In the course of researching the matter of street kids in developing nations and their unsavory plight, hope can be found in those instances where truly amazing individuals and groups have formed a successful and sustaining street kid rescue charity. The herculean amount of effort and dedication, to the point of doggedness, needed to create one of these charities leaves one somewhat dumbstruck . On the one hand it is easy to say to oneself “Oh, I could do that if I really wanted to do it.” The reality seems to be that one will not do it, and thus there is no proof that just anyone can pull off these feats. Rather they tend to appear more like totally unexplainable events - imponderable.

One charity that has succeeded in pulling off the imponderable is Ashalayam in Kolkata, India. Since 1988, from small beginnings, they have grown to the point where they now house about 800 former street children in about 22 family homes with house parents in each, as well as a central dormitory and other facilities for recreation and vocational training. In addition to housing and caring for hundreds of these unfortunate children Ashalayam has undertaken slum outreach initiatives in order to help families that may be on the verge of creating a street child due to extremely stressful conditions. Additionally Ashalayam was a key player in the effort to create for India a national Child Help hotline, 1098, which works like 911 in the USA, whereby a distressed or lost child can call for help from any phone, or adults can report a wandering child. Ashalayam like some other street kid charities is working hard not only to care for the street children, but to stem the flow of more street children. Learn about Ashalayam here:

Ashalayam