A call from Sivakami and the children cheerfully assembled in the hall. They sang bhajans, a few danced and a boy narrated their day trip to Fun city in the City Center Mall, Chennai on Independence Day. Cups and medals from victories in sports were shown with tremendous pride and joy and I was transported to a new world, relishing the sparkle and exuberance in the eyes of these little angels. They encouraged each other in every little way and the camaraderie between the children was evident for one to see. Niranjan, a volunteer manages ‘Our Home’ on behalf of the Founder and the Committee members. He narrated about the children in ‘Our Home’ and how it was functioning.

‘Our Home’ was started as one of the projects of LIFE Trust in the year 2000 at Chennai. LIFE Trust was established by the owner of the Life Style group, Mr. Micky Jagtiani. The Managing Trustee is Ms Poonam Lalvani. LIFE has been working on various activities in Chennai – A Home for Destitute Children, Vocational Schools, Non- Formal Schools, Community Clinics, Medical Camps and Relief Works.  In Mumbai, LIFE projects primarily revolves around education, which is been addressed with non-formal and creative teaching aids.  LIFE started the third chapter in Bangalore and works with the Bangalore Municipal corporation schools.


                            

Since 2000, ‘Our Home’ protects children orphaned by broken homes, with single parents or without parents and a few children stranded in the railway stations. There are currently 32 children, 20 of them are girls and the rest are boys. A few children have their parents visiting them once a month but the rest of them are made comfortable by the philanthropists who visit ‘Our Home’. 

The objective of the founder is to provide these children a rich environment with good education and values instilled in them so that they grow up to be successful people leading a happy life.  They go to a good private English Medium school, Padma Sarangapani Matriculation School. A teacher comes every evening to help them with extra coaching. Most of them are doing extremely well in studies with some of them being toppers in their classes as well. Periodically, field trips are organized to give them exposure to the outside world and also help them have some fun. All the festivals are celebrated with festivity and celebration. The place is fully staffed to efficiently run and take care of all the children and their needs. 

Niranjan expressed that these children had a lot of aspirations and genuinely wanted to do well in their lives. What they need, are volunteers from the society who are successful in different walks of life to come and spend time, so that they have role models to emulate and get ideas about different paths that they could pursue.

A road map has been laid for the children of ‘Our Home’. “They are our children, we are planning their future which includes higher education, marriage and a sense of security right through their lives”, said Niranjan. “Visitors who come here to spend time with these children wanting to reassure them about life, instead go back creating happy memories of these delightful faces and the dynamism they exuberate”, concluded Niranjan. I whole heartedly agreed with him as I felt a sense of elation while leaving that place, vibrating with excitement.

Contact Details
Telephone + 91 44 42612325
Visit www.lifetrustindia.org

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