Khandwa and Indore - India

Indian Sponsorship Circle

In India children whose own families cannot look after them are sent to orphanages. Thanks to cash donations and sponsorships we can not only provide the children with food, clothing and medical care, but also help to give them a brighter future.

How it all began
In 1938 a German priest, Father Josef Hübner, travelled to India as a missionary. There he encountered misery and suffering caused by unbelievable poverty. Appalled by what he saw, he focused his efforts on helping village children whose families were unable to feed them or keep them alive. The idea of setting up boarding schools was thus born. From 1938 to 1972 Father Hübner founded more than 20 schools in the regions of Indore and Kandhwa between Bombay and Delhi, that is to say in the heart of India. During that time, 3,000 children received food, medical care and a systematic education at these schools.

When he was recalled to Germany in 1972, Father Hübner tried to find sponsorships for about 1,000 orphans. The response throughout Germany encouraged him to found the charitable organisation Patenschaftskreis Indien in 1972.

Since then, Patenschaftskreis Indien has been operating as a private and non-denominational organisation in Germany. In India, two dioceses are responsible for overseeing the project and the logistics. This blend of private involvement and the church's expertise in helping people in need makes our organisation extremely efficient and also avoids unnecessary administration costs.

After the death of Father Hübner in 1997, Ralf Steuer, a Lufthansa employee, and his wife Barbara assumed responsibility for continuing the work begun by Father Hübner. Since 2004 his organisation has been a member of HelpAlliance.

Work in the boarding schools
The project now encompasses 35 boarding schools with a wide range of activities, which can be summed up as follows. At some boarding schools, tuition is provided in the afternoons to supplement the poor education provided at the local state schools. The children are fed, and in the evenings they return to their villages. More often, however, the children attend school all year round, and in addition to receiving an education, food and medical care they are given instruction in agriculture and animal husbandry. Special individual schools have been set up to give seriously handicapped children a brighter future.

In addition to financing the food, clothing and medical care for the children, Patenschaftskreis Indien funds the teachers who teach the some 5,000 children in the boarding schools. Integrating the children into the village communities once they have completed their education is another important aspect of the organisation's work. The boarding school project always leads to important new tasks, such as educational initiatives for women in the villages, surgical operations on children suffering from polio performed by volunteer doctors from Europe and a wide range of projects for street children. The long-term goal is for the boarding schools to become financially independent. Patenschaftskreis Indien provides the initial funding needed. For only €12 per month a child can be looked after at the boarding schools!

More pictures to be found here