How we help children

Most of the children have mothers at Shishu Polli, but we do still take abandoned and trafficked children if there is not a more suitable place for them with other NGOs.

The children have a wonderful life at the village. They have plenty of friends and space to play – both in the well equipped playground and in the sports field (despite the presence of cows and goats!) and on the basketball court.

Our school covers pre-school, kindergarten and primary classes, and older children attend the local village schools for secondary education. Academically bright children are supported through further education and university. However, most of our children will train in tailoring, auto mechanics, and production work, and we have good contacts in these industries for apprenticeships and job placements.

Fostering

In 2006, Pat realised that our older abandoned children were being institutionalised making it difficult for them to adjust to village life when they left us. In an innovative move, we started to pay local village families to foster boys over the age of 11. We based a social worker in the local village to oversee the placements which have been hugely successful.

The boys love being part of a family, and the families have enjoyed parenting the boys and receiving an income. The boys still visit Shishu Polli regularly to play sport and to catch up with their friends, but they are also learning about village life, becoming independent, and being part of a small family unit.

Older children

Boys stay in our care until they have been employed for six months in long-term employment, and girls stay in our care until they have been successfully married for two years. Many children, married or unmarried, stay in touch and treat SPP as their home on holidays and festivals. We find well supervised community accommodation to enable them to attend training or job placements in Dhaka and nearby Gazipur. Often girls remain with their friends, sharing accommodation, and in touch with SPP when they are in full time work.

Some of our older children have severe behavioural problems and some are severely emotionally disabled. We have a special care unit in our Shayo Kunjo building where these young adults will live with us for life in the care of specially trained khalas.

Disabled young adults

We also have a small number of physically disabled young adults, and they live in specially adapted quarters in the Halfway House which gives them a measure of independence whilst most acquire the skills to live in the outside world (usually with some support and supervision).

To help more children please
> Make a donation or
> Buy our Sreepur Village handmade charity cards