SKCV - Girls' Shelter

In November 2007, we opened our purpose built girls’ village, Amodini (meaning happy girls), at Kaza Village, Guntur, which is around 20 minutes from Vijayawada. There is adequate space to house and educate around 140 girls.

The site is dominated by two three-storey buildings; one for accommodation and the other housing the Vidyavihar non-formal school. The residential building has five dormitories and each girl has her own bed, blanket and pillow, probably for the first time in her life. There is also a large dining hall, hospital wing, prayer hall and TV room.

Girls currently study up to IV Group in the non-formal school (equivalent to UK Year 9). In addition to the normal classrooms, there are also facilities for vocational training such as embroidery and tailoring. Not all former street girls are suited to studying and so vocational training provides an alternative career path for them.

The school also has its own craft display room, computer room and library. Once girls have completed the IV Group, they attend outside schools in Vijayawada where they study for their 10th class government exams. It is hoped that facilities can be developed to educate all girls up to this level at the Vidyavihar. After passing their 10th class exams, some girls also choose to go on to further study at college.

Amodini has a wide range of recreational facilities for the girls. There is lots of sports equipment for them to play with, and many girls are now having lots of fun whizzing around the site on one of their new bicycles, often with a friend sat on the back! They are also looking forward to learning to swim in their very own pool, which will be quite shallow so it is safe for everyone. Once tired from all this physical exercise, the girls can relax by reading, drawing, or watching television.

Like the boys’ village, Amodini also has its own vegetable gardens and cowshed. This helps SKCV to remain as self-sufficient and eco-friendly as possible, and the girls learn the importance of environmental principles.

In addition to the staff who come each day, there are of course residential personnel. The ladies who are responsible for the care of the girls live in the main building, and the married staff members have their own separate quarters.

The move to their new home had a wonderful impact on the girls who were previously in SKCV’s temporary shelter – they became so much more outgoing and confident in just a few months. Being away from the hustle and bustle of the city gives them a calmer, more peaceful environment in which to study, play, and above all, feel secure and loved.

Bala Prema—Children’s Love

Life is especially hard for girls who find themselves alone, living on the streets. Many have run away to escape from mental, physical or sexual abuse, while others have often escaped from service where their positions as housemaids or cleaners can have impossibly heavy workloads. Once homeless, girls as young as six can be forced into prostitution by unscrupulous pimps, and no street child is ever far from violence. It is difficult to estimate the number of street girls in the whole of India, but in the city of Vijayawada alone, over 3000 girls regularly sleep on the streets and the numbers are growing. Street girls have often endured appalling situations and can be emotionally scarred by their experiences.

SKCV is committed to helping these young girls.

SKCV serving street girls

The girls’ night shelter, Bala Prema, is in the centre of Vijayawada. New premises were purchased in April 2002, and the shelter now has sleeping accommodation, classrooms, counselling rooms and recreation areas. They also have medical care and counselling provided by the SKCV hospital, and may attend school or training at one of the other SKCV centres. There is space for 60 vulnerable girls to stay overnight at the shelter, and it provides day centre care for many others. Girls at Bala Prema are divided into groups, containing girls of different ages. In these groups, it is hoped that the girls will find the stability and support which they have lost along with their families. Bala Prema also provides education and vocational training in order that the girls can learn to support themselves and their families in later life. SKCV programmes for girls include training to be tailors and chauffeurs.

Outreach

The outreach programs of Bala Prema aim to bring food, education and other support to as many street girls as possible. Several girls receive help with obtaining food for their families from SKCV, and still more are helped by the SKCV hospital at Bala Prema.

SKCV also helps children whose whole families are homeless and so spend most of the day alone and vulnerable while their parents work. A number of parents have been invited to send their daughters to Bala Prema during the day to receive education and food. Some parents have even asked SKCV to let their children become residents in order to escape the danger of sleeping on the streets at night.

SKCV is currently raising funds to improve our long term provision for girls by building them a residential village similar to that already provided for boys.