Child Protection India Project #19906

Safe care and adoption for Indian Babies

by Snehalaya 'Home of Love'

Safe care and adoption for Indian Babies

Project Report | Jul 12, 2023
Make a home for unmarried mothers

By Girish Kulkarni | Founder, Snehalaya

Match-funding available today

Today is July Bonus Day where all donations over US$100 will be matched by up to 50%. we truly appreciate your support in caring for and protecting babies awaiting adoption. Today we have a further ask.

Our shelter home offers care and protection to girls, some as young as 13, who have fallen pregnant for a range of reasons. We are the primary childcare institution for girls placed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in our district and shelter many victims of rape. We provide support and counselling to all the girls in our care, discussing their options. Whether they decide to keep their babies or not, they have special needs to safely give birth to healthy babies, including nutrition and pre and post-natal care.

Some choose to keep their babies and we desperately need to upgrade their accommodation to create a comfortable and child-friendly home for them and their babies. We need furniture, baby equipment, toys, nappies, milk and more to provide the care they so desperately need. Even when our young mothers choose to give their baby up for adoption there is still often a window where they are nursing their babies before relinquishing them.

Any donation you make over $100 today will go directly to developing and improving our mother and baby facilities.

We need new cradles

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Jun 21, 2023
World's Best School

By Girish Kulkarni | Founder, Snehalaya

Our students & teachers are so proud

We are so excited to announce that our Snehalaya English Medium School, which our older children awaiting adoption attend, has been named a Top Ten school in the World’s Best School Prizes for Overcoming Adversity. We are the first and only rural school in India to have made the shortlist! This amazing news was shared with the school’s students, teachers and parents, all of who were thrilled that their school is now considered one of the best in the world. We want to thank you. Your support of our work has played a key role in achieving this recognition.

When schools in our city refused to admit our HIV+ and sex workers' children, our solution was to open our own school. Initially catering to students from our shelter home, sometimes studying under the shade of a tree, our children have grown with our school, with our first batch of graduates passing their 10th standard exams in 2020.

In 2015, we opened our school doors to our local community, primarily daily wage workers and slum dwellers, offering subsidised and quality education. With 80% of our pupils now coming from outside our center, we are integrating the children in our care with those from the community and raising awareness of the facts about HIV and sex work to reduce the associated stigmas. With one-third of Indians reported to still hold discriminatory views towards people living with HIV/AIDS, this social acceptance will help reduce barriers to our HIV+ babies awaiting adoption.

The World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity Prize considers schools that support and develop children in socio-emotional skills that can support their personal growth and the school as a community. Being named in the top ten is a huge achievement for our school and we are proud that we have been recognised for empowering our students and community, and breaking down the barriers of discrimination. Our school also enrolls and employs girls and women who have released their babies for adoption as part of their rehabilitation.

The judging panel chose to shortlist us for our efforts in transforming the lives of children living with HIV/AIDS and those from sex worker families, breaking down stigmas and paving the way for a brighter future. The organisers of the global competition, T4 education, described us as: “Rewriting the narrative for marginalised communities in semi-rural India”.

We are one of ten schools shortlisted in the Overcoming Adversity category. The final winner will be announced in October and will receive a share of the $250,000 award to expand and enhance their education projects.

We are so grateful for your support that has built our school from the ground up and encouraged and empowered so many of our children to become socially responsible and empathetic change-makers of the future. We are extremely proud of our school, our students and teachers and would love for you to help us shout about our success. Please share this story and our social media posts so the world can be inspired to end discrimination.

We believe in equality in education

We are the only Indian rural school shortlisted

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Mar 2, 2023
You are giving hope

By Girish Kulkarni | Founder, Snehalaya

Our babies & children patiently awaiting adoption

Thank you for supporting our infants. Unfortunately, just as we were beginning to catch up on the delays caused by COVID we now face another challenge in placing children with their new families. Changes in the way that adoptions are approved have caused further delays in legally releasing children to their adoptive parents. While babies can be placed through a foster care scheme until the legalities are completed it is not so straightforward for older children, and we currently have 13 still awaiting the completion of their adoption process since last September with no progress in sight.

Most of our children and babies are relinquished to us as a result of poverty, poor health, underage sex or rape. They are the children of girls like 17-year-old Anuradha (name changed) who was raped by someone she knew from a farm close to her home. A prominent person feared in her village, he threatened her and her parents if she exposed him. Terrified and with no-one to turn to she had no choice but to endure repeated rapes over many months.

When she complained of abdominal pain, her mother took her to a doctor who announced that Anuradha was around six months pregnant. Seeing the family's distress he recommended they contact our adoption center for help in registering a complaint against the rapist. As a minor mother, Anuradha was admitted to our shelter home for care and protection and when she gave birth a few months later she chose to give her baby up for adoption rather than be reminded of her rapist every day.

We are glad to report that her rapist has been arrested and the case against him is underway in the courts. Her baby has also settled well into a new family and Anuradha was able to continue her education, passing her 10 std exams with excellent marks which should help her in her ambition to become a police officer.

By supporting this project, you are giving new life and family to babies while are also giving support and hope to young girls like Anuradha. Thank you.

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