in the SOS Children's Village as well as basic medical care.

YOUNG AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME

Young Ambassador Programme was introduced by SOS-India with a goal to bring awareness among school children about the condition and needs of children less fortunate than them and to solicit their participation for our work in reaching out and
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helping all such children. This will inculcate from the early years a sense of social responsibility, which is very tangible and real, as children will have a chance to see social work in action and participate in the process. A child is a child's best friend and this can be a strong movement to bring hope into the lives of many needy children in our country.

With support from the management of schools, the Young Ambassador programmes had a very successful beginning in December 2001 with St Mary's School as the first Partner in this programme. Schools have been very responsive towards supporting the cause of SOS Children's Villages of caring for children in need. A growing number of schools are joining the programmes and an ever-growing number of Young Ambassadors have shown their commitment to the SOS Children's Villages mission. Not only are they devoting time and
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energy to collect donations in their neighborhoods, many have also visited a SOS Children's Village to spend time and make friends with our children.

The Young Ambassador programme is now being carried forward in several new regions across the country. Today, we have more than 800 partnering schools all across the country and about 100,000 Young Ambassadors' participating in spreading the message of child caring for child' and building support for the work of SOS Children's Villages of India.

Learnings

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We had the overview of the operations of NGOS. Understanding of the services provided to the people at Bottom of the pyramid. How they create employment opportunities Various Initiatives taken by the NGOs.

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