Boys and girls relocate from their villages to Uppahar Children Hostels. The vision of Uppahar is to select Marginalized children from the target communities and to give them an English Medium Education. Uppahar focuses to give a safe environment and a good education, especially for girls so that they will become the bread winners for their families one day. Those who have family visit their families during holidays and summer vacation, Dasahara, Diwali and etc. Those without family remain in the Hostels and enjoy time with the home parents and their children.
Presently, we have around 500 children (boys and girls) in our 4 Children Hostels (Kallata -Srikakulam A.P, Dighi – Mayourbhanj, Khordha and Semiliguda-Koraput Odisha) who are taken care of by 28 full time staff. There are separate Boy and Girl Hostels with safe environments and well-furnished accommodations.
Our children are 6 to 21 years old and all of them come from poor families; either they are orphans, semi-orphans or from families where no one is able or willing to nurture them. Some are rag-pickers, street children or entangled in child-labor for their livelihood.
Most of the children come to us when they are 6 to 8 years old. Some of the children need to be coddled up with vitamin treatments after arriving, as they are brought from such bad physical places. All new children receive vaccinations. Every child gets one glass of milk each evening, 2 eggs per week and vegetables throughout the week. Every Sunday and Wednesday they have a meal with either chicken or fish. There are 2 pediatricians in the surrounding area of our hostels, who visit when it is necessary. The children receive new clothes, 1 colorful dress and 2 uniforms a year along with shoes, sandals and also hygiene supplies.
We have a one-to-one sponsorship program for each of our children. The sponsors regularly receive photos and letters from “their” child and they are encouraged to write as well, keeping in touch with the child they are sponsoring. For more information about the sponsorship program, please click on the “Get involved” link. Presently there are about 80 children without personal sponsors of our 4 children’s homes.
Our children receive a good overall provision at our hostels. They get regular meals, clothes, medical treatment and educational aids. They can grow up in a friendly atmosphere with a safe environment without being forced to live in constant fear of where they will get food for the next day.
In order to enable these children to have a better future and a life beyond the poverty line, they attend the Carmel English Medium School, where they can stay up to 12th grade. Afterwards, many of them start vocational training or even go for their further study at college, depending on their personal skills and achievements. In the end, many of them will be able to find a proper job and provide for the living of their parents and families.
It is our ambitious goal and vision to strengthen the community to accompany them for as long as it is necessary until they are able to stand on their own feet related to the financial stability of Uppahar. Each child will also learn about self-help. They are encouraged to take care of themselves as well as other children around them; that is the vision of Uppahar, to be helped by others and to return help to someone else who is less privileged. Uppahar serves two purposes. One purpose is for the poor and neglected children, directly taking care of their physical, educational, socio-emotional and moral needs. The other purpose is to educate and make them to stand as an example in their respective villages for its improvement. With this vision Uppahar has set up these hostel programs in four places. The Boys’ Hostel is becoming too small at Khordha to house many more children. There is a need to set up in another place to accommodate the High School and Senior Secondary School boys. The second floor of the Girls’ Hostel still needs to be completed.
They are encouraged to take care of themselves and other children, who are less skilled or less strong than themselves.
We have a Boys’ Hostel and a Girls’ Hostel. The second floor of the Girls’ Hostel still needs to be completed, as you can see on the picture.
