SOS Children’s Village SOS Children’s Village located in Pune, India has an interesting model. Every ten children have a mother and live in a stone house. The village is managed by a former teacher, Mr. Sharma, for the past 13 years. There are approximately 180 orphans who live in the village. We discovered during our visit that although SOS has a library, many of their shelves were stocked with textbooks and older encyclopedias. There were no storybooks for children.
St. John’s Home for Women & Children St. John’s Home for Women & Children is a home for children and elderly women in Pune, India. The home is managed by Ms. Philomena for the past 35 years and houses 20 children up to the age of 16. They have a playroom in the upper level and empty shelves where a library could be housed. We noticed the younger children spoke very little English, but were extremely captivated by the colorful illustrations in the few books that were provided to them.
Handmaids of the Blessed Trinity Convent Handmaids of Blessed Trinity Convent has three orphanages located Mumbai, India. The orphanages are run by Sr. Eliza and Sr. Paulette who haves provided a loving home to many of the children. The orphanages have approximately 100 children and also provide schooling for 500 local children in the area. This orphanage is a perfect story of how a simple gift such as a book can bring about so much happiness and pleasure and is the first orphanage Bookwallah visited.
Trafalgar Children’s Home Trafalgar Children’s Home is a boy’s orphanage located in Kingston, Jamaica. There are about 30 boys from ages 7-17 who currently reside in the home. The home has been around for 50 years and is run by Sr. Knight. Their current library consists mostly of textbooks. There were no storybooks for children.
Forum for Street Boys and Children Forum for Street Boys and Children in Hyderabad, India is an orphanage that houses an estimated 50 street children in Hyderabad. The orphanage was started by a retired police officer who discovered that many of the boys he encountered in the streets did not have a home. The “library” currently houses a few desktop computers and a very small number of books. The home is currently managed by Mrs. Ewari who has expressed a need for a library and an open reading rug area for her children.Regardless of country of origin and differing educational models, all cultures recognize the need for a separate physical reading space for children. The Bookwallah Reading Rug program is meant to promote positive well-being, creativity, exploration, imagination and a sense of security. Many of the orphanages have expressed a need and desire for children’s storybooks, but lack the child-friendly areas that are so instrumental to continued interest in reading and learning.
The Bookwallah Reading Rug Program is designed for those orphanages that have received the children’s books but do not have the area or supplies to support their gift. We create comfortable child-friendly reading rooms where needed.
The Bookwallah Organization will provide the necessary supplies to help jumpstart the orphanage Reading Rug area. Critical to the success of this program is a shared investment of time and resources by the orphanage, the surrounding community and Bookwallah. We believe this shared investment is expected and necessary to increase everyone’s commitment to “sharing the gift of imagination.”
Bookwallah would like to:
We want to:
