Good Shepherd Homes is a British charity which provides care for

street children Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids, or urchins; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers ...

and orphans in

West India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of western states of Republic of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra al ...

. The charity also has

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

status in India and the United States. The main bases of the organisation are found in the cities of

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Talegaon Talegaon is a town on the outskirts of the city of Pune, India. Demographics At the 2001 Census of India The 2001 census of India was the 14th in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1871. The population of India was cou ...

, Parandhwadi and

Nasik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari River, Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sit ...

. Good Shepherd Homes (GSH) operates in small units of twelve children, staffed by house parents.

Origins

GSH’s first homes were founded in 1996 in India in Pune, Maharashtra. Large numbers of street children are still found in both Pune, Mumbai, and other Indian cities. The charity seeks, together with other organisations, to give children the necessary accommodation, care and education that they would otherwise do without. A number of children in the care of Good Shepherd Homes came directly out of child labour at the time of admission. Some children were occupied as beggars, whilst others were employed as hotel staff or cleaners.

Street children

Approximately 18 million street children and orphans survive on India‘s streets. Many of these children are born in, or migrate to, India's urban centres. Pune has about 8.000 street children, and Mumbai, with a population of over 20 million inhabitants, has close to 100.000 street children. These children improvise a living by begging, collecting and selling scrap and waste, brushing shoes and other forms of child labour. GSH does not receive fees from the children under its care or their family members, and is exclusively supported by donations and free will contributions. Presently the charity houses 110 children and employs 35 full-time staff.

Victoria Terminus and new construction development

Good Shepherd Homes produced a 40-minute film called '

Victoria Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), also known sometimes as Victoria Terminus (VT), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The ter ...

' in 2009. The documentary film, which deals with the plight of street children in Mumbai, was screened numerous times including at three Unchosen film events in Bristol and at the Keele University Good Shepherd Homes constructed a residential project consisting of eight buildings with a capacity for 430 children and 80 staff members during 2014 and 2015. The facility is to be opened in 2016.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120322105855/http://www.helpsponsorachild.com/ *http://www.jesushouse.org.uk/GSH-India *http://www.hotfrog.in/Companies/Good-Shepherd-Homes *http://issuu.com/jh_publications/docs/impact_newsletter_vol1 *http://www.bristol.indymedia.org.uk/article/691286

External links

* http://www.facebook.com/pages/Good-Shepherd-Homes/80338543908 * http://www.goodshepherdhomes.org.uk * http://www.hotfrog.in/Companies/Good-Shepherd-Homes * https://web.archive.org/web/20120322105915/http://www.cryusa.org/programs_asia_india.htm * http://www.kings-medway.co.uk/missions/index.html * http://issuu.com/jh_publications/docs/impact_newsletter_vol1 * https://web.archive.org/web/20120322105855/http://www.helpsponsorachild.com/ * http://jesushouse.org.uk/GSH-India * https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092852/https://monicas.ccom.network/GSH * http://www.karmayog.org/ngo/goodshepherd/#.VjI74bwaJOE * http://www.streamsofmercy.org/projects_31_good_shepheard_homes.html {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122074634/http://www.streamsofmercy.org/projects_31_good_shepheard_homes.html , date=2015-11-22 Children's charities based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1996