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.While providing storybooks is a great start, the act itself does not guarantee the use of them. Many times the leaders of the orphanage may have the best of intentions, but do not necessarily have the time, expertise, or resources to manage a reading time period and encourage the act of reading.
Bookwallah Organization does not walk away from our projects. Bookwallah Reading Services are designed for those orphanages that have received the children's books, but cannot organize and jumpstart actual reading activities. We ensure the children are reading the storybooks we provide them. We believe this engagement and interaction is just as important as providing the books. It allows certain amount of personal interaction necessary for growth of the children. It also allows the organization to evaluate, measure, and improve the success of our programs.
The reading sessions are customized and conducted by hired tutors, local Bookwallah volunteers, partner NGOs, and Bookwallah Organization's staff.
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