|
Snehalaya (House
of love) is a social service program for the care and rehabilitation
of children in distress in the city of Guwahati. It is an out-reach
program run by the Don Bosco Society. Snehalaya is committed to build
a child-friendly city where even the poorest of the poor children
enjoy their rights to survival, protection, development and
participation. Officially launched on August 16, 2000, Snehalaya was
a millennium gift to the city of Guwahati, and a birthday-gift to St.
John Bosco, the great educator saint of the 19th century.
Snehalaya
program now gives total residential care to over 200 children in the
age group of 3-18 in five Snehalaya Homes namely,
Drop-In Centre at Fancy
Bazaar, Children’s Home at Dhirenpara,
Auxilium
Snehalaya at Noonmati, Jyoti Snehalaya
at Beltola and Ila Snehalaya at Betkuchi. Its
non-residential program consists in giving primary education to
out-of-school children and mainstreaming them into regular schools.
Over 350 children have benefited from this effort.
Snehalaya
builds up the capacity of the children by educating them and training
them in income generating skills. Snehalaya homes are characterized
by a loving family atmosphere.
Since
its inception, approximately 1000 children in need of care and
protection have been beneficiaries of the various programs run by Snehalaya.
|