Bangalore - India

BREADS: Continuous Support for Street Children

Around 60 000 street children live in Bangalore, and this number rises daily. The employees of five centers try to give a future to these children, as well as child workers of the nearby silk factories. Since 2001 HelpAlliance has been financing various programs for the affected children.

To achieve this, HelpAlliance works closely together with the Bangalore Rural Educational and Development Society (BREADS) of the order Salesian Don Bosco.
The main focus lies on promotion of vocational training in Bangalore, as well as in the rural BREADS centers. Computer courses can be held in a Bangalore slum, because the computers were organized by HelpAlliance. Young adults can go through driver schooling, which helps to attain a financial future in the booming metropolis of Bangalore. South of Bangalore, in Ajanahally, a boarding school for about 150 boys gives them a home and educational support. Additionally, women and children around the residence receive educational programs.

Furthermore, BREADS coaches the trained youngsters through extensive social education measures and supports a job placement program. The organization maintains contact to various companies of the city and provides aid to youths who have finished their education in finding a permanent job.

In 2006, with the help of a donation sponsored by the sale of Global Timer watches, a collective campaign of a Lufthansa pilot and Mühle Watches, Glashütte, it was possible to buy a “rescue vehicle”. This vehicle has saved several hundred children from hazardous situations in the streets of Bangalore and brought them to the safety of a place of refuge of BREADS in the city.

More pictures to be found here