REGD. NO: 42/2000

Short Summary

LITTLE ANGELS HOME was founded and established by STEPHEN NESARAJ on June 3rd 1999. The Little Angels Home focuses on the Children's welfare, providing them with an education to help them become independent skilled adults. The Home now shelters 38 unwanted children. Many of these children found on the street after being thrown out by their families. Some of them were working as slaves and others were orphans. The present financial situation of the home is in a very serious state. Every day is a struggle to afford rice to feed the children. With the help of his staff, Stephen has big plans for the future to provide better facilities and to be able to offer shelter for many more children.

Introduction

Out of 1000 million people living in India, 750 million still live under the poverty level. Generally, India has its own resources and gets a lot of financial assistance and support from various countries, but unfortunately, these international contributions are still not reaching the hands of the poor. The standard of living for the poor gets worse every day. Many families are unable to feed their children. This has many horrific consequences. More and more children are getting thrown out of their families, many people are dying from lack of food, and children are becoming motherless and fatherless. Many parents are even attempting to kill their own blood child because of their poverty. Baby girls are the victims of these murders. Male children are an asset to the family for several reasons. They can look after the property, they will receive a lot of gifts at the time of their marriage and they are generally looked upon more respectably by the society. The females are unwanted mainly because they present a huge expense to their parents at the time of marriage. The women's family are obliged to pay for gifts to the groom, and the full cost of the ceremony. Every day, these devastating events are increasing, but sadly, rulers and politicians aren't doing much about it.

"The situation was affecting me so strongly that I was trying to figure out what my role could possibly be in helping to solve these problems. I realized that the answer was to devote my life to helping these children. I created the Little Angels Home. I can only hope that many others will follow my example."

LITTLE ANGELS was started in June 1999 by a young Tamil social worker by the name of Stephen Nesaraj. He was responding to the widespread need for someone to provide shelter and a loving environment for abandoned and neglected children from urban Madras and the surrounding region.

Stephen Nesaraj started the home with just five children and within a year it had grown to 22. Stephen has had to weigh the desire to take in more children - the waiting list is endless - against the need to provide a stable and harmonious environment for the children already in the home. For this reason the number of children remained at 22 during the second year and has grown only gradually to 27 in the third year. There are currently 28 boys and 10 girls, and their ages range from 5 to 17.

Stephen is from a Christian family, but the aim of LITTLE ANGELS is to provide a home for children regardless of their religious or cultural background. Because of this the home celebrates the festivals of all the major religions of India.

The younger children attend the local Tamil-medium school in Mamallapuram which is within walking distance; and a few older children go by school bus to the secondary school in the town of Chengalpattu. The home also provides remedial education for several children who had not attended school before coming to LITTLE ANGELS. Most of the children in this situation have already been helped to step into mainstream education.

Several foreign volunteers have worked with the children of the home during the last year, offering courses in music and instrument making, and a variety of handicrafts and artistic activities. The children have given several concerts in Mamallapuram for fund-raising purposes, and the older children are now producing a range of handicraft products that are marketed by friends of LITTLE ANGELS in other countries.

LITTLE ANGELS is situated in the village of Pooncheri, 2 km outside the coastal town of Mamallapuram, South of Madras (Chennai) in Tamil Nadu, India. There are presently three full time staff (a cook, a nurse and a handyman), and three part time teachers. The site was derelict when the home first moved in, and it was necessary to restore damaged buildings and to build home a kitchen and bathroom facilities. Since that time the children have planted a vegetable garden, which they all have a part in tending. They also take care of three cows and to baby calves. These provide some food for the home, and the surplus is sold in the neighboring town.

The children and staff at LITTLE ANGELS have worked hard to make the most of the present site, but there are some limitations that are not in their power to overcome. Chief among these is that the plot directly fronts a major road, and there are consequent problems with noice and pollution. The heavy traffic also poses a danger, particularly to the younger children.

If LITTLE ANGELS is to continue to flourish and expand it will be necessary to move to a site that is both larger and better situated. In partnership with STONE of DESTINY Stephen Nesaraj has drawn up a plan for the future of the home which would both expand it and transform it into a centre for training and education. It is hoped that we will be able to raise enough funds during the next year to purchase a larger plot of land that will incorporate an organic farming project and a workshop with training facilities for the older children.

What happened in this year 2002-2003 - extract from Christmas letter.

Mail from Stephen in July 2003.

Mail from Stephen in July 2004.

Mail from Stephen regarding tsunami in January 2005.

Mail from Stephen in July 2005

Mail from Stephen in May 2007

Mail from Stephen in July 2007

Mail from Stephen in March 2008

Mail from Stephen in March 2009