Ccara Homes for children
Our homes in India are located in the rural area of Tamil Nadu between Chennai and Bangalore. All home children are coming from an underprivileged social background of surrounded villages or slum areas of this very poor area. Our main focus is always kept on girls for they are receiving less attention and value than boys, often being rejected when they are born. In case of the traditionally arranged marriage in India, the girl’s parents have to pay for the dowry and the wedding celebration. This is often the reason why orphaned girls normally no one wants to bring up, relatives are not happy if they have to take care of their education or paying their job training or college fees. Each Ccara-child has its own fateful life story. Either they are orphaned or semi-orphaned or they are coming from leprosy colonies. Some of them may have both parents but their families are living in severe poverty, sometimes beaten by sickness or living in bondage labour due to a high amount of debts which is like modern slavery. In most cases the girls of a lonely mom or widow are the most thankful ones in our homes. Many women are rejected by their husbands or left alone if they are not able to give birth to a son because daughters are not really wanted. Many of these women from a poor rural background do not have any education at all and therefore are not able to feed their daughters on their own nor to send them to school. There is no governmental social support in India. Girls from this background are in danger to end up in the streets, in begging or prostitution, in bondage labour or child marriage. By being admitted in one of our homes the life of a child is changing radically, since in this case it is a great privilege and not a burden to grow up in an orphanage. In particular single cases we are supporting the child while staying in its original village. Then the child will be monitored intensively, it will be supported with all necessary items for a good life and receiving education in a good school will be guaranteed. The admission and longtime care in an orphanage or the support and supervision in their native villages are ensured constantly by establishing monthly sponsorships.
Ccara Family Aid
Intending to bring help directly to the villages we have developed specific conceptions for needy families in both countries, India and Mali(Western Africa) to meet their basic needs in food and good education for their children. India: By offering family sponsorships a family in a leper colony or a lonely mother can receive constant assistance in bringing up their children, offering them more food and sending them to a good school.. In particular villages we are running Tuition Centers and Day Care Centers: Here, poor children receive special care, tuition and help for their homework as an addition to the sometimes poor education in Indian public schools as well as one day meal. Lonely mothers of some children are involved in the work of child care and are like this able to earn some money for their own living. Mail/Western Africa: By offering family sponsorships a poor family with children can receive an additional rice bag for their living. Their children are able to attend a school in a country that has more than 70 % of illiterates.
Rice Bags for Africa
One rice bag of 50 kg currently costs about € 30,-- and is helping a poor family for 4 to 6 weeks to survive. Rice and sometimes millet is a very special present for a starving family in Africa.
Ccara Leprosy-Aid
Officially eradicated though there is a respectable amount of people affected by leprosy in India. Due to the lack of knowledge and the fear of becoming socially excluded they don’t see a doctor at all or too late or don’t take their medicine correctly according to the prescription. As a result affected people get mutilated parts of their body which makes them to be excluded of the society even more. Whoever gets affected by leprosy in most cases will be excluded by his or her own family and has to move to a leper colony together with his or her children. The only thing that remains to survive for affected people is begging. Some of our home children are originally coming from leper colonies although they themselves are healthy but they have an affected parent and were forced to live in a colony.
Sheep campaign
In distributing a pair of sheep or a carrying mother sheep we are helping a poor family affected by leprosy to get a new dignity and to have a small secure existence. These undemanding animals are reproducing quite fast, providing milk, meat and offspring. They prevent that their new owners will have to go for begging again. Currently one sheep costs € 50,- Please mark your donation to our bank account with the key word „Sheep“.
Leprosy-campaign for shoes, food and hygiene products, etc
Leprosy affected people are constantly in need of new shoes, sometimes orthopedic shoes or crutches due to their mutilated body parts. Since they are living under poverty line often having wounds, they are in need of hygiene products, dressings or other medical assistance like eye operations or glasses. Many of them are starving and are always very thankful for a one time meal. If you want to help us working in this field, please mark your donation to our account with the key word „leprosy“. In both cases: you will receive a thank-you-letter if you let us know your complete postal address or email address. For German citizens: certainly you will get a document for tax exemption.
Ccara medical projects
Medical Camps
While running our projects in India, we are daily meeting people who cannot afford consulting a doctor in case of illness: Leprosy, HIV, malnourishment of children and many other health problems are severely beating those people living under poverty line. Under the leadership of an Indian doctor the medical assistance comes directly to the affected people in organizing a medical camp in the village or slum area. Patients then receive their medicine directly free of cost or are guided to the next hospital for further assistance.
First-Aid-Center
Linked directly to our children’s aid projects we are running small First-Aid Centers in some villages, offering an emergency unit for First Aid or distributing medicine. Here a nurse is on duty all the time and offers regular medical assistance to patients or is able to call a doctor or ambulance. For your one time donation, that is desperately needed in this field, please mark your donation with the key word „Medi“ For regular support to offer constant help in the medical field we are very thankful. Therefore we have established medical sponsorships: With a monthly donation of e.g. 15,- Euros it is possible to provide necessary medicine to about 20 patients at a Medical Camp in a village or slum area.
Ccara–widows home
Generally in India, widows are also mostly socially excluded due to various religious and traditional thinking. We are running a small home for widows in a south Indian village located on the same campus as one of our Day Care Centers for children and run by two dedicated women who themselves have lost their husbands. Women asking for help are receiving shelter and food and are helping themselves in offering tailoring work to the village people around. Furthermore they are involved in caring for the children of the Day Care Center. They are giving and receiving strengthening and protection by living in good fellowship with each other. If you want to support the widows home, please mark your donation with the key word „widows“. You will receive a thank-you-letter if you let us know your complete postal address or email address. For German citizens: certainly you will get a document for tax exemption.
CCARA-Slum-School
Located in a slum area of a megacity in India the CCARA – Slum-School enables children of illiterate families to learn how to read and write and calculate. They are lovingly taken care in small classes getting also one hot meal per day against starvation. If necessary they get medical assistance as well as all school material for free. Their parents often working hard as daily wagers will be involved in the educational program also learning about how precious good education is. With a donation of EUR 120,-- for an education voucher (half vouchers are also possible) you can make it possible for a child from a slum area in India to be able to go to school for one year. Please mark your donation with the key word „education“. If you tell us your complete postal address or email-address you will get a thank-you-letter with pictures of the children in the school.
CCARA tailoring center
Many young women in India are longing for better education and financial independence. Getting a certificate of a completed tailoring course at CCARA tailoring center in South India can make it possible for a young Indian lady or a widow to have her own income. The donation of a sewing machine (cost EUR 80,-, donation key word „sewing machine“) can found a new young existence in a woman’s life in India.