House of Love (Mumbai)

House of Love (Mumbai)
Sneha Sadan
Established 1962 (1962)
Location
Founder
 Ricardo Frances, SJ
Director
 Fr. Noel Pinto, SJ
Affiliations Jesuit, Catholic
Website Sneha Sadan

House of Love (Mumbai) (Sneha Sadan) houses homeless children in the area of Mumbai, India, along with other services. It is a work of the Society of Jesus, with the first home being founded in 1962. In 2016 it ran 10 homes accommodating 255 boys and 5 homes accommodating 135 girls. Besides the 13 in Mumbai there are homes in Lonavala and Gorai.[1] Additionally a home has been opened for abused women and their children and another for girls rescued from sex trafficking.[2]

The President of India Zail Singh presented Fr. Placido Fonseca, S.J., the director of Sneha Sadan with the 1985 individual National Awards for Child Welfare.[3]

History

The first House of Love was a hut at Kajuwadi in Chakala, Andheri with just five boys, who chose not to stay. But other children arrived and in April 1963 a second home was started in Gundowli village. Couples, at times childless, have been the houseparents for these homeless shelters from the start. In 1964 a third home was opened at Holy Cross Church in Kurla. A fourth followed in 1965 in Mogra village, housing 25 boys, and later a home near Andheri. An administrative building was built and accommodated boys also.[4]

By 1976 the eighth house was converted into the first girls home. This grew to where Sndha Sadan runs 15 homes, 10 for boys and five for girls, all but two in Mumbai. Some houses accommodate as many as 35 children, under the care of a husband and wife pair. In 1992 Sadan also opened a home for women and their children and in 2005 one for girls it rescues from sex trafficking.[2]

All the children are given opportunities to attend school, as well as skills training in trades such as electrician, welding and fabrication, turners and fitters, motor mechanics, driving, housekeeping, catering, beautician, fashion designing, and computers.[5] Sadan also has a scholarship program for children who continue to live with their impoverished parents and are kept in school simply by financial assistance to their families.[6] As children in the homes reach maturity they have been connected to a whole array of business which offer them jobs.[7]

The murder of two nuns at Sneda Sadan in 1990 was twisted and sensationalized by three irresponsible city journals. The case has not been solved.[8]

By 1997 some of the child residents were earning money helping to inform people of a new law that forbids spitting and littering in the central Mumbai railway station. Spitting can be particularly dangerous as it spreads tuberculosis. In the same station Sneha Sadan has placed a facility where children can shower and enjoy lunch.[9]

Fr Noel Pinto, director of the Sneha Sadan home for homeless children at Andheri, has urged the state to relax its requirements for residency in the case of orphans applying for a university education.[10]

Larsen & Toubro, a construction conglomerate, has furnished food for the homes for 40 years. The French charity AFEA Snehasadan has furnished material assistance,[11] and Central Railway Women's Social Service Committee has helped with the contact centers. The organization has also helped thousands of children to trace their roots and reestablish ties with their families.[12] Others are enabled to save their wages over a period of years and so to invest in an apartment.[13]

References

Coordinates: 19°6′57.74″N 72°51′35.15″E / 19.1160389°N 72.8597639°E / 19.1160389; 72.8597639

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