Educational Programme Costs
Costs of books and learning materials for 50 children for one school year.
01 Jul 2009 - 30 Jun 2010: 1x
Dresses and Blankets for children
Dresses and blankets for 50 children. All the children have 3 sets of clothes.
01 Jul 2009 - 30 Jun 2010: 1x
Food expenses and Toiletries
Meals and toiletries (soap, shampoo etc.)for 50 children during one year.
01 Jul 2009 - 30 Jun 2010: 1x
Fuel expenses for Van
Fuel expenses for one year for the little van that is mostly used for the transportation of the children to and from the local schools.
01 Jul 2009 - 30 Jun 2010: 1x
Tree planting / Gardening
The agro forestry and vegetable garden is one of the major activities to sustain the environmental culture and living among the children. The children maintain the trees (a.o. bamboos, teak, mango) with the help of a gardener.
01 Jul 2009 - 30 Jun 2010: 1x
Human Resources
Salary costs for one year of the children's Incharge couple, a farm worker/gardener and two cooks
01 Jul 2009 - 30 Jun 2010: 1x
Educational Programme Costs
Cost of the books and learning materials for 50 children.
01 Jun 2008 - 31 May 2009: 1x
Food expenses
Costs of food for 50 children for 12 months
01 Jun 2008 - 31 May 2009: 1x
SAVE intends this project to provide 100 orphans and street children with shelter, care and education every year by using ecologically sound methods to support itself. The children can begin their vocational training at around the age of 14.
Children who arrive at the Ecopark have often been through a lot already. Many ran away from home or were rejected by their parents and were then found at railway or bus stations. They went to Tirupur in search of a place to live and work and then usually found themselves working in a factory that exploited them. SAVE rescues these children and works effectively with local authorities. The police, for example, contact SAVE as soon as they have found vulnerable children on the street or in factories. The next step is to find the solution that will be most suitable for these children.
Initially, these children arrive at a residential school run by SAVE that provides them not only with schooling but also shelter. Next, SAVE begins a search for the parents of the children by means of advertisements or radio spots. If the parents are located, a reunification process is started. But what if there are no parents anymore, if they cannot be located, or if the situation at home is such that a child cannot be sent back? In these cases, a child will stay for at least a year at the residential school and then move to the Ecopark. This lasts a year because only after this length of time will SAVE officially have the authority from the government to make decisions about a child. Until that time, the child’s parents can still demand to have their child returned to them.
In this project, SAVE combines two important values: helping children and caring for the environment. The park has its own environmentally responsible agriculture and livestock businesses, including producing milk for sale and its own consumption, as well as generating income from paper recycling and composting. SAVE tries to be as self-supporting as possible. The children also learn about ecological management and organic agricultural practices, and much attention is devoted to social development. They learn what sustainability means in a very broad sense when it comes to taking care of themselves, each other, and their environment.
A large percentage of the children are still reunited with their parents and family members after having stayed for a while in the Ecopark. It could be, for example, that the home situation has changed enough to allow the child to return. If this happens, the child is followed for a year to be sure that his/her health remains good and that things are going well at school. About 30% of the children cannot be reunited with their family because they cannot be located or because there is no family anymore.
As part of the Ecopark, SAVE started a centre for
vocational training in 2009. Every year, this project provides 100 vulnerable children partly from the Ecopark itself with education. This centre is also supported by Net4kids.