PROJECTS | India | Kalki Drop-in Centre for
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| Empowerment and Livelihoods of Street and Working Children | Girls at Risk | Kalki Drop-in Centre for Street Children | |
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Kalki currently runs a daily drop-in centre, established in 2008, for approximately 250 orphans and street children in Pondicherry. The centre meets their most basic needs by providing home-cooked food, clean clothing, washing facilities and safe temporary shelter for the most vulnerable children. It offers individually tailored care packages for all children which include access to healthcare, education, recreational activities (including yoga and meditation), psychosocial support, family reintegration, and, recently established, vocational training. The centre also provides crèche facilities for young children whose mothers must work during the day - often as housemaids or sex workers. Kalki identifies children at risk, provides them with the immediate care and stability they need, and then refers them to trusted, well-vetted organisations, which focus on longer term solutions. Kalki positions itself as a transitionary organisation which fills the gaps in welfare services currently existing in Pondicherry, through cooperation with government and other civil society organisations. For example, Kalki is working with the Government Child Welfare Committee to facilitate the referral of abandoned children to long-term, residential care centres, and the police and local authorities which now refer abandoned children, child abuse victims and street children to Kalki, instead of immediately imprisoning them. Kalki’s outreach team works with children and their families within the community on a daily basis. They inform street children of their rights, tell them how to seek help and protection when needed, and encourage them to visit the centre for further support. They also make regular visits to their homes. For children who are unable to visit the centre, the outreach team makes sure they are aware of the services available to them and provides them with street-based life skills education. Just recently up and running, Kalki operates a mobile library, stocked with books, videos and educational games, which visits more isolated areas. Children at the centre are increasingly encouraged to take responsibility for themselves, help out with project activities, and become involved in social initiatives to help other street children and the wider community as a whole. This is achieved through a series of child protection and rights training initiatives, community service initiatives and advocacy campaigns run in partnership with the local authorities. Ultimately this project is about giving orphans and street children in Pondicherry a chance to help themselves and go on to help other vulnerable people within the community. |
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