It has been almost 6 years since our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, has had the opportunity to return to our affiliated sites in India to meet with our volunteer coordinators and sponsored children. Thankfully, this past October, he was able to make the trip along with our International Programs Specialist, Yefiny Mena, who was seeing India for the first time. They started their journey by visiting the Chandrakal Home, a long-time affiliated site with Children Incorporated, where sponsored children’s educational needs are met while they are also offered a safe place to live during the school year.
“Knowing that contributing to their child’s education gives the parents a great sense of pride, the home accepts whatever the parents can afford, and sponsorship helps to cover the rest, along with other basic needs.”
Luis’ Visit
“In the fall of 2023, Yefiny and I met with all of our affiliations in India and Sri Lanka to evaluate their programs,” said Luis.
“The purpose of the evaluations was to first, reaffirm regulations and funding utilization, second, become familiar with the personnel administering each affiliated site in India and in Sri Lanka, and third, visit the families with children enrolled and see first-hand the environment of the participant children. We also wanted to review norms and verify enrollment of listed children and determine active participation with the program to evaluate benefits.”
“Another important objective was to discuss the plans and potential future development of each center, which included an assessment of any needs and future projections to enhance support to the children and the communities. Whenever possible, we wanted to visit a family or two with children in our sponsorship program, so that we could determine their needs and possibly augment our support,” said Luis.
the Chandrakal Boarding Home
“Founded in 1950 by American missionary Lillian Woodbridge, the home has provided education for thousands of impoverished children, many of whom have since made valuable contributions to their towns and villages in the fields of education, medicine and commerce. Due to the severe poverty in this area, most of the children’s parents are unable to pay tuition each month. Knowing that contributing to their child’s education gives the parents a great sense of pride, the home accepts whatever the parents can afford, and sponsorship helps to cover the rest, along with other basic needs. In this way, the children receive an education that affords them the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and rise above the difficult circumstances that they face.”
“The children express happiness at being accepted at the homes, where they are willingly preparing for education in local government schools.”
“The evaluation of the Chandrakal Home indicated that the children are present and receiving support from Children Incorporated. All support has to be utilized to sustain the home and provide the children with the educational support needed for them to attend school and complete their education. We learned that our volunteer coordinator, Laveena, is new, but familiar with the program, as she is the sister of our former coordinator, Omega, and is now in charge.”
“Laveena has worked hard to complete many improvements to the Chandrakal Home, including upgrading the dorms, implementing electricity alternatives, and completing a new high school building. Children Incorporated also provided funding to purchase cots for the girls, help in implementing a computer lab, and help with many other improvements, along with the steady sponsorship program. Laveena indicated that she is still learning and adjusting to post-pandemic times, but she is doing fine. The children express happiness at being accepted at the homes, where they are willingly preparing for education in local government schools.”
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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?
You can sponsor a child in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child that is available for sponsorship.